An Examination of Student Loans, Partisanship and Complaining Behavior: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

This research examines consumer complaints within a government-to-consumer context. The study is focused on two highly discussed topics, student loans and partisanship. While student loans are widely promoted to college students, outstanding U.S. student loan debt trails only consumer debt. Similarly, a stark contrast exists between the views of the two major political parties within the U.S. Our examination provides a nuanced view of partisanship and its effect on complaining behaviors within the student loan realm. Specifically, our study investigates whether partisanship affects the level of student loan complaints submitted to a federal agency initiated during partisan division. Our contributions include the use of a diverse, integrated database that enables insights into complaining behaviors within an understudied area, the government-to-consumer context

Social media and customer relationship management technologies: Influencing buyer-seller information exchanges

Highlights Social media and CRM technology aid salespeople in market sensing and customer-linking activities. Social media utilization enhance the competitive information collection abilities of the seller. CRM techpositively affects seller product information communication, which enablesbuyer information sharing intentions. Sellers capture value from buyers by CRM utilization. Seller experience has significant moderating and explanatory power regarding the use of sales technology. Abstract Due to the increasing array of sales technology, salespeople must understand how each application assists them. This study examines how business-to-business salespeople use different forms of sales technology to meet their boundary-spanning roles. Our research draws from social exchange theory and task-technology fit theory to test a model that examines how salespeople use CRM and social media technologies differentially to support competitive information collection, product information communication, and buyer information sharing. Dyadic data from industrial buyers and sellers is used to analyze the technology-behavior relationships. Our study\u27s results reveal social media use and CRM technology both positively influence buyer-seller information exchanges; however, each technology takes a distinct route to enable the information exchange between the buyer and the seller. The results also suggest that managers need to champion the use of both technology applications to their salesforce

Salesperson ambidexterity and customer satisfaction: examining the role of customer demandingness, adaptive selling, and role conflict

This research investigates the effects of sales-service ambidexterity on salesperson role perceptions, behaviors, and customer satisfaction. Using a business-to-business, salesperson-customer sample, we build and test a model which highlights both the positive and negative consequences of this simultaneous goal pursuit. Specifically, while sales-service ambidexterity positively impacts adaptive selling behaviors, it also increases perceptions of role conflict among salespeople. Customer demandingness moderates these relationships. Taken together, the results provide insights for firms on how to manage their sales force to optimize both sales and service outcomes based on characteristics of their salespeople and customers

Dispersion of marketing capabilities: Impact on marketing’s influence and business unit outcomes

The marketing function of firms continues to evolve into many configurations, including the dispersion of marketing capabilities. This study evaluates the effects on the marketing function’s influence when marketing capabilities are dispersed across multiple boundaries. Using a sample of marketing executives, we study the effects of two forms of marketing capabilities dispersion: intra-organizational dispersion and inter-organizational dispersion. We examine the impact of these forms on marketing’s perceived influence within the firm. We also investigate marketing’s influence on customer responsiveness, along with three distal outcomes: marketing strategy implementation success, relationship portfolio effectiveness, and business unit performance. Our findings reveal that marketing’s influence may actually heighten or diminish, depending on the form of marketing capability dispersion. Further, we contribute to findings regarding marketing’s influence on business unit performance. The results provide a new lens for scholars to view and measure marketing dispersion and offer guidance to practitioners

The dispersion of marketing capabilities and its effects on marketing strategy execution, business relationships and business unit performance

The marketing field is increasingly recognizing that marketing capabilities and competencies are being dispersed outside the confines of a centralized marketing department and across multiple boundaries. The marketing discipline, as a whole, is grappling in its attempts to understand the effects of dispersion. Yet, empirical work focusing on marketing dispersion has been relatively limited in its perspectives. The goal of this dissertation is to broaden the current understanding of marketing dispersion—specifically the dispersion of marketing capabilities (i.e. the firm\u27s abilities and knowledge that are developed and maintained from and within its organizational processes). To meet this goal, a new multi-faceted psychometric tool for measuring dispersion is developed and tested within a path model. Using a sample of marketing managers and executives, the model examines aspects of a business unit\u27s internal and external environment that may influence the degree to which a business unit disperses it marketing capabilities. Similarly, the effects of marketing capability dispersion on marketing strategy execution, business relationships and business unit performance are tested. Finally, structural and coordination mechanisms are tested as moderating conditions on the relationship between dispersion and its consequents. The findings suggest that both the internal and external environment affect the dispersion of marketing capabilities. Specifically, the business unit\u27s longstanding belief in the value of relationships, relational proclivity, and its market and technological environment both increase the degree to which a business unit disperses its marketing capabilities. Second, dispersion affects marketing strategy execution, relationship portfolio effectiveness and business unit performance. Finally, the degree of centralization within the business unit serves as a boundary condition between dispersion and business unit performance

Tensions within the sales ecosystem: a multi-level examination of the sales-marketing interface

Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand one portion of the sales ecological system. This paper focuses on the mesolevel or intra-organizational system that includes the sales and marketing functions. This paper examines distinct tensions at three levels of the firm’s hierarchy and the mechanisms used to manage the tensions. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a qualitative data collection. A discovery-oriented process is used to understand the interconnections that exist among marketing-sales dyads at three organizational levels across several firms. Findings This paper uncovers distinct tensions and defenses exhibited by managers at each hierarchical level and this paper presents mechanisms that can are used to reduce the tensions. Research limitations/implications The multi-level perspective demonstrates the value of examining the intra-organizational aspect of the sales ecosystem. This paper uses a qualitative approach to highlight that sales-marketing tensions are unique to each of the hierarchical levels. This paper demonstrates that the tensions are a function of the unique roles each sales and marketing executive has within the organization. Practical implications To make the sales and marketing interface more effective, managers need to view tensions across the sales-marketing interface as complementary versus opposing forces. Managers must balance these tensions, rather than fight them and/or select one of the alternatives over the other. This paper suggests that paradoxical thinking may be a valued skillset for managers at each level of the organization. Originality/value The study uses a unique qualitative data set that examines the sales-marketing interface across three levels of an organizational hierarchy. Through this approach, this paper delineates specific tensions between marketing and sales within each level of the firm. This paper also describes mechanisms to manage the tensions common within the sales-marketing interface

Salesperson Networking Behaviors And Creativity: Exploring An Unconventional Relationship

A great deal of emerging research explores the antecedents and outcomes of salesperson creativity. However, relatively fewer scholarly endeavors have delved into assessing the social antecedents of salesperson creativity. Addressing this issue, the current research focuses on the link between one critical social antecedent in sales research, namely that of networking behaviors, and creativity among salespeople. Specifically, we include customer and professional networking behaviors and study their direct, interactive, and curvilinear effects on salesperson creativity. Empirical findings show that professional networking as well as customer networking are positively related to salesperson creativity. Further, we demonstrate the non-linear effects of professional networking on the salesperson’s creativity. Finally, we report that the salesperson’s creativity is positively related to adaptive selling. These findings suggest that salesperson networking behaviors must be examined and carefully leveraged to gain tactical advantages

Value Creation Within The Sales-Marketing Interface: The Varied Approaches to Integration

While integration within the sales-marketing interface is critical in order to create value for their customer base, the sales-marketing interface varies across fi rms. Hence, integration may, in fact, take different forms. This is due, in part, to the varied role of marketing across fi rms. Using a grounded theory approach and depth interview data collected from forty-three sales and marketing executives, this study unravels the varied meaning of integration. Specifically, we find the diverse roles the marketing function plays within the fi rm; and that the conceptualization of sales-marketing integration construct is sensitive to the context within which it is examined. Additionally, we highlight that sales marketing integration may not always be as important for value creation, in certain contexts. Hence, we provide a new lens to sales-marketing integration and its importance in the value-creation process. Managerial implications of study findings are also suggested