چگونه روابط متقابل توسعه مشارکت را تقویت می بخشند؟ : دیدگاه های بازاریابی ژاپنی و کره ای

Relationship building is about ‘mutuality’ and how an organizational cultural value system enhances the development of long-term relationships that influence the marketing strategy process. This paper explains how senior managers embrace the concept of mutuality in order to establish a partnership arrangement in the context of a vertical marketing system. From the literature, four propositions relating to customer service policy, the process of innovation, relationship marketing and comparative national culture were developed and placed in the context of a Japanese and a South Korean electronics company based in the UK. The propositions were validated using in-depth, personal interviews with a limited number of senior managers in the two global companies. Evidence suggests that managers in Japanese companies formulate industry and country specific customer service policies, dictate R&D programmes, and spend a long time getting to know an individual in a potential partner organization(s) before they engage in any form of business integration. Whereas managers in South Korean companies are keen to communicate extensively and seek to acquire additional skills and knowledge so that they can innovate and implement cost effective strategies

In a strategic marketing context, partnership development is associated with inter-firm relationship building and the management of vertically integrated marketing channels. The process of strategy development forces managers to think in terms of how an organization can create valuable competences and core knowledge (Argyres, 1996 and Prahalad and Hamel, 1990). Being in possession of desired knowledge is not always possible (Nickerson & Zenger, 2004, p.618), however, the key task of a manager vis-à-vis strategy formulation and implementation, is to turn possessed knowledge (Barney, 1984 and Teece et al., 1997) into viable working practices that increase the organization's capability to produce products and services in a timely and competitive manner (Arrow and Hahn, 1971 and Nelson and Winter, 1982). One way in which possessed knowledge can be turned into viable working practices is by managers in original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) sharing market information with retailers and distributors (Fang, 2008, p.91), the objective of which is to increase the organization's competitive standing. Knowledge enhancement can be aided by the deployment of various competitive intelligence tools and techniques, and reinforced through the process of marketing intelligence (Trim and Lee, 2007 and Trim and Lee, 2008b). By placing marketing intelligence within a strategic marketing context, a marketing orientation and market driven approach purported by Day (1994) can be adopted. Should this be the case, the organization's marketing strategy will be redesigned and reengineered to take advantage of the opportunities available (Douglas & Craig, 2011, p.96). This will provide managers with a better understanding of how strategic resources and strategic actions facilitate an innovation strategy and ultimately the organization's financial performance (Wei & Wang, 2011, p.268). Research undertaken in the area of business networks has provided valuable insights into the development of relationships. Anderson, Hakansson and Johanson (1994) characterized the function of business relationships into “activities”; “actors” and “resources”, and made reference to expected outcomes and how interaction among actors manifests in the further development of a network. The main point to note is that a ‘business network’ is most likely influenced by a strong willed CEO/senior manager as such a person influences the strategic direction of the organization (Anderson, Hakansson & Johanson, 1994, pp.8–9). This raises questions relating to how an organization selects a candidate for a specific post and how an organization's strategic direction is influenced by a highly focused senior management team that is committed to the concept of ‘mutuality’ (Anderson, Hakansson & Johanson, 1994). Mutuality in the context of a partnership arrangement needs to be viewed as strategically oriented and this has not been fully explored in the literature. By interpreting how a CEO/senior management team embrace the concept of mutuality, it is possible to understand how an organization deals with and embraces uncertainty. If an organization has a low risk appetite, then it is possible that a number of business relationships will be entered into and a partnership arrangement will be forthcoming. In fact, it is necessary to think in terms of what guidance is provided by top management (Wucherer, 2006) and how the vertical relationships are managed (Jaspers & Van den Ende, 2006). Research into trust based relationships has been undertaken by Leek, Turnbull, and Naude (2006); Ploetner and Ehret (2006); Spekman and Carraway (2006); Suh and Kwon (2006) and Trim and Lee (2006a). Spekman and Carraway (2006, p.18) concentrate attention on information sharing and suggest that trust provides a basis for knowledge creation, and Trim and Lee (2006a, pp.153–156) place trust within the context of cultural understanding and strategic decision-making. Bearing this in mind, mutuality can be defined as a process for staff involved in a business relationship to share information on a range of strategic issues and through co-operation and the development of innovatory work based practices, increase the organization's market share/profitability through time. It has to be recognized that the meaning of ‘mutuality’ is influenced by ‘culture’ and as indicated in Fig. 1, the concept of mutuality reinforces the marketing strategy process. In this paper, our intention is to unravel the view of ‘mutuality’ that is embedded in the minds of managers in Japanese and South Korean electronics companies, and explain how a commitment to mutuality reinforces partnership development and aids the marketing strategy decision-making process through a vertical marketing system. Four sub-concepts were given attention: (i) customer service policy; (ii) the process of innovation; (iii) relationship marketing; and (iv) comparative national cultural values. Differences in management practice between Japanese and South Korean companies can be attributed to national cultural value systems embedded in Japanese and South Korean society (Lee, 2001, Lee and Trim, 2008a and Lee and Trim, 2008b). The Japanese business model (‘keiretsu’) and the South Korean business model (‘chaebol’) are underpinned by a value system, which incorporates partnership development and aspects of the balanced scorecard approach as advocated by Kaplan and Norton (2001). As a result, actionable strategic plans are devised and implemented. With respect to why companies enter into a partnership arrangement, Feldman (2004, p.296) is right to point out that it is essentially about access to resources. Rather than place partnership in a narrow cooperation context only, as suggested by Rese (2006, p.74), Trim and Lee (2008a, p.223) advocate a more holistic view of what partnership represents by suggesting that it is: “An all embracing mutually oriented mechanism that allows staff within an organization to identify, devise and implement a legal instrument that results in combined ownership, an integrated management model that is underpinned by a hybrid organizational culture, which gives rise to a clearly defined mission statement and marketing strategy.” When studying the conditions that result in vertical integration, it is important to pay attention to such issues as organizational flexibility (Buckley & Ghauri, 2004, p.84) as this will to some degree dictate the type of business model that emerges. The work builds on previous research relating to vertically integrated organizational marketing systems (Lee and Trim, 2006a, Lee and Trim, 2006b, Lee and Trim, 2011, Ryu et al., 2008 and Trim and Lee, 2006a) and adds to the body of knowledge relating to the concept of mutuality. By studying the concept of mutuality, it is possible to make a link with other work in the area of inter-firm relationships and innovation (Cavusgil, Calantone, & Zhao, 2003); relationship marketing (Hunt, Arnett, & Madhavaram, 2006); and relationship building (Schuur, 2007). This said, the structure of the paper is as follows. First, Japanese and South Korean companies are placed in context and this is followed by a section entitled propositions development. The methodology section is followed by a section entitled research findings, and then a discussion is evident. A section entitled managerial implications follows and the paper ends with a conclusion and suggestions for further research.

The research findings suggest that although managers in both Japanese and South Korean electronics companies based in the UK are committed to the concept of mutuality, which manifests in long-term, trustworthy relationships with staff in partner organizations, there are differences as to how strategic marketing frameworks evolve and give rise to vertical marketing systems. For example, managers in Japanese companies spend a long time getting to know an individual in a potential partner organization(s) before they engage in any form of business to business technical integration that is aimed at increasing the organization's capability. Japanese managers formulate industry and country specific customer service policies, dictate research and development programmes, exercise a relationship marketing process to maintain continuity, and through a well defined leadership model communicate widely in order to share knowledge. Managers in South Korean companies, when contemplating engaging in a partnership arrangement, look to acquire additional skill and knowledge in order that they can implement cost effective strategies that allow the organization to respond quickly to the dynamic market environment in which the company operates. Once formed, Korean managers are committed to maintaining existing partnership arrangements, adopt a flexible approach in order to encourage innovation, deploy a leadership style that ensures knowledge is produced through teamwork, and communicate continuously. By embracing the strategic marketing concept and developing trustworthy relationships with staff in partner organizations, managers in Japanese and South Korean electronics companies based in the UK are well able to deploy the collectivist decision-making approach, which ensures that the concept of mutuality is adhered to and binds the different organizations in the partnership arrangement together. The manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer linkage, can be classified as a tightly focused vertical marketing system that is market-driven. By operating as a vertical marketing system, it is possible for senior managers based in the manufacturer to ensure that an integrated marketing and retailing strategy evolves that becomes a marketing positioning strategy. It can also be suggested, that companies with a low risk appetite will benefit from an in-depth risk assessment that is reinforced with the results from various marketing intelligence activities. Should this be the case, the marketing strategy process will be considered as more formalized. The research findings provide a number of insights into strategic marketing. However, it can be suggested that the research findings from two companies, one Japanese and one South Korean, are limited. The authors acknowledge that it is necessary to carry out further research, possibly in the form of a longitudinal study that allows a number of key indicators covered in the research, to be monitored, analyzed and interpreted through time. One can think specifically of how the concept of organizational learning is being used to energise collectivist decision-making and how this in turn influences the strategic decision-making process in relation to marketing-mix permutations. Another area of potential investigation is to establish how senior managers from a collectivistic culture relate to their counterparts in an organization with an individualistic culture, and how hybrid management models and working practices can be developed.