Channel Organization Forms, Governance Strategy and Control Mechanisms: A QCA Analysis

Physical Elements of Marketing Channel Development Marketing Channel Overview Marketing Channel Participants and Their Functions Marketing Channel Structure Channel Participants and Physical Distribution Market Characteristics and Channel Management Product And Market Management Actions and Options Organizing to Manage the Marketing Channel Responsibility Effectiveness without Authority Working with Sales and Marketing Statistics Forecasting Sales and Market Share Managing Products--Managing Markets Managing Product Issues Managing Pricing Issues Creating and Managing Marketing Programs Legal Issues In Channel Management The Marketing Channel Planning Process Competitive Analysis

Marketing channel management and the sales manager

Multinational corporations (MNCs) are adopting increasingly diverse and complex marketing channels to sell their products worldwide. They strive to manage channels that confront diverse demands from headquarters, foreign subsidiaries, and local partners as well as complex market environments. Because extant research on MNCs’ marketing channels is sparse, the authors propose an organizing framework to spur and guide research on MNC channel management. As a meta-theory that integrates economic and social elements of MNC channel management, the political economy perspective is used to propose two testable frameworks pertaining to determinants of (1) MNC marketing channel structures and processes and (2) MNC marketing channel outcomes. Building on these frameworks, the authors advance a research agenda to test substantive relationships, elaborate new constructs, and illustrate new contexts pertaining to MNC marketing channels. A set of propositions illustrates the applicability of these conceptual frameworks.

The research study was carried out to investigate the actual business performance model in herbal medicine business in Thailand. The conceptual framework was developed from resource-based theory of herbal medicine community enterprise, and other contemporaneous research in herbal medicine business performance. Accordingly, the study considered the importance of the factors of marketing channel, competitive advantage, logistics integration and innovative management. In this direction, the study employed a quantitative research approach. Questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were collected from 340 entrepreneurs of herbal community enterprise. Finally, data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the actual herbal business performance of the organizations studied through all operational links in the marketing channel, competitive advantage, logistics integration and innovative management. Results of the study found that marketing channels had a positive effect on herbal business performance. Competitive advantage also had a positive effect on herbal business performance. Furthermore, logistics performance had a positive effect on herbal business performance. Finally, similar results were found in case of innovative management which shows the positive effect on herbal business performance.

Knowing your end-customer, how they think, and how they make decisions is crucial for the effective design and management of marketing channels. In this comprehensive and engaging new textbook, Frazier demystifies strategic channel decision-making by emphasizing the basics and using real-world examples from a range of industries to demonstrate how channels of distribution are organized and coordinated. Taking a managerial decision-making approach, students are guided through the text via a range of pedagogical features, including learning objectives and key takeaways, and can test their understanding with end-of-chapter review and discussion questions. Instructors are supported by an extensive suite of online resources, including test bank cartridges, lecture slides, and figures from the book. Every chapter is accompanied by two online case studies, one B2B, one B2C, while the instructor manual brings together teaching tips, links to relevant videos, and sample exam papers, along with model answers to the chapter assessments to assist with class marking.

A marketing channel can be defined as a group of organisational units (internal and external from the point of view of a producer) which carries out functions related to the location of production distribution. Any organisational unit, notwithstanding it is an institution or agency performing one or several of these functions, is considered as a part of a marketing channel. The structure of the channel determines what functions and which organisational unit performs. A proper selection of product traffic channels requires the information where buyers are, and the number of buyers; besides it is necessary to learn the market conditions. While making decisions on marketing channels one must identify the existing situation and reason why the company should choose a certain strategy for the distribution of the production to buyers (the number and types of marketing channels, the point of production sale). The selection of the marketing channel scheme and structure takes longer than any other decision related to marketing mix elements (Svensson, 2002). Therefore, it is very important to make the right choice of the type of the channel, intermediaries and evaluate all elements of the environment which affect formation of a marketing channel. The necessity of the distribution as a specific economic activity arises from the gap, mismatch between the production of products and consumption place, time, quantity and quality (product range) (Pranulis, Pajuodis, Urbonavicius, Virvilaite, 2008). The speed of delivery, guaranteed supply and a possibility to purchase products, convenience for buyers and other things may improve the relationship between buyers and sellers and enhance consumer satisfaction. That is why companies more and more focus on marketing channel management in order to deliver products and services required by consumers on time, in the proper place and at a fair price (Frazier, 1999). Each marketing channel generates different revenues; thanks to intermediaries products are supplied to target markets in a more efficient way. By using their relationship, experience, specialisation and economy of scale, intermediaries create a value added to the product to be sold. Therefore, competitive and development possibilities of the company as well as consumer satisfaction are very much dependent on the marketing channels formed, and intermediaries chosen by the company. Benefits can be seen in reviewing marketing channels in the historical context as well. In the eighties and nineties of the last century multistage, detailed channel formation models were suggested. Recently simpler 4 - 6-step, more universal models are prevailing. The geography of marketing channels management is expanding too: empirical tests on the principles of marketing channel formation have been made in Central and Eastern European countries (Lorentz, Wong, Hilmola, 2007), in Asia (Liu, Tao, Li, El-Ansary, 2008). Channel formation is also affected by modern technologies: a possibility to purchase products on internet, various novelties in the area of logistics. A variety of retail trade forms offers the consumer wider opportunities of choosing the product and the producer to select the most appropriate marketing channel from a wider range of channels of various forms, length, and width (Yan, 2010). Moreover, the decision of a consumer is more and more influenced by the environmental aspects of the product or service, social responsibility of producers and intermediaries (Juscius, Snieska, 2008). http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.22.3.522

Marketing Channel Management in Foreign Markets: Integrative Framework for Multinational Corporations

This journal provides a contemporary overview of distribution and marketing channel management, addressing related strategies, challenges, and innovations. The article delineates recent developments in efforts to enhance distribution efficiency and marketing channel effectiveness amidst the continually evolving market dynamics. Newly proposed and implemented strategies by various companies are presented, along with an analysis of the key challenges faced in managing distribution and marketing channels. Furthermore, technological innovations playing a pivotal role in improving operational performance are discussed. By detailing these concepts, this journal offers profound insights to readers on current trends and future directions in distribution and marketing channel management.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to adopt “whole network” perspective and analyzes the governance and control mechanisms in the Universal Postal Union (UPU), one of the oldest and largest inter-governmental networks, through the lens of institutional entrepreneurship theory. The purpose is to introduce a typology of network governance forms to the accounting literature and to analyze the governance and management control mechanisms within the UPU, a “participatory federation” (Provan, 1983) type of network that has managed the challenges of collective collaboration since 1875.Design/methodology/approach– The study benefits from unlimited access to all archival materials of the UPU such as minutes of Congress and committee meetings since 1875 as well as secondary documents and market studies related to the postal sector. The data reported in this study are derived from the archives of the UPU in Berne, Switzerland and interviews conducted with senior officials.Findings– Drawing on the work of Provan (1983) and Provan and Kenis (2008) the authors identify five “ideal type” network governance forms based on such variables as differences in the relative power of network participants and whether these networks have arisen spontaneously or due to external coercion, the authors classify the UPU as a “participatory federation.” Within the theoretical boundaries of this typology the authors identify the multi level governance structures and the use of management control mechanisms by each level of governance. The authors introduce a distinction between the “network constitutional organization” that focusses on the socialization of network members and strategy-level orchestration of the overall network and the “network administrative organization” (NAO) that mobilizes management accounting and control mechanisms to monitor, encourage and facilitate member collaboration. The authors propose that control within a participatory federation is enacted through collective entrepreneurship by governance bodies using management accounting and control mechanisms as institutional carriers.Research limitations/implications– The paper is focussed on the current state of the UPU’s network structure and processes and did not explore the dynamics around the emergence of the different network governance and control mechanisms. An exploration of the collective construction by network participants of the need for these mechanisms would provide insights into how they emerge and might lead to a better understanding of the role of NAOs in networks.Practical implications– The paper highlights the challenges faced by collaborative networks and identifies enabling characteristics of a participatory federation’s governance bodies. The empirical observations within the context of the UPU contribute to the theoretical understanding of the desirable characteristics of participatory federations that might be applicable to similar public and private collaborative networksOriginality/value– This study expands the knowledge of management accounting and control systems in networks. It bridges a gap in the accounting literature by adopting a “whole network” perspective and by differentiating types of network governance structures that use management accounting and control systems. This contributes to the understanding of accounting and control across the full range of organizational forms.

Marketing channel strategy – one of the “Four P's” of the marketing mix (“place,” along with product, price, and promotion) – comprises the set of decisions made, and structures created, that help move a manufacturer's product or service from its place of manufacturer to the ultimate end‐user. Channel design and management involves long‐term attention to end‐users' demands not only for the firm's products, but also for the services the channel can offer; the necessity to manage the significant costs that distribution inflicts on the company, through judicious allocation of responsibility for channel flow performance to the chosen members of the channel; and the ability to maintain channel partners' positive incentives and motivations to execute on the specified channel design. Unlike the other three “P's,” it inherently involves collaboration and interaction among multiple corporate entities, all in the pursuit of a single goal: profitable end‐user sales. This article lays out the key elements of effective channel design and channel management.

Social channel is the main component of telecom operators' marketing channel. Channel loyalty has become an important issue of telecom operators' channel management, with especially significant research and practical value under the environment that competition increases and services homogenates seriously among three full-service telecom operators. In order to study the connotation of channel loyalty, relates to existing research about loyalty and enterprise investigation, general concept of channel loyalty is defined, structure model is established, measurement method of the channel loyalty is set up and empirical analysis has been done.

Firms doing business in foreign institutional environments face pressures to gain social acceptance (commonly referred to as legitimacy) and difficulty in evaluating market information, both of which undercut firm performance. In this article, the authors argue that firms can design governance strategies to deal with foreign institutions to secure both social acceptance and firm performance. Using a Chinese sample of manufacturers that export products to various foreign markets through local distributors, the authors develop and test a model that bridges the effects of institutional environments and governance strategy on channel performance. Specifically, they find that firms can use two governance strategies, contract customization and relational governance, to deal with both legitimacy and efficiency issues and to safeguard channel performance. Thus, international channel managers are advised to maintain an integrated management of legitimacy and efficiency in foreign marketing channels.

Introduction. The article examines the theoretical principles and practical approaches to the formation and management of distribution channels of an agricultural enterprise. The necessity of coordination of planning processes and functioning of each participant of the channel of distribution of agricultural products and functions, and, accordingly, the profit, as a reward for their performance, among the participants of the marketing channel is proven. Goal. The purpose of the article is to generalize the theoretical principles and practical approaches to the development of an algorithm for the formation and management of the product distribution channel by an agricultural enterprise with an orientation to long-term partnership between participants. Method (methodology). The following scientific methods of knowledge are used in the article: theoretical generalization, systematization, logical-structural, comparative and cause-and-effect analysis when formulating tasks, conclusions, as well as clarifying the concepts that determine the process and structure of product distribution, substantiating the requirements for the product distribution management model on agricultural enterprise levels; when systematizing and clarifying the principles of management of distribution channels; general scientific methods of research - analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction, formalization of criteria in the development of a management model for the distribution channel of agricultural products. The results. Approaches to the formation and management of product distribution channels are summarized, their advantages and disadvantages are systematized, on the basis of which the most rational algorithm for their formation by an agricultural enterprise is substantiated. The need to take into account the peculiarities of agricultural production and other factors that affect the organization of distribution channels has been proven. When analyzing them, it is advisable to list them in order of decreasing their impact on productivity. In order to evaluate the marketing channel of distribution, it is advisable to form an appropriate system of indicators and set their threshold values. The main principles of distribution channel management are systematized, which will allow implementing a marketing approach in distribution management. Qualitative interrelationships of changes in distribution channel parameters with changes in the resulting indicators of channel functioning have been determined, which should be calculated and given an economic interpretation, with the aim of forming a generalized opinion about the rational structure of the distribution channel and directions for its optimization. The algorithm for forming the distribution channel is substantiated, which is based on the use of the advantages of the analyzed methods and consists of several stages, each of which includes several sublevels and has an iterative nature. It has been proven that when forming a distribution channel, it is advisable to select channel participants and distribute functions among them, and accordingly costs and profits, taking into account the minimization of possible conflicts between participants, which will contribute to the manifestation of a synergistic effect and the formation of long-term partnership relations.

Purpose: Although channel influence strategies such as reward and punishment are useful for firms to manage certain channel partners, the social effect of these strategies has not been examined in the literature. In practice, firms selectively announce their reward and punishment decisions, hoping that these announcements can help encourage or prevent the channel behaviors of other channel members. The main purpose of this article is to provide a theoretical understanding of this business practice in channel management. Methodology: The authors conducted interviews and a scenario experiment with sales managers. The experiment is a 2 (degree of institutionalization: high vs. low) × 2 (power of distributors: powerful vs. less powerful) × 2 (influence strategy: punishment vs. reward) design. Findings: The authors found that firms are more likely to announce their reward decisions than punishment decisions. Also, when institutionalization of marketing channel is low, firms tend to announce all their reward decisions, but they are reluctant to announce their punishment decisions regarding powerful channel members. When institutionalization of marketing channel is high, we find that firms are more likely to announce rewards and punishments regarding less powerful channel members. Contribution: An important contribution of this research is that we are among the first to explore the social effects of power exercise in channel management. We extend the channel power literature by arguing that selective announcements of power exercise (reward and punishment) can influence more channel members. In addition, we combine institutional theory and channel power theory to explain the underlying mechanisms. That is, the degree of institutionalization in marketing channel influences how firms make selective public announcements of their channel decisions.

Chapter 1: Foundations of Strategic Marketing Management Chapter 2: Financial Aspects of Marketing Management Chapter 3: Marketing Decision Making and Case Analysis Chapter 4: Opportunity Analysis, Market Segmentation, and Market Targeting Chapter 5: Product and Service Strategy and Brand Management Chapter 6: Integrated Marketing Communication Strategy and Management Chapter 7: Marketing Channel and Supply Chain Strategy and Management Chapter 8: Pricing Strategy and Management Chapter 9: Marketing Strategy Reformulation: The Control Process Chapter 10: Global Marketing Strategy and Management