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Summarizes some of the findings of a two‐year research project concerned with how technology‐based companies can master market challenges and so improve their product strategy. Identifies best practices and some of the prerequisites of successful strategy development which have already been implemented with clients of the authors′ organization, Pittiglio, Rabin, Todd & McGrath.

If a company is to compete in today′s aggressive marketplace it will require more than an ability simply to manufacture products. With innovation cycles within the high‐tech industry rapidly shortening, simply to survive, a company must be able to turn ideas into successful products in half is previous best time. Add the complication of controlling product development across international boundaries as our world shrinks, and the challenges become severe indeed. Du Pont Composites addressed these twin issues by implementing Pittiglio Rabin Todd & NcGrath′s PACE (Product And Cycle‐time Excellence) methodology. Documents the changes necessary fir Du Pont to become a world‐class product developer.

Focuses on the R&D effectiveness index developed by PRTM, which, when combined with an in‐depth, qualitative assessment of skills and effectiveness, can provide an accurate measure of overall product development process performance. The index is defined as the ratio of new product profit to R&D costs. Describes how the R&D effectiveness index was used by PRTM for one of its clients to help it decide how to restructure its R&D organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the explanatory power of the service-profit chain (SPC) model in a context that differs from its original conception. The authors do so by considering whether the main relationships it proposes apply in the context of call centre services, characterised by remote services and cost cutting business models.

The data were gathered from a survey of call centre management with a sample of 937 call centres from 14 countries. The analysis was carried out using structural equation modelling.

Findings reveal that the SPC model behaves somewhat differently in call centres. Although there is general support for most of the links in the model, the results indicate that customer satisfaction in the call centre industry is a separate outcome, rather than a precursor to company performance.

As is common in most research of this type, the present study is based on cross-sectional data.

Managers would be well advised to keep in mind that even minimum investments in human capital can make a difference in customer satisfaction and company results.

This is the first study to examine the main links in the SPC in non-traditional, non-face-to-face services. It demonstrates that the basic logic of the model is upheld, thus providing evidence that the boundaries of the SPC model may be further pushed in line with the peculiarities of the evolving service economy. Also, the authors make a methodological contribution by proposing a series of organisational level proxies for measuring elements of the chain that are typically assessed using individual level data that is expensive to gather.

The marketing literature uses five different experience terms that are supposed to represent different streams of research. Many papers do not provide a definition, most of the used definitions are unclear, the different experience terms have similar dimensionality and are regularly used interchangeably or have the same meaning. In addition, the existing definitions are not adequately informed from other disciplines that have engaged with experience. This paper aims to build a comprehensive conceptual framework of experience in marketing informed by related disciplines aiming to provide a more holistic definition of the term.

This research follows previously established procedures by conducting a systematic literature review of experience. From the approximately 5,000 sources identified in three disciplines, 267 sources were selected, marketing (148), philosophy (90) and psychology (29). To address definitional issues the analysis focused on enlightening four premises.

This paper posits that the term brand experience can be used in all marketing-related experiences and proposes four premises that may resolve the vagaries associated with the term’s conceptualization. The four premises address the what, who, how and when of brand experience and aim to rectify conceptual issues. Brand experience is introduced as a multi-level phenomenon.

The suggested singular term, brand experience, captures all experiences in marketing. The identified additional elements of brand experience, such as the levels of experience and the revision of emotions within brand experience as a continuum, tempered by repetition, should be considered in future research.

The multi-level conceptualization may provide a greater scope for dynamic approaches to brand experience design thus providing greater opportunities for managers to create sustainable competitive advantages and differentiation from competitors.

This paper completes a systematic literature review of brand experience across marketing, philosophy and psychology which delineates and enlightens the conceptualization of brand experience and presents brand experience in a multi-level conceptualization, opening the possibility for further theoretical, methodological and interdisciplinary promise.

This study aims to delve into the lived experiences, challenges and visions of women entrepreneurs in Jordan, placing a magnifying glass on those spearheading or co-pioneering start-ups. It aims to understand the myriad factors that influence their entrepreneurial journey, from motivation to the future of their niche.

Adopting a qualitative lens, this study is anchored in semi-structured interviews encompassing 20 Jordanian women entrepreneurs. Following this, thematic analysis was deployed to dissect and categorize the garnered insights into ten salient themes.

The study reveals that personal experiences and challenges are pivotal in directing these women towards niche markets, aligning with the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Tools such as digital instruments, customer feedback and innovative strategies like storytelling and augmented reality are integral to their entrepreneurial success, resonating with the resource-based view (RBV). Additionally, challenges like cultural barriers and infrastructural limitations are navigated through adaptive strategies, reflecting the resilience inherent in these entrepreneurs. Networking, mentorship, embracing technological advancements and implementing sustainable practices are highlighted as crucial elements underpinned by the social identity theory (SIT).

Contrary to the extant body of research, this study provides new insights into the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in Jordan, highlighting the practical relevance of theories like TPB, RBV and SIT for both policymakers and the start-up community in niche markets.

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to examine key operational tradeoffs and challenges that call center managers face.

To support the concepts advanced in this paper, an embedded case study is used from an inbound call center for a regional wireless phone company that operates in the USA. The research involved: a review of available service quality and call center management literature; development of a resource‐based framework to understand key operational tradeoffs; use of a case study approach with structured interviews of key managers and employees; and synthesis of this data in order to understand why and how these managers made key operational tradeoff decisions. The case study was done on an inbound customer service call center for a regional wireless phone company that operates in the Southeastern USA.

This research suggests that there are four key resource management decisions that must be addressed in order to improve service quality and effectively manage call center operations: the efficient deployment and use of labor, effective leveraging of technology, capacity management, and demand management.

The use of a single case approach limits the generalizability of results; however, this methodology is effective in providing rich data and a research framework to both build theory and advance future research in this arena.

It is noteworthy that while technology, capacity management, and demand management systems are essential, labor remains a key differentiator in achieving high service quality. A call center must provide dependable service with knowledgeable, honest, polite and empathetic employees who can efficiently answer customers' questions while also promoting more products and services to improve profitability.

While this research is primarily conceptual, it also uses a case study to explain why and how managers make key tradeoffs in order to compete effectively on service quality in the call center industry.

In this article, we aim to increase understanding of the unique nature of experiences in comparison to services and explain how narrative change can enable organizations to fully participate in the experience economy.

Drawing upon relevant experience design and experience economy literatures the paper outlines key differences between experiences and services. The narrative change process is then employed to provide managers specific guidelines for strategically reframing their value production paradigm to become more experience-centric.

rticulating key elements of an organization’s narrative such as characters and intended outcomes allows an organization to more intentionally change their narrative to align with the experience economy.

The essential outcome of an experience is that participants do something for themselves ? for example, learn a new skill. Participation is integral to every experience transaction.

Although Pine, Gilmore, and others have detailed the differences between experiences and services, definitional disagreements and oversimplifications of these concepts still exist. This paper further differentiates these economic offerings. Additionally, this paper is the first to integrate the narrative change process into a discussion about experience strategy.

In celebration of its 25th anniversary, this paper aims to analyze the corpus of publications in the Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship (JRME) since its inception, using bibliometric techniques. It identifies publication trends, scientific productivity, authors’ collaborations and topic clusters within JRME and proposes future research directions for its audience.

This research uses bibliometric techniques to investigate all of the published works in JRME from 1999 (inception) to 2023. It extracts all published articles from the Scopus database and employs VOSviewer and Gephi software to perform bibliographic coupling and network analysis.

The study identified 278 documents published at JRME between 1999 and 2023, with a notable annual growth of approximately 30% over the past two years. It describes the journal’s productivity and influence, identifies key contributors along with their affiliated institutions and countries and outlines the journal’s most impactful publications. Through bibliographic coupling, this research identifies six thematic clusters within JRME’s body of work and outlines the evolution and impact of each cluster. Although the United States and the United Kingdom were identified as central hubs in the journal’s academic network, the study found robust evidence for the journal’s excellence in fostering international collaborations. The study also identifies important implications for future research at the JRME, highlighting the need to explore emerging topics in the field and adopt more diverse methodologies.

This analysis offers a thorough overview of the intellectual structure that JRME has contributed to literature, highlighting its crucial role in influencing the conversation around marketing and entrepreneurship.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the existing conceptualisation of quantity and quality in call centres as conflicting or contradictory, and through qualitative analysis, demonstrate that quantity and quality may not necessarily operate as a trade-off.

Existing literature is reviewed to show how quantity-quality has been conceptualised to date, followed by an analysis of quantity-quality manifestations based upon an in-depth field study of work and service in a large and complex call centre operation. Advisors’ work practices were observed during their interactions with customers, which provided rich insights into the nature of live calls and service provision in 13 different teams, supplemented with informal semi-structured interviews with team managers, coaches, and centre managers.

The paper demonstrates that quantity and quality operate as a trade-off when the unit of analysis is the individual advisor or individual call fragment. However, if the entire customer enquiry is examined, quantity and quality are manifest differently: emphasising quality may also simultaneously support efficiency; favouring quantity may not only undermine quality but also ultimately circumvent efficiency gains.

The paper is based upon a single case study so further research is required to investigate whether findings concerning quantity-quality are manifest in other call centres, particularly of differing size and complexity.

Call centre management must recognise the negative consequences of focusing upon quantity, the potential benefits of instead emphasising quality, and also acknowledge the limitations of conventional quantitative and qualitative measures. Management should also consider attempting to foster and improve relations between teams and functions within call centres.

The paper provides a qualitative study of quantity and quality in call centres. Quantity and quality are examined beyond the conventional unit of analysis of the individual advisor or call, to explicate interdependence between past, current, and future actions and events involved in customer enquiries. Thus, quantity and quality are analysed in terms of the immediate focus during call handling and the longer run consequences for the efficiency and effectiveness of service provided by the call centre operation.