Offshoring service work is an accelerating trend. While the cost-savings from offshoring service work are usually clear, operating at a distance also brings with it certain ''invisible costs.'' We combine existing service operations theory with insights from the literature on communications and culture to present a new conceptual framework, organized around interaction intensity and interaction distance. We identify the drivers of these costs. We conclude with recommendations for controlling or attenuating invisible costs in offshoring service work. #

This article examines an important challenge to effective cross-functional integration: goal incongruity among marketing, research and development (R&D), and manufacturing in new product development. We examine the effect of this incongruity as perceived by the marketing function on three components of cross-functional integration: the harmony of cross-functional relationships, the quality of cross-functional information, and the level of cross-functional involvement. We also examine how two types of managerially controllable variables affect goal incongruity: (1) factors that motivate functions to develop common goals; and (2) factors that facilitate the formation of such goals. We give special attention to the effect of national culture on the formation of common goals. Data collected from marketing managers in 1,083 firms in five culturally distinct areas--the United States, Great Britain, Japan, Hong Kong (a special administrative region of China), and mainland China-are used to test the hypothesized relationships. Our results underscore the importance of people-side issues, and of national culture, in cross-functional integration. Perceived goal incongruity among marketing, R&D, and manufacturing impairs all three components of cross-functional integration. In United States and British firms, goal incongruity generally is attributed to motivational factors and in Japan and Hong Kong to facilitative factors. Finally, our results show that the two types of managerially controllable variables interact. For example, joint rewards and job rotation strengthen each other's tendency to reduce goal incongruity in all five samples. This suggests that job rotation promotes the development of joint goals more effectively when it is accompanied by a joint reward system. IntroductionC ross-functional integration long has been recognized as a key factor for improving new product success [7,19]. Various empirical studies have demonstrated its positive effect (e.g., [11,28,29,59,62,63,66]). Many firms have adopted systems to improve cross-functional integration to enhance the performance of new product programs [25,55]. However, to realize the potential benefits of such integration, firms not only must identify where and how to apply it, but they also must understand the human issues that may affect it [10,26,67,77].Human beings are complex combinations of skills, abilities, and emotions-not machine parts. Merely imposing a cross-functional structure for new product development (NPD) therefore cannot ensure that the functional representatives will work together effectively. If they are to commit themselves to a NPD project, participants must develop common . Different functional areas in an organization have different specialized skills and knowledge; they deal with different parts of a firm's environment and have different roles and responsibilities. Their goals therefore often may be incompatible [27,56,65]. This incompatibility is likely to affect their desire and ability to participate actively in joint activities, to s...

This paper develops a model relating innovation success to the level of interfunctional conflict and conflict resolution methods. The model suggests a concave relationship between performance and the level of interfunctional conflict among marketing, R&D, and manufacturing. It also conjectures that both national culture and the level of interfunctional conflict influence the effectiveness of different conflict resolution methods. An empirical test of the proposed framework involves a survey of 968 marketing managers from Japan, Hong Kong, the United States, and Great Britain. The results provide general support for the model's predictions and reveal several significant cross-national differences.New Product Development, Conflict Management, Cross-function Integration, Cross-cultural Study

No abstract

Many not-for-profit organizations rely on volunteers to help accomplish their service objectives. Although volunteers work alongside or in some cases replace employees in the delivery of service, incorporating volunteer labor into the service delivery system of the not-for-profit poses unique challenges. Understanding these challenges represents an important foundationbuilding step in understanding the implications for service design and service operations when using volunteers. This paper identifies and describes service design and operational factors relevant to volunteer satisfaction in not-for-profit organizations. Using data collected from 288 volunteers working in 43 not-for-profit agencies, the study explores the elements of service delivery that impact volunteer satisfaction, and further tests the relationship between volunteer satisfaction and loyalty to the not-for-profit organization. Findings include that satisfied volunteers are more likely to remain for longer periods of time with the same organization, are more likely to donate financially to the not-for-profit, and are more likely to recommend the volunteer experience to others. Each of these outcomes helps to ensure the continued sustainability of the not-for-profit organization. #

Because of suggested beneficial effects of word-of-mouth (WOM) referral, service companies have invested large amounts of money in customer referral programs as well as programs aimed at fostering positive communication among their existing customers. The question of cross-cultural differences in the effectiveness of WOM has recently gained increased prominence. The authors contribute to research on this topic by proposing a positive effect of received WOM on service quality perceptions among existing customers. Moreover, they predict that cultural values moderate this effect. They test the model on 1910 bank customers in 11 countries. The results show that received WOM has a positive effect on customer service quality perceptions. Furthermore, received WOM has a stronger effect on the evaluation of customers in high-uncertainty-avoidance than in low-uncertainty-avoidance cultures. No other cultural value is a significant moderator. The results imply that received WOM is also important to existing customers and that managers should adjust their strategy of referral marketing to match their target group's uncertainty-avoidance level.

The marketing-manufacturing interface is important to the success of product development. This research investigates the effect of senior management policies on the effectiveness of the marketing-manufacturing interface. Based on existing literature, a conceptual framework is developed that relates senior management policies, marketing-manufacturing involvement, and new product performance. The proposed framework is contingent on the national culture of the country in which product development occurs. Structural equation modeling is used to test the framework with data from a sample of 146 U.S. marketing managers and 185 Japanese marketing managers. The results suggest that a number of senior management policies are effective in promoting joint involvement between the marketing and manufacturing functions during the innovation process. While the use of formal crossfunctional integration policies was found to promote marketing-manufacturing involvement both in the United States and Japan, team leader autonomy, team rewards, and job rotation were found to promote marketing involvement in the United States but not in Japan. On the other hand, promoting marketing-manufacturing involvement via goal clarity and promotion of teamwork proved to be effective in Japan. The results have a number of implications for product development practice. Foremost among these is the finding that, despite the fundamental ideological differences separating the marketing and manufacturing functions, senior management policies can enhance the level of marketing-manufacturing involvement, and consequently can improve the likelihood of new product success. The second implication is that the effectiveness of specific senior management policies depends on national culture. Thus, managers wishing to improve the marketing-manufacturing interface should select the policies that match the culture in which the product development project is located.

Customer trust is of vital importance for relationship marketing in services. Service providers increasingly market their services globally, yet few researchers have addressed differences in customer trust across cultures. Our research fills this void by proposing a model, based on existing trust literature, that suggests the overall feeling of trust in the service provider depends on customers' beliefs about service providers' ability, benevolence, predictability, and integrity. The model, tested in a banking context with data from 2,284 customers in 11 countries, explains trust well across culturally diverse countries. The results of a hierarchical linear model, however, show that customers differ in the way they build trust in their service provider across cultures. Moderating effects of the cultural values of the target group largely explain this variation. Only the effect of ability on trust is robust across countries. Global service firms should consider all four trust drivers when striving to build trust. The emphasis they put on each of these trust drivers, however, should differ across countries. When applying these principles to the design of marketing activities or market segmentation, marketing managers should collect data on the cultural values of their specific target groups in particular countries or cultural milieus.