Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology promises to transform supply chain management. Building on previous research in information systems and supply chain management, this paper proposes a theoretical framework for RFID adoption and benefits, and tests the framework using data on u.s. firms. Our analysis suggests that there is a positive association between information technology (IT) application deployment and RFID adoption. We find that RFID implementation spending and partner mandate are associated with an expectation of early return on RFID investment, and a perceived lack of industry-wide standards is associated with an expectation of delayed return on RFID investment. These results suggest that firms with broad IT application deployment and a critical mass of RFID implementation spending are more likely to report early returns from RFID deployments. This paper extends previous research to understand the relationship between organization characteristics and adoption and expected benefits of the emerging RFID technology.

Extant research on high-performance work systems (HPWSs) has primarily examined the effects of HPWSs on establishment or firm-level performance from a management perspective in manufacturing settings. The current study extends this literature by differentiating management and employee perspectives of HPWSs and examining how the two perspectives relate to employee individual performance in the service context. Data collected in three phases from multiple sources involving 292 managers, 830 employees, and 1,772 customers of 91 bank branches revealed significant differences between management and employee perspectives of HPWSs. There were also significant differences in employee perspectives of HPWSs among employees of different employment statuses and among employees of the same status. Further, employee perspective of HPWSs was positively related to individual general service performance through the mediation of employee human capital and perceived organizational support and was positively related to individual knowledge-intensive service performance through the mediation of employee human capital and psychological empowerment. At the same time, management perspective of HPWSs was related to employee human capital and both types of service performance. Finally, a branch's overall knowledge-intensive service performance was positively associated with customer overall satisfaction with the branch's service. Keywords: strategic human resource management, high-performance work systems for service quality, human capital and motivation, employee performance, customer satisfaction A large body of strategic human resource management (HRM) research suggests that the use of high-performance work systems (HPWSs), or systems of human resource (HR) practices designed to enhance employees' competencies, motivation, and performance, is associated with lower employee turnover rates (e.g., Huselid, 1995), higher labor productivity The primary objective of this study was to address these issues. First, given that there may be a disconnection between what managers and companies say they do as formal practices of the HPWS and what individual employees actually experience, in this study we examined employee perspective with the HPWS in addition to the management perspective. Second, we integrated macro-and micro-level HRM research to examine the influence of 371 HPWS on individual performance and to understand the psychological processes through which the influence materializes. Third, we examined whether unit-level employee overall service performance translates into an important performance metric for service organizations, specifically, customer satisfaction. In what follows, we first integrate strategic HRM and the service management literature to discuss what an HPWS entails in the service context and then discuss the importance of understanding the system from the employees' perspective as well as the psychological processes through which such a system operates to influence individual employees' service performance and, ultimately, customer satisfaction. High-Performance Work System for Service Quality As noted by management theorists, there are two basic strategies for service organizations. The first is to focus on minimizing costs and use a mass production approach in accordance with scientific Taylorism The nature of services, including simultaneity of service production and consumption, intangibility of service processes and outcomes, and customer involvement in service production 1 This conceptualization of the HPWS for service quality captures the foundation HRM issues deemed important for service delivery in

Although the initial euphoria about Internet-enabled reverse auctions has given way to a cautious but widespread use of reverse auctions in business-to-business (B2B) procurement, there is a limited understanding of the effect of auction design parameters on buyer surplus. In this paper, we study the effect of bidding competition, information asymmetry, reserve price, bid decrement, auction duration, and bidder type on buyer surplus. We collected field data on more than 700 online procurement auctions conducted by a leading auctioneer and involving procurement items worth millions of dollars. Consistent with the predictions of auction theory, the results indicate that bidding competition, reserve price, and information sharing affect buyer surplus. Unlike previous findings in the consumerto-consumer context, we find that bid decrement and auction duration have no effect in B2B procurement auctions. Our results suggest that use of the rank-bidding format increases buyer surplus when incumbent suppliers participate in the auction. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of these findings for future research and for optimal design of online procurement auctions. Key words: business value of information technology; supply chain management; buyer surplus; reverse auctions; internet-enabled procurement auctions

Given the growth of the service sector, and advances in information technology and communications that facilitate the management of relationships with customers, models of service and relationships are a fast-growing area of marketing science. This article summarizes existing work in this area and identifies promising topics for future research. Models of service and relationships can help managers manage service more efficiently, customize service more effectively, manage customer satisfaction and relationships, and model the financial impact of those customer relationships. Models for managing service have often emphasized analyt-ical approaches to pricing, but emerging issues such as the trade-off between privacy and customization are attracting increasing attention. The trade-offs between productivity and customization have also been addressed by both analytical and empirical models, but future research in the area of service customization will likely place increased emphasis on e-service and truly personalized interactions. Relationship models will focus less on models of customer expectations and length of relationship, and more on modeling the effects of dynamic marketing interventions with individual customers. The nature of service relationships increasingly leads to financial impact being assessed within customer and across product, rather than the traditional reverse, suggesting the increasing importance of analyzing customer lifetime value (CLV) and managing the firm’s customer equity.

Abstract It has often been argued that word-of-mouth (WOM) can contribute significantly to a firm’s success in a variety of ways. Here, we analyze the functional linkage between customer satisfaction, WOM, and new customer acquisition. Using data from two empirical studies we conceptualize and test the direct, non-linear, and moderated relationship between satisfaction and WOM. We further explore the circumstances under which WOM leads to new customer acquisition using a logistic regression model. We do so for two groups (new customers and long-term customers) from the customer base of a large energy provider (n=688), and for a random sample of B2B customers (n=416) in the same market. Results indicate that the satisfaction-WOM link is non-linear and is moderated by several customer involvement dimensions. Based on our results, we demonstrate how the satisfaction-WOM-new customer acquisition link can enrich return on quality and satisfaction models. Further, we draw conclu-sions about how companies can make use of both the satisfaction-WOM and the WOM-new customer acquisition link for better allocating their marketing resources.

engineering, marketing, and general management positions with Tata Steel and Tata Ryerson in India. He is primarily interested in understanding how IT contributes to firm performance and how firms can better manage their IT resources. His research has appeared or is forthcoming in the Journal of Management Information Systems,

this research over many years. The considerable contribution of Nick Spencer is also very much appreciated, but the authors alone are responsible for the interpretations provided. What Happens to Gazelles? The Importance of Dynamic Management Strategy This paper develops a theory of dynamic management strategies, which is subsequently applied to a group of remarkably dynamic, high-growth firms: gazelles. The theory emphasises the importance of firms adjusting strategies in response to changes in the external environment, and explains several key empirical findings using a novel British data set containing information on over 100 gazelles. These findings include (i) why Gibrat’s Law of random firm growth processes does not generally hold, (ii) which strategy and environmental variables have a predictable influence on firm performance, and (iii) why routine application of ‘best practice ’ strategies is unlikely to foster firm growth in a changing economic environment. In so doing, this paper contributes to the large literatures on small-firm growth What explains di¤erences in growth rates between …rms? There have been

Coltman, T., Devinney, T. M. & Midgley, D. F. (2011). Customer relationship management and firm performance. Journal of

This paper develops a conceptual model to study the role of outsourcing strategies and plant-level information technology (IT) application infrastructure in the outsourcing of production and support business processes, as well as their subsequent impact on overall plant performance. We validate this model empirically using cross-sectional survey data from U.S. manufacturing plants. We find that some IT applications are more effective at enabling the outsourcing of business processes than others. For example, the implementation of enterprise management systems is associated with the outsourcing of both production and support processes, whereas operations management systems are not associated with the outsourcing of plant processes. Plants with a low-cost outsourcing strategy are more likely to outsource support processes than plants with a competency-focused outsourcing strategy. However, both cost- and competency-based strategies have a positive and similar impact on the outsourcing of production processes. In terms of implications for plant performance, our findings indicate that the outsourcing of production and support processes is associated with higher gross margins. Although plant IT infrastructure is positively associated with favorable on-time delivery rates, there is no positive association between the incidence of plant outsourcing and on-time delivery rates. These results have implications for crafting plant-level outsourcing strategies and for investments in IT systems to facilitate

a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Profit growth is one of the primary drivers of a firm's stock price and therefore is a clear priority for managers. Yet little is known about how a firm's marketing capabilities may be linked with its profit growth. In this study, we use data from a cross-industry sample of 114 firms to investigate how market sensing, brand management, and customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities determine firms' revenue growth and margin growth-the two components of profit growth. Our results reveal that these marketing capabilities have direct and complementary effects on both revenue and margin growth rates. Critically, we find that brand management and CRM capabilities have opposing effects on revenue and margin growth rates, such that a failure to examine these two underlying components would mask the relationships between these marketing capabilities and ultimate profit growth rates.