Peter A. Stanwick and Larry P. Pleshko
An area that so far has been neglected within organizational theory research is the examination of the relationship of characteristics of the environment, formalized planning, and…
Abstract
An area that so far has been neglected within organizational theory research is the examination of the relationship of characteristics of the environment, formalized planning, and organizational structure, along with their resultant effects on firm performance. This paper examines these relationships based on three environmental dimensions, four design dimensions, and two dimensions of formalized planning used by decision makers within an organization. The results of an empirical investigation suggest that environmental characteristics and organizational design do have an impact on both performance efficiency and performance effectiveness. In addition, interactions of environmental characteristics and organizational design on performance effectiveness were significant.
Richard A. Heiens, Larry P. Pleshko and Ahmed A. Ahmed
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of retail chain size on a variety of relationship marketing performance measures in the Kuwait fast food industry. These…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of retail chain size on a variety of relationship marketing performance measures in the Kuwait fast food industry. These include customer satisfaction, customer retention, penetration rate, preference ranking and share of customer.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 49 fast food chains, operating a total of 508 restaurants, were included in the study. Interviews with the home office marketing managers of each chain were conducted. In addition, a quota sample of 650 consumers representative of the Kuwait population with respect to age and gender was selected for participation in the study.
Findings
Findings suggest that large enterprises (LE) exhibit superior outcomes than small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on many relationship marketing (RM) performance dimensions, including satisfaction, retention, penetration, preference and share of customer. In contrast, SMEs appear to have few advantages in achieving RM outcomes over LEs. Larger firms appear to use their superior resources to take actions to develop and manage customer relationships in ways that smaller firms cannot.
Originality/value
Kuwait is an important emerging market in the Middle East, and managers need to understand the dynamics of this specific market.
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Larry P. Pleshko, Richard A. Heiens and Plamen Peev
The purpose of this paper is to take a contingency theory approach to examine how performance is affected by the relationships between the Miles & Snow strategic groupings and a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to take a contingency theory approach to examine how performance is affected by the relationships between the Miles & Snow strategic groupings and a variety of marketing strategy concepts, including a firm's service focus, service growth, market coverage, marketing initiative, market growth, Porter strategy, and market orientation.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for the study were gathered from a statewide survey among 125 chief executives of credit unions belonging to the Florida Credit Union League (FCUL). ROA figures were derived from government-mandated accounting reports in the state of Florida. ANOVA and correlation analysis were employed to analyze data.
Findings
This study shows that firms that match an aggressive Miles and Snow profile with a more aggressive approach to seven other strategy dimensions often enjoy higher market share relative to credit unions characterized by a different alignment of the various aspects of marketing strategy. The results also suggest that achieving such a fit is not relevant to maximizing a firm's ROA.
Research limitations/implications
The research sample was biased toward medium to larger firms that may possess strategic resources superior to those of the smaller firms in the industry. Also, credit unions may tend to have somewhat less aggressive profit objectives compared to other institutions in the banking industry.
Practical implications
The findings outline to financial services executives the benefits of considering all dimensions of corporate strategy simultaneously, rather than one at a time.
Originality/value
The paper illustrates how aligning certain aspects of marketing strategy can boost particular performance indicators and provides insight as to what the most appropriate alignments are depending on the circumstances.
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Jamil Anwar, S.A.F. Hasnu, Irfan Butt and Nisar Ahmed
The purpose of this paper is to find out the most influential journals, articles, authors and the subject areas where Miles and Snow typology is used. The study identifies the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to find out the most influential journals, articles, authors and the subject areas where Miles and Snow typology is used. The study identifies the opportunities for future research as well.
Design/methodology/approach
Review is based on 196 journal articles selected through a systematic and rigorous search process from the four databases: ProQuest, Business Source Complete, Willy and Science Direct. Total Citation, threshold citations, fractional citation and citation per year techniques are used for analyses.
Findings
Strategic Management Journal (SMJ), Academy of Management Journal (AMJ) and Journal of Marketing (JOM) are the most influential Journals. The most influential and prolific articles on the subject are from Hambrick (1983), Conant et al. (1990), Doty et al. (1993), Sabherwal et al. (2001), Desarbo et al. (2005) and Fiss (2011). Management, strategic management and marketing are the most studied subject areas.
Originality/value
Although there have been many reviews of the literature on this typology, the systematic review on Miles and Snow typology to find out the most influential journals, authors, articles and subject area has not been done before.
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The aim of this study is to identify why some brand buyers are satisfied, but are not necessarily loyal.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to identify why some brand buyers are satisfied, but are not necessarily loyal.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on prior literature, this study posits and tests nine potential reasons for why some satisfied buyers are loyal, and others are not. The factors examined are: distribution intensity, familiarity, popularity, customer satisfaction levels, category experience, variety-seeking, service design fit, satisfaction advantages (consumers having higher satisfaction for one brand versus others) and loyalty advantages (consumers showing higher loyalty for one brand versus others). The authors use the context of food retailing, focusing on the fast-food industry in the State of Kuwait.
Findings
The authors find that approximately 70% of fast-food brand users are satisfied, but only 28% of those satisfied users can be classified as highly loyal. While overall, the study finds satisfaction is positively correlated with individual-level buyer loyalty, analysis also finds that brand popularity, overall customer satisfaction levels, experience, variety-seeking, satisfaction advantages and loyalty advantages are factors that explain why many customers are satisfied, but do not have high levels of loyalty.
Originality/value
This study makes a novel and original contribution in assessing a broad range of factors that help explain why many satisfied buyers are not necessarily also loyal. The findings will assist managers to contextualize their firm’s performance on satisfaction and loyalty.
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Manjula N., Bala Subramanian R. and Sunita Mehta
This study adopted interview methods and field visits to collect the data. An audio recording was done for the whole interview and presented as facts in this case. Field visits…
Abstract
Research methodology
This study adopted interview methods and field visits to collect the data. An audio recording was done for the whole interview and presented as facts in this case. Field visits were done to see the packs and understand the consumers and their purchase habits of pickles.
Case overview/synopsis
Pandian Pickles is a pickle manufacturer located in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, a state in the southern part of India. Mr Kandasamy, one of the partner of the Pandian pickle, had been thinking of ways to grow the business. Pandian Pickles dominated the low-price unit (LPU) market with a unique packing of pickles done in “arecanut” leaf. This added a unique flavour to their pickles. Mr Kandasamy envisioned to grow the business by introducing higher stock-keeping units in the form of jars and tap the middle class and the upper-middle-class segments in the market. In this category, there were much more prominent and branded players. Being a small regional player, Govindan wondered how Pandian Pickles would take these more prominent players in the industry head-on.
Complexity academic level
The case is ideally suited for discussing the concept of product line stretching, particularly in the product mix strategies of a small and medium enterprise (SME). The case can best fit into the courses such as Entrepreneurship Development, Product and Brand Management, Marketing Management for the Undergraduate levels and in the courses such as Strategic Marketing, Bottom of the Pyramid Markets and Strategies Management of SMEs in the postgraduate levels.
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Diana Escandon-Barbosa, Andrea Hurtado-Ayala, Josep Rialp-Criado and Jairo A. Salas-Paramo
Societal changes and technological development have brought about drastic lifestyle change in the past decades. This drastic change is evident when comparing the lifestyle and…
Abstract
Purpose
Societal changes and technological development have brought about drastic lifestyle change in the past decades. This drastic change is evident when comparing the lifestyle and general characteristics of generations who have been born immersed in this technological context to those of other generations. The objective of this paper is to analyze brand image (BI) as determinant of brand attitude (AB), and the moderating effect of brand equity (BE), in the use of online information among millennial shoppers from Colombia. In general, the purpose of this paper is to contribute to existing literature related to the importance of generational membership in classifying individuals regarding brand perception (BI, AB and BE) and association with the use of shopping channels between different generations.
Design/methodology/approach
A hierarchical regression model is estimated with a sample of university students in Colombia who are considered potential coffee consumers, and who were classified as millennials based on their age.
Findings
The results support that BE effect has a greater impact on AB when consumers have a good BI. Millennials also use more online communication sources to create brand perceptions.
Originality/value
Nevertheless, few studies have concurrently analyzed the characteristics of brand building and types of sources of information (online vs offline). This paper attempts to analyze the behavior of millennial consumers and the use of information channels online vs offline to manage brand and analyze BI, AB and BE.