Shoaib M. Farooq Padela, Ben Wooliscroft and Alexandra Ganglmair-Wooliscroft
This paper aims to conceptualise and characterise brand systems and outline propositions and research avenues to advance the systems’ view of branding.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to conceptualise and characterise brand systems and outline propositions and research avenues to advance the systems’ view of branding.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual synthesis approach is adopted to integrate the extant branding research perspectives. The conceptual framework is grounded in the theoretical foundation of marketing systems theory.
Findings
The conceptual framework delineates brand inputs, throughputs, outcomes and feedback effects within a brand system. It configures the complexity and dynamics of brand value formation among brand actors within the branding environment.
Research limitations/implications
This paper contributes to systems thinking in branding and brand value co-creation research. It extends marketing systems theory into the branding context and provides research directions for exploring the structural and functional configurations, cause–consequence processes and outcome concerns of brand value formation.
Practical implications
This conceptual framework informs brand development, management and regulation at a macro level. Managers can apply the brand system concept to identify and manage conflicting expectations of brand actors and alleviate adverse brand outcomes such as negative brand externalities, enhancing overall brand system health and societal value.
Originality/value
This research expands the scope of brand actor agency and identifies the likelihood of disproportionate brand outcomes. It provides methodological guidelines for analysis and intervention in brand systems.
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Masoud Karami, Ben Wooliscroft and Lisa McNeill
International entrepreneurship and marketing research reports the impact of effectual decision-making logic on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) international performance…
Abstract
Purpose
International entrepreneurship and marketing research reports the impact of effectual decision-making logic on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) international performance. How the effectual logic of decision-making enhances the overall performance of SMEs in international business-to-business markets remains a puzzle in the field. The purpose of this study is to investigate the concept of networking capability as an important SME capability translating effectual decision-making into international performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors examine the model presented in this study using quantitative data from 153 founders or managers in charge of international business at SMEs throughout New Zealand. The authors also used 142 open-ended responses to provide post hoc exploratory analysis.
Findings
The findings of this study suggest that networking capability is a mechanism through which the logic of decision-making enhances the international performance of SMEs.
Originality/value
This study bridges between international marketing and entrepreneurship by investigating how the networking capability of internationalizing SMEs translates their founders’/managers’ effectual logic into a successful performance in international business-to-business markets.
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Masoud Karami, Yanto Chandra, Ben Wooliscroft and Lisa McNeill
Extant research has studied how entrepreneurial cognition influences firm international performance but what mechanisms translates entrepreneurial cognition into international…
Abstract
Purpose
Extant research has studied how entrepreneurial cognition influences firm international performance but what mechanisms translates entrepreneurial cognition into international performance remains a puzzle in the field. In this paper, the authors utilize effectuation theory to theorize this association.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a survey of 164 internationalizing small firms from New Zealand, the authors examined a model of entrepreneurial cognition, action and gaining new knowledge as a framework to explain how effectual control, partnership for new opportunity creation and gaining new knowledge influence small firms' performance.
Findings
The authors found that partnership for new opportunity creation, and gaining new knowledge are two important mediation mechanisms in the focal association between effectual control and international performance.
Research limitations/implications
This study is a cross-sectional design. Considering the importance of time in cognition and action, future research should utilize longitudinal research design.
Practical implications
The authors’ findings provide implications for both small firms' managers and policymakers. These findings identify the critical importance of continuous knowledge development in internationalization process. Policymakers can help small firms gain more relevant and timely information about international markets and incorporate them in their decision-making to further develop international opportunities.
Originality/value
The authors contribute to international entrepreneurship research by delineating and verifying the important associations between entrepreneurial cognition, action and gaining new knowledge and their outcomes for firm's international performance. The authors also contribute to effectuation theory by elaborating on effectual control and how this logic leads to the development of new knowledge.
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Daniela Rosenstreich and Ben Wooliscroft
Potential ethnocentric biases in stated preference journal rankings are reviewed and revealed preference ranking methods are investigated. The aim of the paper is to identify an…
Abstract
Purpose
Potential ethnocentric biases in stated preference journal rankings are reviewed and revealed preference ranking methods are investigated. The aim of the paper is to identify an approach to ranking journals that minimises ethnocentric biases and better represents the international impact of research.
Design/methodology/approach
Coverage of marketing journals in Ulrich's, EBSCO, SSCI, JCR, Scopus and Google Scholar is explored. Citing references to 20 articles are analysed to determine citation time lags and explore the content of SSCI, Scopus and Google Scholar. To further review the extent of citation coverage, h‐index scores are generated for ten marketing journals using data from SSCI, Scopus and Google Scholar. In total, 36 marketing journals are ranked using the g‐index and Google Scholar data and results are compared to ten published rankings.
Findings
Stated preference ranking studies of marketing journals rely on US‐based respondents. The coverage of EBSCO, SSCI, JCR and Scopus databases is not representative of marketing's literature as they have few international sources, and a disproportionate coverage of US‐based journals. Google Scholar provides broader international coverage. The Impact Factor may be inappropriate for marketing journals as a large proportion of citations occur more than five years post‐publication. Results indicate that the g‐index is a superior approach to measuring the impact of marketing journals internationally.
Practical implications
Exposure of the limitations in existing ranking methods should encourage improvements in the development and use of journal rankings.
Originality/value
The investigations present original evidence to support long‐term concerns about approaches to journal ranking and citation analysis.
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Ben Wooliscroft and Rob Lawson
The purpose of this paper is to reflect on an unusual course, a historically focused course on marketing theory taught to a range of students from their fourth year of study…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reflect on an unusual course, a historically focused course on marketing theory taught to a range of students from their fourth year of study through to the doctoral level.
Design/methodology/approach
The staff, who have taught the course since before 2000 to date, reflect on its purpose, the curriculum and the student experience.
Findings
Studying the history of marketing theory has considerable value for able and engaged students, especially those wishing to proceed to masters or doctoral level study. Students who are exposed to the history of marketing thought are also likely to be better prepared for the business of the future.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper is centered on the uniqueness of the course being taught; insights are provided into this unusual curriculum.
The purpose of this paper is to provide a personal retrospective on six of the key events/experiences that influenced the development of the structure, foundational premises, and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a personal retrospective on six of the key events/experiences that influenced the development of the structure, foundational premises, and models of the resource‐advantage theory of competition.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a personal retrospective approach.
Findings
The paper finds that six key events influenced the development of resource‐advantage theory: B.J. “Bud” LaLonde emphasizes the works of Alderson; Rob Morgan suggests an article on the resource‐based theory of the firm; Roy Howell suggests a presentation on R‐A theory; Randy Sparks shows a “socialist calculation” article; Kim Boal suggests the Journal of Management Inquiry as a publication outlet; and Bob Phillips discusses his work on “firm effects vs industry effects”. The paper then relates each of the six events to the paths, routes, or procedures that are often proposed as (or reported to be) likely to lead to the development of theories.
Originality/value
By providing the evolutionary history of resource‐advantage theory, the paper provides implications for developing marketing theories.
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The purpose of this paper is to organize the semantics jungle of marketing strategy approaches, terms and concepts into a logically coherent framework using the history of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to organize the semantics jungle of marketing strategy approaches, terms and concepts into a logically coherent framework using the history of marketing thought to inform current marketing research and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper takes the form of an intensive literature review tracing the three streams of marketing strategy terms and concepts from their roots in the literatures of early marketing management, managerial economics and corporate management to the present.
Findings
Along with marketing ideas, strategy concepts from managerial economics and from corporate management were absorbed directly into the corpus of strategic marketing thought. These three streams of research have converged into the current state of marketing strategy – an eclectic mixture of both complementary and conflicting strategic approaches, terms and concepts. By systematically following the evolutionary development of major contributions to strategic marketing thought and by redefining terms and refining concepts the various approaches to strategy can be integrated into a comprehensive conceptual framework for organizing and choosing among individual marketing strategies.
Originality/value
The framework offers conceptual and practical value. It provides a researcher with a consistent set of terms and concepts to build upon. The framework also provides a strategic toolkit for the marketing manager, based upon organizational and environmental conditions, to choose from among the feasible alternatives the most effective marketing strategy to achieve management's goal(s).