Industrial Marketing Management最新文献

Sustainability is at the top of the agenda of most tech companies. Specifically, tech companies increasingly utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to meet their sustainability goals. However, little is known about how tech companies can leverage AI to accelerate sustainability by formulating and implementing appropriate strategies. To better understand the intertwined nature of AI and sustainability from a strategy perspective, this research conceptually develops a novel AI x Sustainability framework by drawing from the nested sustainability model and integrating insights from different literature streams. It then applies this framework to six leading Big Tech companies (i.e., Amazon, Google, IBM, Meta, Microsoft, and SAP) by conducting a comprehensive document analysis of 69 documents describing 244 individual AI x Sustainability initiatives to reveal whether and how these companies appear to follow specific AI x Sustainability strategies. Lastly, an exploratory survey with potential tech companies' clients (N = 192) sheds light on how clients perceive tech companies' communicated strategic positioning based on the framework. The research provides new theoretical insights, serves as a blueprint for other tech companies, including implications for their AI x Sustainability positioning, and offers a variety of future research directions.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing every facet of the business landscape. Early adopter firms have implemented AI for various reasons, but the number one benefit realized is increased innovation (Jyoti & Riley, 2022). Early adopters of AI for new product development (NPD) not only demonstrate that AI finds many applications in NPD, but also offers substantial payoffs. This AI revolution is coming fast, estimated to have a 13–15 year window of adoption, peaking before the end of this decade.

This article focuses on AI applications in three target areas in the new product process, where the need for better solutions is high, and the applications for AI show significant benefits. They are: 1) idea generation and concept creation and testing; 2) building a robust business case leading to better “go-to-development” investment decisions; and 3) the design, engineering, development, and testing of the product. AI applications in each of these three target areas are described briefly, along with some in-depth case illustrations of AI at work in NPD, and the benefits achieved by leading firms. These benefits include a remarkable reduction in development and testing times; optimally designed products; better and more appealing new product ideas and concepts; and more effective and productive voice-of-customer studies.

Despite the reported benefits of AI in NPD, the adoption rate is quite low, about 13% across firms globally (McKinsey, 2023); thus, AI for NPD was in the “early adopter” stage of the Rogers diffusion of innovation curve by early 2023. Impediments to adoption are outlined, based on numerous studies: the lack of a strong business case; high perceived costs of adoption; the lack of corporate readiness and the right mindset; and risks and ethical issues.

High uncertainties remain regarding the adoption of AI in NPD, and many unknowns still exist; thus, numerous opportunities for academic research are identified in the form of research questions begging to be answered. The article ends with a call to action, aimed at both practitioners and academics: AI is the most significant innovation in our lifetime! It's time we all got on board.

Data breaches are becoming a growing concern causing customer data vulnerability levels to increase. Arguably, data breach vulnerabilities are more detrimental in business-to-business (B2B) rather than in business-to-consumer (B2C) settings; yet more is known about B2C than B2B. Building on social contract theory, this research explores the impact of buyer data breach vulnerability if a buyer or buyer firm's information is compromised by a major supplier. An empirical model is proposed and tested. Results from 606 B2B buyers indicate that buyer vulnerabilities reduce buyer trust, whereas it increases their level of dissatisfaction, and their intent to take protective actions and switch to another supplier. Buyer trust increases relationship commitment and brand reputation, while dissatisfaction decreases them. Trust and dissatisfaction fully mediate the relationship from vulnerability to relationship commitment and brand reputation. Loss of a buyer's (buyer’ firm) information impacts not only (supplier-) buyer-related outcomes but also (buyer-) supplier-related outcomes, indicating spillover effects. Furthermore, results indicate the moderating effects of the affected party (whose information is compromised) on the buyer- and supplier-related outcomes as well as relationship quality factors. These findings indicate that B2B data breaches can have detrimental consequences. To mitigate these negative outcomes, managers should emphasize building and sustaining relationship quality, as well as employ good privacy practices through transparent and clear policies and giving users control of their data. An appropriate communication plan to inform the victims of the data breach may also help mitigate the effects of data loss.

Previous studies have addressed social media adoption in business-to-business (B2B) contexts, but limited research has focused on understanding social media marketing assimilation in the B2B context. Using an integrative model, this study examines how top management participation influences the assimilation of social media in the key marketing areas of product development, pricing decision-making, channel management, and promotion. Furthermore, it examines the resulting impact of these assimilations on B2B firms' performance, particularly in respect of sales performance and relationship development. The study also examines the moderating impact of absorptive capacity on top management participation in the assimilation processes. The findings reveal that top management participation strongly influences social media assimilation into marketing functions. However, the impact of social media assimilation on B2B firms' performance is varied. While assimilation for channel management positively impacts both sales performance and relationship development, assimilation for product development is only positively related to relationship development. Conversely, assimilation into the functions of pricing decisions and promotion activities shows no significant impact on either sales performance or relationship development. Finally, absorptive capacity positively moderates top management participation in social media assimilation into all key marketing functions except one. The theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed.

In business-to-business (B2B) marketing, implementation of the customer value proposition (CVP) is complex and involves many factors. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with B2B sales representatives (n = 251) to extend the literature and provide guidance to practitioners about allocating organizational resources to improve CVP implementation and organizational commitment. We tested a structural model that evaluates the influence of market orientation, management support, CVP training, and salesperson customer orientation on CVP implementation. We also assessed the influence of CVP training, salesperson customer orientation, and CVP implementation on salesperson organizational commitment. We found that a firm's market orientation and management support play a key role in effective CVP implementation. Also, CVP training, while not an indicator of CVP implementation, enhances salesperson organizational commitment. We also found CVP implementation to be significantly related to salesperson organizational commitment. Finally, salesperson customer orientation has a positive effect on organizational commitment, but a significant negative relationship with CVP implementation. Implications of these results and directions for future research also are offered.

Data-centric B2B platforms are platforms where multiple B2B users relate and manage data for creating value. Despite the growing academic and industrial interest in these platforms, the existing research does not adequately investigate (i) who are the sides managing data within data-centric B2B platforms, (ii) what activities they perform to manage data within data-centric B2B platforms, and (iii) how their relationships aimed are governed within data-centric B2B platforms. Consequently, how data-centric B2B platforms create value (i.e., who they involve, what activities they allow to do, and how they manage sides' relationships) remains unclear. To address this gap, this paper analyzes the cases of three data-centric B2B platforms (i.e., MindSphere, Skywise, Open-es). Authors (i) categorize the sides managing data on these platforms (i.e., clients, providers, enablers), (ii) identify how these sides relate to perform data acquisition and manipulation activities, and (iii) illustrate the specific governance mechanisms supporting these relationships. Finally, a model discusses the goals, the transactional and innovation behaviors, and value creation mechanisms in data-centric B2B platforms. By adopting a value creation perspective of data-centric B2B platforms, this paper contributes to both theoretical and managerial debates surrounding B2B platforms.

Today, businesses are facing increasing demands from the customers and strong competitive pressure. Firms must continuously deliver value and satisfy customer demands to survive and maintain growth in the market. In this regard, organizations are implementing Industry 4.0 (I4) technologies to satisfy customer requirements, deliver value and sustain in the market. This study examines how strategic orientations (market and technology orientation) influence firms to adopt I4 technologies, and how I4 technologies can help to deliver customer value and improve firm performance. To this end, the study posits that adoption of I4 technologies develops innovation capability, which can lead to desired performance outcomes (innovation and market performance). The proposed model is examined using survey responses from 154 US industrial firms. Findings show that market and technology orientation have significant effect on adoption of I4 technologies, and partial mediation effect of technology orientation between market orientation and adoption of I4 technologies. Further, I4 technologies help to build innovation capability, which improves performance outcomes. The study provides implications for managers in industrial firms with regard to understanding the key facets of I4 technologies.

Salespeople can gain valuable knowledge from within their own firm to improve performance with customers. Despite this, salespeople's knowledge sourcing from various internal sources and personnel and the relationship of this to performance remains largely unexplored. Following a mixed-methods approach, Study 1 employs qualitative investigation to outline the distinct types of knowledge salespeople source from three distinct internal groups, namely (i) sales colleagues, (ii) sales managers and the (iii) internal business team (IBT), as well as several contingencies potentially impacting the effectiveness of knowledge-sourcing. To test hypotheses developed from Study 1, Study 2 empirically investigates the performance effects of salespeople sourcing knowledge from sales and non-sales IBT members via B2B salesperson survey data (n = 211). Results indicate an inverted U-shaped relationship between knowledge sourcing from sales colleagues and salesperson performance, with curvilinear performance-relationships identified in terms of knowledge sourcing from sales managers and the IBT, as these are moderated by market-level variables. The research provides overdue insights on the still little-understood internal dimension of selling, while helping managers determine which knowledge-sourcing they should – and should not – encourage.