Intangible resource flow as an antecedent of new product development success in buyer-seller relationships

There is currently considerable interest in the cocreation of value by sellers and buyers. It is often noted in the literature that much, if not most, of the innovation in product development derives from the buyer rather than the seller. Sellers therefore need a means of judging which of the relationships that they have with buyers has the greatest potential for value creation through new product innovation. Because the flow of intangible resources through buyer-seller relationships is an important contributor to new product development, this paper investigates the literature on relationship marketing, new product development, innovation and intellectual capital, and proposes a conceptual model of the potential for intangible resource flow from buyer to seller and its relationship to the success of new product development. The potential for the intangible resource flow is conceptualized in terms of the availability of intangible resources in the buyer and the attributes of the buyer’s boundary personnel

Relationship value dimensions: identifying a viable model

This paper describes alternative models of intangible value, in business to business buyer-seller relationships, to the one reported by Baxter and Matear (2004). The perspective is that of the seller. Using Baxter and Matear’s dimensions, it provides theoretical arguments, based on the resource based view, the intellectual capital literature, and other conceptual bases, for the model as compared with three rival models. The empirical evidence to date in support of the original model is discussed

Social bonds and supplier allocation of resources to business customers

This paper addresses questions about the effect that social bonds between relationship partners have on the way in which a supplier allocates resources to its relationship with a buyer. Two key questions the paper addresses are the following. In business markets, does strength of social bonds that a supplier perceives with a specific customer influence the supplier’s allocations of financial, physical, time, and intangible resources to this customer relative to other customers? If social bonding does uniquely impact supplier allocation of resources to customers, does the impact vary by length of the supplier-customer relationship? The paper proposes and empirically examines three alternative theories (honeymoon, maturity, and imprinting theories) that indicate how suppliers’ perceptions of social bonds with customers influence the suppliers’ allocations of resources and also examines the proposition that social bonding contributes uniquely to supplier allocations. Honeymoon theory is the proposal that the positive influence of social bonding on supplier resource allocation is greatest in relatively new supplier-customer relationships versus long-term relationships. Maturity theory proposes the opposite—the positive influence of social bonding on supplier resources allocation is greatest in long-term versus new relationships. Imprinting theory proposes that no interaction occurs between the effects of social bonding and length of supplier-customer relationship on supplier resource allocations. The theoretical grounding for the study extends the IMP stream of research, using ideas including the concepts of relationship marketing theory and Homans’ framework for social behavior

How can business buyers attract sellers' resources? Empirical evidence for preferred customer treatment from suppliers

This paper describes a study that investigates what makes a buyer attractive to a seller in a business-to-business buyer-seller relationship and encourages the seller to commit to and invest resources preferentially in the relationship. The study helps answer the question, “What is it that the buyer needs to do to create this attractiveness?” The perspective is somewhat unusual in the marketing literature for two reasons. Firstly, because it investigates how the supplier perspective of customer financial attractiveness affects the attitudes and actions of the supplier towards the buyer, rather than taking the buyer’s perspective across the relationship. Secondly, the study has relationship attractiveness in terms of financial performance as an antecedent of its relationship constructs, whereas most relationship studies investigate performance as an outcome. The paper develops a model that proposes the seller’s perception of customer financial attractiveness, seller satisfaction, and seller commitment as drivers of the seller’s preferred customer treatment by allocation of resources to the relationship. The bases for the study’s model are the resource-based view of the firm, the industrial marketing and purchasing (IMP) models, and related resource-focused theoretical streams. The study finds support for the model in the analysis of survey data

How do salespeople help make buyer’s resources available?

Purpose of the paper and literature addressed There is great emphasis by researchers on the issue of co-creation of value across business-to-business buyer-seller relationships because co-creation is the source of much development of improved products, processes, and relationship value outcomes. Therefore an important issue for managers in a selling organization is how they can ensure good access to the resources of their buyers, as it is the interaction between buyer and seller and the resultant integration of resources that is the basis for co-creation. This paper deals with a closely related concern: how do salespeople facilitate availability of a buyer’s important and useful resources to effect positive outcomes for the firm? The study utilizes the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing integration and network concepts and the sales literature to identify a set of dimensions of the activities into which a salesperson should put his or her efforts in order to facilitate the availability of customers’ resources to the sellers’ firm and thereby aid value creation. The study then tests the validity of these dimensions through several steps. Research method The study first reviews the literature to identify six activities to test as dimensions of a “salesperson’s level of effort” in facilitating availability of the buyer’s resources to the seller. The researchers next interview senior company executives to further develop the dimensions and help identify measures. A survey then collects quantitative data and analyzes it using correlations and confirmatory factor analysis. Research findings After purification of some items out of the scales, the study’s measurement model has good fit statistics and the dimensions of the “salesperson’s level of effort” construct show good reliability and validity. The six dimensions are effort by the salesperson in: learning about the buyer; learning about the seller (their own firm); customer contact; providing service; selling; co-ordination. Main contribution The study develops a set of measures for level of salesperson’s effort in relationship development and the ability of the seller to access its buyer’s resources. By doing so, the study provides the basis for further research into relations between salesperson’s effort, availability of buyer’s resources, and relationship outcomes which research can assess in terms of value and performance

Correlated edge overlaps in multiplex networks

This work was partially supported by the FET proactive IP project MULTIPLEX 317532. G.J.B. was supported by the FCT Grant No. SFRH/BPD/74040/2010

BβArg448Lys polymorphism is associated with altered fibrin clot structure and fibrinolysis in type 2 diabetes

Both type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and Bβ448Lys variant of fibrinogen are associated with dense fibrin clots, impaired fibrinolysis and increased cardiovascular risk. It was our objective to investigate whether BβArg448Lys adds to vascular risk by modulating fibrin network structure and/or fibrinolysis in diabetes. The primary aim was to study effects of BβArg448Lys on fibrin network characteristics in T2DM. Secondary aims investigated interactions between gender and BβArg448Lys substitution in relation to fibrin clot properties and vascular disease. Genotyping for BβArg448Lys and dynamic clot studies were carried out on 822 T2DM patients enrolled in the Edinburgh Type 2 Diabetes Study. Turbidimetric assays of individual plasma samples analysed fibrin clot characteristics with additional experiments conducted on clots made from purified fibrinogen, further examined by confocal and electron microscopy. Plasma clot lysis time in Bβ448Lys was longer than Bβ448Arg variant (mean ± SD; 763 ± 322 and 719 ± 351 seconds [s], respectively; p<0.05). Clots made from plasma-purified fibrinogen of individuals with Arg/Arg, Arg/Lys and Lys/Lys genotypes showed differences in fibre thickness (46.75 ± 8.07, 38.40 ± 6.04 and 25 ± 4.99 nm, respectively; p<0.001) and clot lysis time (419 ± 64, 442 ± 87 and 517 ± 65 s, respectively; p=0.02), directly implicating the polymorphism in the observed changes. Women with Bβ448Lys genotype had increased risk of cerebrovascular events and were younger compared with Bβ448Arg variant (67.2 ± 4.0 and 68.2 ± 4.4 years, respectively; p=0.035). In conclusion, fibrinogen Bβ448Lys variant is associated with thrombotic fibrin clots in diabetes independently of traditional risk factors. Prospective studies are warranted to fully understand the role of BβArg448Lys in predisposition to vascular ischaemia in T2DM with the potential to develop individualised antithrombotic management strategies

Tandem quadruplication of HMA4 in the zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd) hyperaccumulator noccaea caerulescens

Zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd) hyperaccumulation may have evolved twice in the Brassicaceae, in Arabidopsis halleri and in the Noccaea genus. Tandem gene duplication and deregulated expression of the Zn transporter, HMA4, has previously been linked to Zn/Cd hyperaccumulation in A. halleri. Here, we tested the hypothesis that tandem duplication and deregulation of HMA4 expression also occurs in Noccaea. A Noccaea caerulescens genomic library was generated, containing 36,864 fosmid pCC1FOSTM clones with insert sizes ~20–40 kbp, and screened with a PCR-generated HMA4 genomic probe. Gene copy number within the genome was estimated through DNA fingerprinting and pooled fosmid pyrosequencing. Gene copy numbers within individual clones was determined by PCR analyses with novel locus specific primers. Entire fosmids were then sequenced individually and reads equivalent to 20-fold coverage were assembled to generate complete whole contigs. Four tandem HMA4 repeats were identified in a contiguous sequence of 101,480 bp based on sequence overlap identities. These were flanked by regions syntenous with up and downstream regions of AtHMA4 in Arabidopsis thaliana. Promoter-reporter b-glucuronidase (GUS) fusion analysis of a NcHMA4 in A. thaliana revealed deregulated expression in roots and shoots, analogous to AhHMA4 promoters, but distinct from AtHMA4 expression which localised to the root vascular tissue. This remarkable consistency in tandem duplication and deregulated expression of metal transport genes between N. caerulescens and A. halleri, which last shared a common ancestor >40 mya, provides intriguing evidence that parallel evolutionary pathways may underlie Zn/Cd hyperaccumulation in Brassicaceae

Impact of socioeconomic deprivation on rate and cause of death in severe mental illness

Background: Socioeconomic status has important associations with disease-specific mortality in the general population. Although individuals with Severe Mental Illnesses (SMI) experience significant premature mortality, the relationship between socioeconomic status and mortality in this group remains under investigated.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Aims: To assess the impact of socioeconomic status on rate and cause of death in individuals with SMI (schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) relative to the local (Glasgow) and wider (Scottish) populations.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Methods: Cause and age of death during 2006-2010 inclusive for individuals with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder registered on the Glasgow Psychosis Clinical Information System (PsyCIS) were obtained by linkage to the Scottish General Register Office (GRO). Rate and cause of death by socioeconomic status, measured by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), were compared to the Glasgow and Scottish populations.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Results: Death rates were higher in people with SMI across all socioeconomic quintiles compared to the Glasgow and Scottish populations, and persisted when suicide was excluded. Differences were largest in the most deprived quintile (794.6 per 10,000 population vs. 274.7 and 252.4 for Glasgow and Scotland respectively). Cause of death varied by socioeconomic status. For those living in the most deprived quintile, higher drug-related deaths occurred in those with SMI compared to local Glasgow and wider Scottish population rates (12.3% vs. 5.9%, p = &#60;0.001 and 5.1% p = 0.002 respectively). A lower proportion of deaths due to cancer in those with SMI living in the most deprived quintile were also observed, relative to the local Glasgow and wider Scottish populations (12.3% vs. 25.1% p = 0.013 and 26.3% p = &#60;0.001). The proportion of suicides was significantly higher in those with SMI living in the more affluent quintiles relative to Glasgow and Scotland (54.6% vs. 5.8%, p = &#60;0.001 and 5.5%, p = &#60;0.001). Discussion and conclusions: Excess mortality in those with SMI occurred across all socioeconomic quintiles compared to the Glasgow and Scottish populations but was most marked in the most deprived quintiles when suicide was excluded as a cause of death. Further work assessing the impact of socioeconomic status on specific causes of premature mortality in SMI is needed