A marketer's guide to Clausewitz: Lessons for winning market share

Parks, Bill; Pharr, Steven W.; Lockeman, Bradley D.

doi:10.1016/0007-6813(94)90051-5

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…This can be the case when the short-term profit-reducing action is part of a tit-for-tat strategy that allows players to sustain a cooperative outcome in a dynamic game (Kreps et al 1982). Alternatively, inflicting harm on the competitor may maximize profit in the long run if the competitor is ultimately eliminated (Parks, Pharr, and Lokeman 1994). Nevertheless, it seems reasonable to argue that most market situations are not really zero-sum games; in general, increased competition results in lower profits for firms and more benefits for customers (Boynton, Blake, and Uhl 1983; Brodie, Bonfrer, and Cutler 1996; Leeflang and Wittink 1996).…”

Section: Conceptual Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Curse of Competitiveness: How Advice from Experienced Colleagues and Training Can Hurt Marketing Profitability

Kalra

Soberman

2008

Journal of Marketing

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The literature suggests that mangers are overly competitive and overemphasize competitors' payoffs in making decisions. The authors demonstrate how two seemingly innocuous but common decision inputs that mid-and entrylevel managers use-(1) advice from colleagues and ( 2) training-could propagate this bias. The authors conduct an experiment in which one generation of participants plays a noncooperative game and then passes on advice on how to play the same game to the second generation. The authors find that the second generation is more likely to accept decisions that negatively impact the competitor's profits, even when those decisions result in lower payoffs. The results suggest that the advice of the first generation causes the second generation to be more sensitive to relative performance. In a second experiment, the authors show that training films that create negative feelings toward competitors can have adverse effects on managers' decisions. The training increases the willingness of managers to sacrifice own profits to reduce competitor profitability. These findings have important implications for managers in competitive markets. This research suggests that standard training materials that emphasize beating competitors should be carefully assessed for their unintentional but potentially damaging effects. In particular, training designed to evoke affective responses toward competitors must be used judiciously. Firms that give junior managers more autonomy and responsibility should also be cognizant that the advice these managers get and the information they share may propagate a competitive bias. To mitigate this problem, an option is to devote resources to better understand the content and nature of advice that managers share with one another.

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Section: Conceptual Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Curse of Competitiveness: How Advice from Experienced Colleagues and Training Can Hurt Marketing Profitability

Kalra

Soberman

2008

Journal of Marketing

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show abstract

“…This can be the case when the short-term profitreducing action is part of a tit-for-tat strategy that allows players to sustain a cooperative outcome in a dynamic game (Kreps et al 1982). Alternatively, inflicting harm on the competitor may maximize profit in the long run if the competitor is ultimately eliminated (Parks, Pharr, and Lokeman 1994). Nevertheless, it seems reasonable to argue that most market situations are not really zero-sum games; in general, increased competition results in lower profits for firms and more benefits for customers (Boynton, Blake, and Uhl 1983;Brodie, Bonfrer, and Cutler 1996;Leeflang and Wittink 1996).…”

Section: Conceptual Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Curse of Competitiveness: How Advice from Experienced Colleagues and Training Can Hurt Marketing Profitability

Kalra

Soberman

2008

Journal of Marketing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The literature suggests that mangers are overly competitive and overemphasize competitors' payoffs in making decisions. The authors demonstrate how two seemingly innocuous but common decision inputs that mid-and entrylevel managers use-(1) advice from colleagues and (2) training-could propagate this bias. The authors conduct an experiment in which one generation of participants plays a noncooperative game and then passes on advice on how to play the same game to the second generation. The authors find that the second generation is more likely to accept decisions that negatively impact the competitor's profits, even when those decisions result in lower payoffs. The results suggest that the advice of the first generation causes the second generation to be more sensitive to relative performance. In a second experiment, the authors show that training films that create negative feelings toward competitors can have adverse effects on managers' decisions. The training increases the willingness of managers to sacrifice own profits to reduce competitor profitability. These findings have important implications for managers in competitive markets. This research suggests that standard training materials that emphasize beating competitors should be carefully assessed for their unintentional but potentially damaging effects. In particular, training designed to evoke affective responses toward competitors must be used judiciously. Firms that give junior managers more autonomy and responsibility should also be cognizant that the advice these managers get and the information they share may propagate a competitive bias. To mitigate this problem, an option is to devote resources to better understand the content and nature of advice that managers share with one another.

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Marketing as warfare: Reassessing a dominant metaphor

Rindfleisch

1996

Business Horizons

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A marketer's guide to Clausewitz: Lessons for winning market share

Cited by 8 publications

References 1 publication

The Curse of Competitiveness: How Advice from Experienced Colleagues and Training Can Hurt Marketing Profitability

The Curse of Competitiveness: How Advice from Experienced Colleagues and Training Can Hurt Marketing Profitability

The Curse of Competitiveness: How Advice from Experienced Colleagues and Training Can Hurt Marketing Profitability

Marketing as warfare: Reassessing a dominant metaphor

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