混合渠道冲突原因及通道效应的表现外文翻译.docx

混合渠道冲突原因及通道效应的表现外文翻译.docx

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混合渠道冲突原因及通道效应的表现外文翻译

外文翻译

一、外文原文

Hybridchannelconflict:

causesandeffectsonchannelperformance

原文：

Managerialimplications

Dynamicsofmultiplechannels

AsFrazier（1999）asserts,itisimportanttoexaminethedynamicsofmultiplechannelsthroughouttheindustrylifecycle.Theresultsofthisstudycanhelpmarketersmanagetheirchannelsystemsmoreeffectivelyasthefirmmovesthroughthelifecycle.Ingeneral,channelmanagerswouldbewelladvisedtobeproactiveinmonitoringtheinteractionbetweenchannelcoalitions.Achannelmanagerwhoonlyseeksto“putoutthebigfires”maybeoverlookingthemorefrequenteverydayconflictsthathavethepotentialtodegradeperformance.Thisproactivestancemightinvolvefosteringanenvironmentthatfacilitatesopencommunicationorinvolveaformalmechanismforresolvingconflicts.Mostimportantly,channelmanagersmustbecarefulwhendesigningachannelsystem,inordertoavoidchanneloverlapthatwillfacilitateconflict.Thisisespeciallytrueinthelatterstagesofthelifecycle.Fromamanager’sview,thereisanimportantbenefittoinvestigatingchannelconflictfromthisnovelperspective.Channelmanagersshouldbeabletoexertmuchmoreinfluenceoverhybridchannelconflictthandyadicchannelconflictbecausetheypossessmorepowerandformalauthoritywithintheirownorganizationthantheydooveranotherautonomousfirm.Asaresult,managers’actionsaremuchmorelikelytohavetheirintendedimpactwithrespecttocontrollingthelevelofconflict.Specifically,marketingexecutivesandchannelmanagersneedtobecognizantofpoliciesthatinfluencethefactorsthatcontributetothefrequencyofinternalconflicts,goalincompatibilityanddomainsimilarity.Communicationsabouttherolesandgoalsofthevariouschannelsshouldbeexplicittothepointwheretheyprovidesufficientinformationtoenhancecoordinationamongthoseresponsibleforthecoalitions.Caremustalsobetakenregardingthedomainofthefirm’schannels.Toomuchoverlapwithregardtoproductofferingandcustomercoverageinparticularmaysetthestageforincreasinglyfrequentdisagreements,whichinturnarelikelytoproducedysfunctionallevelsofconflict.Inanutshell,managersshouldstrivetomaketheirchannelscomplementaryandintegratedinasynergisticmanner,andavoidredundancywhereverpossible.

TheresultsofthisresearchshouldbehelpfultofirmsthatareexpandingtheirdistributionviatheInternetinordertoimprovecustomersatisfactionandexpandintonewmarkets.TheintroductionofanInternetchannelmayhaveunintendednegativeeffectsforfirmsthatfailtoadjusttheiroverallchanneldesigntoaccommodatethenewdirectchannel,however.Theadditionofabroad-basedchannelofdistributionsuchastheInternetwilltendtoincreasegoalincompatibilityamongexistingchannels.Thisincompatibilityincreaseshybridchannelconflictthat,inturn,reduceschannelperformance.ManagerswouldbewelladvisedtoconsidercarefullyhowanInternetchannelcouldbeincorporatedintotheirhybridchannelsysteminawaythatminimizesdomainsimilarityandgoalincompatibility.Forexample,CiscoSystemsisarolemodelwhenitcomestopeacefulonlinedistribution,usingtheInternetinaverycomplementarywaywithitsexistingchannels.Firmssuchas3Com,Intel,NovellandOraclehavealsotakenasynergisticapproachbyincludingtheirchannelpartnerstotakemaximumadvantageoftheirInternetstrategies（Silverstein,2000）.

Conflictproblems

Otherfirms,however,haveencounteredseriouschannelconflictproblemsastheyintroducetheInternetchannel.Allstate,forexample,findsitselfhamstrungbythedangerofchannelconflictasitattemptstointegrateits15,000agentsinmorethan250claimofficesintoitsonlinedirect-salesmodel（Hogan,2000）.AutomanufacturersGeneralMotorsandFordhaveencounteredconsiderableresistanceinresponsetotheireffortstogrowtheirbusinessontheInternet（Ball,2000）.Bothfirmsworrythatpushingtoohardtocreateanewretailingsystemwillhurtsalesbyalienatingtheirdealers.Similarly,AppleComputer’sInternetinitiativehascreatedproblemswithitstraditionalretailers（TamandMcWilliams,2000）.

MattelprovidesanexcellentillustrativeexampleofhowmanagerscanintelligentlyandproactivelyaddressmanyofthepotentialchallengesassociatedwithhybridchannelconflictastheyembarkuponInternetmarketing.Whilesomemayviewtheworld’slargesttoymakerasaconsumerproductscompany,muchofMattel’smarketingefforthastraditionallybeentolargeretailers,inthebusiness-to-businessarena.Inlate2000,MattelquietlybegansellingawiderangeoftoysoveritsBWebsite.Althoughsomeretailerscomplainedabouttheinitiative,Mattelassertsthatitisdesignedtoboostitsbrands,nottocompetewithretailers.Mattelhasbeenverythoughtfulwithitsonlinestrategy,though.Pricesaredeliberatelyset15percenthigherthaninretailstores,certainhotitemswillnotbeofferedatallontheWeb,andMattelisdiscussingwaystopartnerwithretailersontheInternet（Brannon,2000）.SuchastrategyisprudentinthatitallowsMatteltotakeadvantageofnewopportunities,whilesimultaneouslyreducingtheassociatedrisk.

Limitations/futureresearch

Samplesizelimited

Certainlimitationsshouldbekeptinmindininterpretingthisstudy.Althoughthequalityofthesampleisexceptionalintermsoftherespondents’knowledgeoftheirfirms,thesamplesizeissomewhatlimited.However,suchlowstatisticalpowermayactuallybolstertheimpactofthesignificantresults.Regardless,ourhypothesesaregenerallysupported.Thelimitedsamplesizealsoprecludedtheuseofstructuralequationmodelingtechniques.Avarietyofdirectionsforfutureresearchcanbeidentified.Thereisaneedforabetterunderstandingofthenatureoftheinteractionbetweenchannelcoalitions.Thestudyraisessomeintriguingquestionsregardingthedriversofconflictfrequency.Theproposedantecedents,domainsimilarityandgoalincompatibility,hadahighlysignificantimpactonconflictintensitybutnotonconflictfrequency.Becauseitisconflictfrequencythatinfluencesperformance,futureresearchshouldexamineitscauses.Doespoorcommunicationamongchannelcoalitionsinhibitnecessarycoordination,therebyincreasingconflictfrequency?

Isthefrequencyofconflictrelatedtothedegreeofautonomyaffordedindividualcoalitions?

Doesthelevelofcohesionwithinindividualcoalitionsfacilitateanin-group/out-grouporientationthatpromotesconflict?

Whichchanneldesignstructuresandmanagementsystemsaremosteffectiveforreducingconflicts?

Theseimportantquestionsshouldbeaddressedinfuturestudies.

Incidenceofconflict

Importantquestionsalsoremainabouttheeffectofchannelconflictonthefirm’smarketorientation.Theincidenceofconflictmayserveasamechanismtoforcecoalitionstobecomemoremarketorientedastheycompeteforresourceswithothercoalitions.Futurestudiesshouldincludeameasureofmarketorientationinordertoexplorethisinterestingavenueofresearch.

Dynamicanduncertainmarketsareforcingfirmstodesignincreasinglycomplexchannelsystems.Asthecomplexityofthesesystemsincreases,sotoodoestheopportunityforconflictbetweenafirm’schannelcoalitions.Managingthatconflictintelligentlywillbeacentralissueformarketersfortheforeseeablefuture.Wehopethatthisstudyprovidesaninitialbuildingblocktotheknowledgeinthisarena.

Executivesummaryandimplicationsformanagersandexecutives

Growthinmultiplechannelsofdistribution

Firmsincreasinglyusemultiplechannelsofdistributiontoserveagivenproductmarket.Themainreasonsareshiftsinshoppingbehaviors,theglobalizationofmarketsandtheadventoftheInternet.Nokia,forexample,makessimultaneoususeofwirelessserviceproviders,electronicsretailersandwholesalediscountclubs,alongwithitsowndirectInternetandtelesaleschannels,tomarketitsmobilephones.Firmsbelievethatmulti-channelarrangementscanhelpthemtoincreasetheirmarketshareandreducecosts.Asingletypeofchannelisunlikelytobetheoptimumforalltheproductsofcompanieswithbroadproductlines.Businesseswithtoomuchmanufacturingcapacitycanbenefitfromadditionaloutletswhenexistingchannelsaresaturatedwithsupply.Additionalchannelsenableafirmtofocusonmoreprecisetargetmarkets,therebyincreasingcompetitiveness.

Theconflictsthatcanarise

However,multiplechannelsplaceconflictingdemandsonacompany’sresources.Variouschannelsmayhaveconflictingobjectives.Internalconflictscanariseover,forexample,revenueobjectives,pricingandthetimingandnatureofadvertisingandpromotionalsupport.Suchconflictscancauseconfusionanddissatisfactionamongcustomers.Onthepositiveside,competitionforresourcesmaybeanefficientwayofensuringthatscarcechannelassetsareappliedwheretheyareneededmost.So-called“domainsimilarity”amongchannelsexistswhencoalitionsmustdrawfromthesamebaseoflimitedresources,bothinsideandoutsidethefirm.WebbandHoganshowthatconflictstendtobemostintense（althoughnotnecessarilymostfrequent）whendomainsimilarityisgreatest.Thegreatertheincompatibilityofgoalsbetweenchannelcoalitions,thegreatertheintensity（butnotnecessarilythefrequency）ofchannelconflict.Thegreaterthefrequencyandintensityofmulti-channelconflict,thelowerthelevelofsatisfactionwiththechannelsystem.Thegreaterthefrequency（althoughnotnecessarilytheintensity）ofmulti-channelconflict,thelowerthelevelofchannelperformance.

Dangers