Star marketer’s impact on the market strategy choice

We focus on understanding the role of star marketers in pursuing a market-driven vs. a market-driving strategy. Results indicate that market-driving and market-driven strategies are two approaches that can be pursued by market-oriented firms. A star marketer has a robust positive influence on market-driving strategy. In contrast, a star marketer has no meaningful influence on market-driven strategy. In short, while star marketers are very important for market-driving strategy and long term success, they represent an unnecessary cost and provide no added value to companies focusing on market-driven strategies and short term results

Marketing Research in the 21st Century: Opportunities and Challenges

The role of marketing is evolving rapidly, and design and analysis methods used by marketing researchers are also changing. These changes are emerging from transformations in management skills, technological innovations, and continuously evolving customer behavior. But perhaps the most substantial driver of these changes is the emergence of big data and the analytical methods used to examine and understand the data. To continue being relevant, marketing research must remain as dynamic as the markets themselves and adapt accordingly to the following: Data will continue increasing exponentially; data quality will improve; analytics will be more powerful, easier to use, and more widely used; management and customer decisions will increasingly be knowledge-based; privacy issues and challenges will be both a problem and an opportunity as organizations develop their analytics skills; data analytics will become firmly established as a competitive advantage, both in the marketing research industry and in academics; and for the foreseeable future, the demand for highly trained data scientists will exceed the supply

Common Beliefs and Reality about Partial Least Squares: Comments on Rönkkö and Evermann

This article addresses Rönkkö and Evermann’s criticisms of the partial least squares (PLS) approach to structural equation modeling. We contend that the alleged shortcomings of PLS are not due to problems with the technique, but instead to three problems with Rönkkö and Evermann’s study: (a) the adherence to the common factor model, (b) a very limited simulation designs, and (c) overstretched generalizations of their findings. Whereas Rönkkö and Evermann claim to be dispelling myths about PLS, they have in reality created new myths that we, in turn, debunk. By examining their claims, our article contributes to reestablishing a constructive discussion of the PLS method and its properties. We show that PLS does offer advantages for exploratory research and that it is a viable estimator for composite factor models. This can pose an interesting alternative if the common factor model does not hold. Therefore, we can conclude that PLS should continue to be used as an important statistical tool for management and organizational research, as well as other social science disciplines

Developing Business Acumen in Chinese Business School Graduates

This study assessed the importance of knowledge, skills, abilities (i.e., KSAs) and competencies for managerial success in China’s market economy. Business students at a major Chinese university were surveyed over a five year period, initially in 2001 and later in 2006, five years after China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). Using Partial Least Squares (PLS), the explained variances in business acumen and social motivation skills were higher after China’s WTO entry. The results were reversed for communication skills. The results confirmed the predictive relevance of entrepreneurial behavior and adaptability in the model. Overall, the results suggest an enhanced appreciation for these KSAs after China’s WTO entry

John Evans Study Committee Recommendations

With the completion of this report the University of Denver is presented with an opportunity to reflect on our institutional origins, history, and legacy. We have an opportunity to provide a model of transparency, accountability, and transformation for institutions that have directly profited or indirectly benefited from the displacement of the indigenous communities whose lands and histories they occupy. This moment invites us to bend the arc of history away from the clamor of old apologetics that have caused deep wounds for those whose voices have been silenced and toward justice, healing, and peace. This likewise holds for those whose privilege and power has been upheld by historical noise, silence, and intentional omission. This is truly a new horizon and DU should be a change leader illuminating a new path forward: a path of unity, collaboration, and healing for all communities

Busy doing nothing? What do players do in idle games?

Idle games – games where waiting for extended periods is an important dynamic – are increasing in popularity. The game Neko Atsume, a mobile game about collecting cats, is an extreme example of this genre where progress can only be achieved when the game is switched off (so-called "progress while gone"). Do such waiting games engage players? To answer this, we conducted a large survey (N=1972) to understand what players are doing when they play Neko Atsume. Players are highly “engaged” in Neko Atsume as they interact with and around the game in four distinct ways: Time spent playing, Direct sociability; Social media sociability and Checking frequency. However, these characteristics of engagement in Neko Atsume do not fit well with existing models of engagement. We propose that, in future studies, game engagement in idle games could be considered as a habit which players acquire and maintain

When guanxi meets structural holes : exploring the guanxi networks of Chinese entrepreneurs on digital platforms

In this exploratory study, we investigate how Chinese entrepreneurs on digital platforms interact and leverage guanxi (a system of relationships and social network) to buffer the negative impacts of structural holes on knowledge orchestration. We develop our research model and formulate ten hypotheses by drawing on the literature. We adopt a mixed-methods research approach in which we use quantitative surveys to test the hypotheses, and qualitative interviews to explain why certain relationships are stronger in one stage of entrepreneurial development than the other. The study contributes to the literature on digital entrepreneurship in two ways. First, this study offers an initial understanding of the dynamics of guanxi networks for knowledge mobilisation and knowledge coordination across start-up and growth stages of Chinese entrepreneurs on digital platforms. Second, by drawing on the relevant literature, our findings extend the current understanding of knowledge orchestration of digital entrepreneurs and contribute to the literatures of structural holes theory and guanxi

Modeling Antecedents in Trust-Commitment Vendor Relationships

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the importance of selected antecedents (i.e., cooperation, coordination, and relationship investments) in a commitment-trust vendor relationship model. Collaboration in organizations often is not effective in relationships between purchasers and vendors because cooperation, coordination and relationship investment are lacking. Research on these constructs is very limited in interorganizational research, so this study is unique, therefore, in examining antecedents in a trust-commitment relationship model. Following examination of both first and second order modeling approaches, findings show the influence of these antecedents on trust and commitment, and ultimately vendor relationship satisfaction. All three antecedents are positively related to the higher order management factors construct, and in turn to both trust and commitment, with the stronger relationship being to commitment. Commitment and trust are both positively related to relationship satisfaction. The direct relationship from trust to satisfaction is strongest, but there is evidence of partial mediation through the indirect relationship from trust to commitment and then to satisfaction

Knowledge Creation in Marketing: The Role of Predictive Analytics

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of predictive analytics, summarize how it is impacting knowledge creation in marketing, and suggest future developments in marketing and predictive analytics for both organizations and researchers. Design/methodology/approach – Survival in a knowledge-based economy is derived from the ability to convert information to knowledge. To do so, researchers and managers increasingly are relying on the field of predictive analytics. Data mining identifies and confirms relationships between explanatory and criterion variables. Predictive analytics uses confirmed relationships between variables to predict future outcomes. The predictions are most often values suggesting the likelihood a particular behavior or event will take place in the future. Findings – Data mining and predictive analytics are increasingly popular because of the substantial contributions they can make in converting information to knowledge. Marketing is among the most frequent applications of the techniques, and whether you think about product development, advertising, distribution and retailing, or marketing research and business intelligence, data mining and predictive analytics increasingly are being applied. Originality/value – In the future, we can expect predictive analytics to increasingly be applied to databases in all fields and revolutionize the ability to identify, understand and predict future developments, data analysts will increasingly rely on mixed-data models that examine both structured (numbers)and unstructured (text and images) data, statistical tools will be more powerful and easier to use, future applications will be global and real time, demand for data analysts will increase as will the need for students to learn data analysis methods, and scholarly researchers will need to improve their quantitative skills so the large amounts of information available can be used to create knowledge instead of information overload