Jamal A. Al-Khatib

Examining how sales and marketing personnel interrelate is analogous to studying intergroup cooperation wherein two groups – sales and marketing – are required to work cooperatively to achieve specific firm-level objectives. While extensive literature in psychology and management has implied that trust is an important precursor of enhanced intergroup cooperation, no extant scholarly work has explicated the specific activities sales and marketing personnel may engage in to build trust within the sales-marketing interface (SMI). We use qualitative methodology and in-depth interview data collected from 29 sales and marketing executives in Saudi Arabia to investigate the specific activities that may help marketers build trust with their sales counterparts and signal to them that they are a dependable partner. Study findings suggest that when marketers (a) act as salespeople’s ambassadors to senior leaders; (b) stay invested in salespeople’s success; and (c) act as a semipermeable barrier between salespeople and the leadership, they are able to engender trust with salespeople. In addition to providing a preliminary thesis regarding how marketers may build trust within SMI, study findings highlight how the specific trust-building activities may contribute to strategic phenomena such as marketing-strategy making, sales buy-in of marketing strategies, and organizational learning.

Sales-marketing interface (SMI) research aims to understand the interdependence between sales and marketing in order to successfully develop and implement marketing strategies. While scholars note a variety of mechanisms that may aid marketers' ability to achieve strategic and operational alignment with salespeople in order to foster strategy implementation success, the insights gained from extant research have limited utility for a large number of organizations. Specifically, given the predominance of SMI research focused on conventional organizational contexts, the field is largely in the dark with regard to how marketers within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may achieve strategic and operational alignment with their sales counterparts. The authors utilize a discovery-oriented method and employ depth-interview data collected from 39 sales and marketing personnel within an SME context to shed greater light on this phenomenon. Findings illustrate that marketers within SMEs employ a two-step process: (a) legitimizing their proximal authority and (b) simultaneously signaling clout and camaraderie to achieve strategic and operational alignment with salespeople. Results deepen the understanding of SMIs, while also providing research propositions that improve the utility of this interface across a broader spectrum of organizational contexts.

Although country branding has been a burgeoning theme in international business literature, comparative studies of this construct across cultures have been limited. The development of a deeper understanding of how diverse nations perceive country brands from their own paradigms is important in the complex world of international business. This study develops and tests a survey instrument in Peru and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to assess perceptions of country brands as well as the underlying antecedents to brand preferences. Results from a sample of 154 working adults include the findings that trade preferences are related to top tourism destinations and that consumers from Peru and Saudi Arabia differ in antecedents to country trade choices. Managerial implications and future research directions are also discussed.

While integration within the sales-marketing interface is critical in order to create value for their customer base, the sales-marketing interface varies across fi rms. Hence, integration may, in fact, take different forms. This is due, in part, to the varied role of marketing across fi rms. Using a grounded theory approach and depth interview data collected from forty-three sales and marketing executives, this study unravels the varied meaning of integration. Specifically, we find the diverse roles the marketing function plays within the fi rm; and that the conceptualization of sales-marketing integration construct is sensitive to the context within which it is examined. Additionally, we highlight that sales marketing integration may not always be as important for value creation, in certain contexts. Hence, we provide a new lens to sales-marketing integration and its importance in the value-creation process. Managerial implications of study findings are also suggested.

Although corporate citizenship has been a burgeoning theme in the corporate social responsibility literature, comparative studies of citizenship across cultures have been limited. The development of a deeper understanding of how diverse nations perceive citizenship principles from their own paradigms is important in the complex world of international business. This study develops and tests a survey instrument in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States to assess perceptions of corporate citizenship principles. Results from a sample of 224 working adults (Saudi Arabia 108, USA 116) include the finding that, regardless of culture, citizenship principles are positively related to ethical business behavior. Significant differences across the two groups are identified such as the higher U.S. perception of citizenship principles related to Ethics, Stakeholders, and the Community at large. Both countries are found to have comparable beliefs related to consumer rights. Managerial implications and future research directions are also discussed.

The changing business sales environment is compelling firms to transform their sales organizations and this need is becoming more pronounced in emerging markets. Unfortunately, there are no theoretical frameworks that may guide the sales force transformation activity in emerging markets. This article uses qualitative methodology and depth interview data collected from 58 sales and marketing managers in an emerging market (Saudi Arabia) to bring forth a nuanced picture of the challenges inherent within each of the major pillars of the sales force transformation process. Findings highlight how the centralization of power in top management's hands, and lack of clear role definition and strategic authority for sales and marketing may challenge the transformation process. Further, explication of the transformation process in emerging markets not only expands the theoretical boundaries of this phenomenon but also helps identify at the micro level, the crucial, yet potentially non-apparent element(s) that may prevent firms from achieving customer-based outcomes.

Socially responsible investing (SRI) has seen tremendous growth in recent years. For SRI investors, choosing among potential SRI investments often requires making trade-offs between social responsibility and financial aspects of the investment. In this study we examine contexts where investors are more vs. less willing to make such trade-offs, specifically in the context of SRI-guided mutual funds among Muslim investors. We expect that priming a near-future mindset will make respondents less likely to trade-off social responsibility for financial considerations while priming a distant-future mindset will make respondents more likely to make such trade-offs. Using a discrete choice experimental design among Saudi Arabian adults, we find support for our hypotheses. Managerial implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Extant research on sales–marketing interface has ignored emerging markets as research contexts. This study uses grounded theory methodology and depth-interview data from 37 sales and marketing professionals in Saudi Arabia to explicate how firm contexts that are influenced by Islamic values may shape intraorganizational mechanisms between firm leadership and sales and marketing departments, moderate their roles in marketing strategy activities, and affect interface dynamics. Specifically, appreciation of high power distance and traditional authority allow top leadership to be extensively involved in firm's everyday operations and there is a conspicuous absence of two-way dialog between top leadership and interface personnel. As a result, marketing strategy making authority is rarely transferred to sales and marketing. The context thus creates a chain of command with top leadership holding central authority, marketers preparing action plans and salespeople implementing those plans. Overall, this context brings forth certain hitherto unexplored perspectives on this interface.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare the antecedents of opportunism and its effect on unethical negotiation tactics among US and Belgian managers.

Design/methodology/approach – Samples of managers in both countries are surveyed and cross-country analysis using multi-group structural equation modeling is conducted.

Findings – Across both countries, deceitful tendencies and relativism are found to be significant predictors of opportunism, which in turn predicts receptiveness to unethical negotiating tactics; however, Belgian managers were found to have higher levels of these constructs, possibly indicating a greater propensity to engage in unethical behaviors than US managers.

Research limitations/implications – The current research is limited by the relatively small size of the Belgian sample, differences in data collection method, and the lack of additional contextual measures, which may influence the managers' responses.

Practical implications – The finding that the same structural relationships hold across the US and Belgium samples provides insights for both groups of managers engaged in negotiations.

Originality/value – The paper offers a comparative perspective on US and Belgian managers and establishes the validity and applicability of frequently used ethics scales in Belgium, a country infrequently studied in this context.