Customer concentration, relationship, and debt contracting

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziyun Yang

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of a firm’s customer base concentration on its loan contract terms and how this effect varies with the strength of its customer relationship. Design/methodology/approach This study is an archival research based on a sample of US public firms that have loan contract data between 1990 and 2008. Major customer sales data are used to construct customer concentration and customer relationship measures. A debt contract model is employed to relate loan spread and other contract terms to customer concentration and relationship. Findings This study finds that firms with more concentrated customer bases have higher loan spread and shorter loan maturity and are more likely to issue secured loans. These negative effects disappear when the supplier firm maintains strong relationship with its customers. Research limitations/implications Additional forward-looking measure of customer relationship could benefit future research. Practical implications A firm’s customer base characteristics can have significant impacts on the terms of its loan contracts. Findings from this study support the notion that customer relationship is an important intangible asset that is informative to stakeholders of the firm. Originality/value This study proposes a new measure of customer relationship based on the past repeated relationships between a firm and its major customers. It shows that customer characteristics may affect firms’ contracts with creditors: customer base concentration increases credit risk whereas strong customer relationship improves credit quality.

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor Kotlyar ◽  
Leonard Karakowsky ◽  
Mary Jo Ducharme ◽  
Janet A. Boekhorst

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine how status-based labels, based on future capabilities, can impact people's risk tolerance in decision making. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper the authors developed and tested theoretical arguments using a set of three studies employing a scenario-based approach and a total of 449 undergraduate business students. Findings – The findings suggest that labeling people in terms of future capabilities can trigger perceptions of public scrutiny and influence their risk preferences. Specifically, the results reveal that individuals who are recipients of high-status labels tend to choose lower risk decision options compared to their peers. Research limitations/implications – The study employed scenarios to examine the issue of employee labeling. The extent to which these scenarios have truly captured the dynamics of labeling is questionable, and future research should employ a field-based study to examine whether the reported effect can be observed in a “real” work context. Practical implications – Organizations are concerned about their future leadership capacity and often attempt to grow leadership talent by identifying high-potential employees early on. The results of this study suggest that such practice may have an unintentional negative effect of reducing high-potentials’ tolerance toward risky decision making, thus potentially impacting these future leaders’ decision making in the realm of corporate strategy, R&D, etc. Originality/value – The issue of how labeling individuals in terms of future capabilities can impact their risk preference has been largely ignored by organizational research. This paper suggests that the popular practice of identifying high-potential employees may have unintentional negative effects by lowering their risk tolerance.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pasquale Del Vecchio ◽  
Gioconda Mele ◽  
Evangelia Siachou ◽  
Gloria Schito

PurposeThis paper aims to advance the international marketing debate by presenting the results of a structured literature review (SLR) focusing on Big Data implementation in customer relationship management (CRM) strategizing. It outlines past and present literature and frames a future research agenda.Design/methodology/approachThe research analyzes papers published in journals from 2013 to 2020, deriving significant insights about Big Data applications in CRM. A sample of 48 articles indexed at Scopus was preliminarily submitted for bibliometric analysis. Finally, 46 papers were analyzed with content and a bibliometric analysis to identify areas of thematic specializations.FindingsThe paper presents a conceptual multilevel framework demonstrating areas of specialization emerging from the literature. The framework is built around four coordinated sequences of actions relevant to “why,” “what,” “who” and “how” Big Data is implemented in CRM strategies, thus supporting the conception and implementation of an internationalization marketing strategy.Research limitations/implicationsImplications for the development of the future research agenda on international marketing arise from the comprehension of Big Data in CRM strategy.Originality/valueThe paper provides a comprehensive SLR of the articles dealing with models and processes of Big Data for CRM from an international marketing perspective. Despite these issues' relevance and the increasing literature focused on them, research in this area is still fragmented and underexplored, requiring more systematic and holistic studies.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Tidbury ◽  
Steven F. Cahan ◽  
Li Chen

Purpose Board faultlines, which reflect intrinsic divisions of board members into relatively homogeneous subgroups, are associated with poor firm performance. This paper aims to extend the existing board faultline research by examining how acquisition deal size moderates the negative implications of board faultlines. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a sample of acquisitions and a quantitative research approach to conduct statistical analysis. Findings Using a sample of acquisitions announced between 2007 and 2016, this paper finds evidence suggesting that strong faultlines are associated with poorer acquisition outcomes in the long-term, but not in the short term. Further, this paper finds that the effect of faultline strength on long-term acquisition outcomes is weaker for larger acquisition deals than smaller acquisition deals. The findings are consistent with deal size moderating the relation between faultlines and acquisition outcomes. Research limitations/implications This paper addresses possible endogeneity through firm fixed effects and instrumental variable analysis. Although this paper provides evidence on the moderating role of deal size in the context of faultlines, future research could examine the role of additional moderators, such as pro-diversity, trust, board leadership and board and task characteristics. Practical implications The findings suggest that boards need to be aware of situations where the negative effects of faultlines are more likely to come to the fore. For example, faultlines are more likely to play a role in more routine, obscure monitoring than for high-profile strategic decisions. Originality/value The study is multidisciplinary as it draws on the management, organizational behaviour and psychology and finance literature. It contributes to the developing literature on faultlines in several important ways. First, this paper supports their view that faultlines have adverse effects on board performance by showing that faultlines negatively impact discrete strategic investment decisions. Second, this paper provides evidence that deals size moderates the faultline-acquisition performance relation, indicating that the role of faultlines is contextual. Third, this paper finds evidence that suggests investors do not factor in board faultlines when responding to acquisition announcements.


Kybernetes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (9) ◽  
pp. 2138-2149
Author(s):  
Murat Guven ◽  
Eyup Calik ◽  
Basak Cetinguc ◽  
Bulent Guloglu ◽  
Fethi Calisir

Purpose This study aims to investigate the effects of flight delays, distance, number of passengers and seasonality on revenue in the Turkish air transport industry. Design/methodology/approach The domestic return routes of a Turkish airline company were examined to address this issue. Among five cities and six airports, 14 major domestic return routes were selected. The augmented mean group (AMG) estimator and common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) estimator were conducted with a two-way fixed effects (FE) robustness test in this study. Findings The results show that arrival flight delay and departure flight delay had negative effects on revenue, whereas the distance between airports, the number of air passengers and seasonality had positive effects on revenue. Research limitations/implications The data used in this study were retrieved from a Turkish airline company; for future research, other airline companies operating in Turkey may be included. Practical implications These findings could be evaluated by air transportation leaders to provide a guide to make strategic decisions to achieve greater performance in this competitive environment. Originality/value The originality of the paper comes from the facts that besides distance and number of passengers, the authors control for the seasonality when assessing the effects of flight delay on revenue; they use panel data techniques, which permit them to control for individual heterogeneity, and create more variability, more efficiency and less collinearity among the variables; they use two recent panel data techniques, CCEMG and AMG, allowing for cross-section dependence.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 1313-1322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lu Shen ◽  
Chuang Zhang ◽  
Wenbo Teng

Purpose This study aims to examine the double-edged effects of guanxi on opportunism and the moderating effects of legal enforceability and partner asset specificity. It thus differs from the current literature, which primarily focuses on the benevolent effects of guanxi. Design/methodology/approach Based on matched data collected from 268 sales manager and salesperson dyads, this study tested hypotheses using hierarchical regressions. Findings The empirical test supports the conceptual model and demonstrates two findings. First, guanxi between boundary spanners follows an inverted U-shaped relationship with inter-firm opportunism. Second, both the benefits and drawbacks of guanxi are stronger under the condition of low legal enforceability and high partner asset specificity. Research limitations/implications The study did not untangle guanxi into different dimensions and did not investigate how firms should make trade-offs between the benefits and drawbacks of guanxi. Therefore, future research could further explore this question by using a multidimensional approach. Practical implications The study alerts managers that guanxi is a double-edged sword, so they should complement it with formal control mechanisms, particularly when they are operating in legally inefficient regions or when their partner firm’s asset specificity is high. Originality/value The study offers a more balanced view of guanxi by showing both its positive and negative effects on opportunism. It also uncovers legal enforceability and partner asset specificity as two boundary conditions that influence the curvilinear effects of guanxi on opportunism.


2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Payne ◽  
Pennie Frow

Purpose This paper aims to review the growth and development of the field of relationship marketing and, through a consideration of this body of work, identifies key research priorities for the future of relationship marketing. The paper also delineates the frequently confused associated concepts of customer relationship management and customer management and considers how they fit within the broader concept of relationship marketing. Design/methodology/approach This paper undertakes a review of the relationship marketing literature, supplemented by the authors’ on-going interactive research with managers. Findings The paper reviews alternative approaches to relationship marketing, reflects on the development of the field of relationship marketing and identifies three critical priorities for future research in relationship marketing. Practical implications The research priorities that are identified in this paper represent important priorities for scholars, managers, regulators and policy makers. Originality/value Although there is now a substantial body of research on relationship, marketing, much of this work focuses on the customer-firm dyad, with a smaller body of work focusing on a broader range of stakeholders. This paper argues for the broadening of the role of relationship marketing to consider ecosystems; the need for firms to shift from a value-in-exchange to a value-in-use perspective when addressing customer relationships; and the critical need to address “dark side” behaviour and dysfunctional processes in relationship marketing.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Barney-McNamara ◽  
James Peltier ◽  
Pavan Rao Chennamaneni ◽  
Keith Eric Niedermeier

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a detail review of the social selling literature and to offer future research needs. Social selling has gained the attention of sales researchers. Rather than merely a new tool, social selling redefines the traditional sales process. However, the literature is spread across topics of social media and sales, social customer relationship management, salesforce automation and social selling, and does not provide an agreed-upon definition or tested construct for implementation. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents a comprehensive literature review of social selling and all related terminology. Findings The authors propose a social selling framework that includes personal branding, information exchange, networking and social listening to define and outline the construct while suggesting the antecedents and outcomes to guide future research. Findings from a literature review include outlining key theories used in social selling research. Originality/value This review offers a conceptual framework of social selling, including both antecedents and outcomes, to inform future research and guide academics and practitioners.


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisca Castilla-Polo ◽  
Dolores GALLARDO-VÁZQUEZ

Purpose – We must acknowledge the importance of intangibles in today’s economies and the controversy over the accounting and reporting of these assets. For this reason, the purpose of this paper is to synthesize the lessons learned from research to date and identify gaps in that research that would be useful to academics and practitioners. Design/methodology/approach – The literature review was conducted after an analysis of the most important academic databases in the period of 1990-2013: ABI Inform Complete, CSIS, EconLit, ISOC, Journal Citation Reports, Scopus, Emerald, Springer, and Google Scholar. Findings – The authors offer a summary of the main gaps in the literature on intellectual capital disclosures, among which the authors perceive a need for increased qualitative or explanatory research, which would allow further analysis of such decisions. Research limitations/implications – Specifically, the main problem encountered in the research on voluntary disclosure of intangibles appears to relate to the type of methodology used, which is usually quantitative or descriptive. Practical implications – Given that the principal limitations in the field of the disclosure of intangibles have been discussed, the authors conclude by indicating the principal directions for future research. Social implications – Qualitative analysis is absent in the literature the authors reviewed, and considered it fundamental to understanding this type of disclosure. In fact, the development of future lines of research could provide better-quality intangible asset reporting. Originality/value – Although there are previous studies on this topic, the authors believe that the main contribution of this study is to offer an integrated framework of existing findings concerning decisions by companies to disclose information on intangibles, a topic on which previous literature is sparse.


2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 29-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Brown ◽  
Scott K. Weaven ◽  
Rajiv P Dant ◽  
Jody L Crosno

Purpose – The aim of this study is to explore possible contingent variables that might explain these twin contradictory effects of marketing channel governance. Franchisors govern their systems to limit opportunism and enhance performance. However, the exact opposite often occurs. Design/methodology/approach – This paper develops an integrative conceptual model of franchisor governance of its franchisees. This model is tested empirically with data collected from 197 Australian franchisees. Findings – Under strong relational norms, goal congruence and outcome monitoring limit franchisee opportunism; compliance enhances franchisee performance, while opportunism reduces it. With weaker norms, outcome monitoring facilitates compliance, and goal congruence boosts franchisee performance, as does franchisee opportunism. However, norms fail to mitigate behavioral monitoring’s negative impact on opportunism. Research limitations/implications – This research confirms the positive and negative effects of franchisor governance. It also shows that norms can reverse the positive link between franchisee opportunism and performance. It additionally illustrates how goal congruence and compliance can limit opportunism and boost performance. Future research should refine this study’s measures, incorporate additional constructs into the conceptual model and test the generalizability of these findings in lesser-developed economies. Practical implications – This research shows that monitoring has both positive and negative effects on franchisee opportunism and performance. To avoid monitoring’s adverse effects, franchisors are advised to enhance goal congruence, boost franchisee compliance and develop strong relational norms. Originality/value – This paper shows that goal congruence, as well as franchisor outcome monitoring, can mitigate the negative effects of franchisor behavioral monitoring on franchisee opportunism, as do relational norms.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu-Mei Tseng ◽  
Pin-Hong Wu

Purpose – Enterprises realize that customers are their most important asset and recognize that a high level of customer satisfaction can only be achieved by enhancing service quality. Thus, how enterprises acquire customer knowledge by which to initiate and maintain customer relationships, as well as to enhance service quality has become an important issue. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a questionnaire and statistical analytical techniques to explore the impact of customer knowledge and customer relationship management (CRM) on service quality. Findings – The results indicated that customer knowledge has a positive influence on service quality and CRM is the partial intervening variable between customer knowledge and service quality. That is, customer knowledge enhances the CRM, while CRM, in turn, increases service quality and provides competitive advantages. Research limitations/implications – This research explored the impact of customer knowledge and CRM on service quality based on the company's perception and there was no validation on the customers' perception of the company. Therefore, it is suggested that future research should involve company staff, current customers, and latent customers to strengthen the triangulation. Practical implications – The results found that customer knowledge is indeed an important source of competitive advantage. Hence, enterprises should acquire valuable customer knowledge in order to enhance the relationship with customers, as well as enhance their service quality. Originality/value – There is still little related literature investigating the relationships amongst customer knowledge, CRM, and service quality. Hence, this study applies questionnaire methods as the main research tools in order to conduct an in-depth investigation into the influence of customer knowledge and CRM on service quality. Furthermore, this research is expected to provide enterprises with valuable suggestions for management practices.


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