Eric Olson

• Ph.D. Marketing -- University of Minnesota
• Managing Director at University of Colorado Colorado Springs

Digital marketing has emerged as a key component of marketing strategy and by extension has become an important source of competitive advantage for the firm. Firms adopt digital marketing strategies and tactics to address specific marketing priorities (eg sales growth, brand building etc). Digital marketing strategies represent the adoption of spec...

Brands have recently begun to take a brand activism strategy through which they align themselves with a sociopolitical cause to increase their relevance and strengthen customer relationships. This paper brings together three streams of research: narrative transportation theory, narratology, and narrative comprehension, in order to propose how brand...

The internet brought disruptive change to the business landscape through the creation of a whole host of digital marketing tactics. But with these new tactical options has come the need for marketing managers to (1) prioritize what they wish to accomplish and (2) determine which digital marketing tactics to invest in. We consider these issues from...

Characteristics of the marketing organization and their relationship with strategy implementation have been the focus of considerable research over the past three decades. These characteristics include the marketing organization's structure, culture, processes, influence and leadership, among others. However, little attention has been paid to human...

Utilizing existing conceptual frameworks in business unit level strategies and sales management activities, a set of propositions relating the sales department's role in the strategy implementation process has been generated. The focus of this conceptualization is at the functional level with specific attention on management of the sales force rela...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the components of a knowledge management system that contribute to superior new product program performance. Design/methodology/approach – An extensive review of the academic and managerial literatures that deal with knowledge management's contribution to superior performance was first undertaken....

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Drawing on configuration theory, we develop and test a model which posits that overall firm performance will be influenced by how well the marketing organization’s cultural orientation (i.e., market, adhocracy, hierarchy, or clan) complements alternative business strategies (i.e., Prospector, Analyzer, Low-Cost Defender, Differentiated Defender) af...

Many executives and scholars have argued that effective strategy implementation is at least as important as—if not more important than—developing a brilliant strategy. While there are several extant viewpoints regarding what is required for successful strategy implementation, perhaps the most influential perspective is that business success require...

FOR EXECUTIVES who want to strengthen the design/ business relationship, Eric Olson, Stanley Slater, and Rachel Cooper make some clear recommendations. Make sure designers and design managers understand the organization's competitive strategy; enumerate the design elements inherent in that strategy; nurture open communication between design and oth...

THERE'S A LOT OF TALK about team theory and multidisciplinary strategies for getting work done, but what's the reality regarding the interaction among different organizational functions? Based on a study of actual projects, Eric Olson has developed data on design's integration with three key business activities, and then used that information to ma...

It seems logical that performance is maximized when a business produces a creative marketing strategy and achieves marketing strategy implementation effectiveness. However, cultural tensions and resource competition may make it difficult, or impossible, to achieve both. Contingency theory suggests that market and/or firm level influences may exist...

The topic of formulating and implementing competitive strategy is usually considered from the perspective of a large, well established, and oftentimes multi-divisional corporation. Achieving a sustainable competitive advantage, however, is every bit or even more critical to the survival of smaller startup businesses. Although much research has been...

Business strategy is fundamentally concerned with the actions required to create superior customer value in the firm’s target markets with the ultimate goal of achieving superior performance. Marketing theory suggests that two critical marketing activities required to achieve this end are: (1) the adoption of appropriate strategic behaviors (i.e.,...

An effective strategy formation capability is a complex organizational resource—a dynamic capability that should lead to superior performance. Strategy scholars have examined the strategy formation capability from many perspectives. However, no study has examined a comprehensive model of strategy formation in the context of the firm's strategic ori...

The toy industry is large in terms of absolute dollars—approximately $30 bil-lion annual U.S. revenues, and $20 bil-lion without video games—but finds itself under attack. After peaking in 2002, sales declined in 2003. From Barbie (where sales have declined for several years running) to bikes (where "rider-ship" among children has fallen 10% in a d...

Case in p o i n t " W E ' R E N O . 1 ! We're No. 1!" It's a common refrain heard in stadiums, gymnasiums, and arenas throughout high school, college, and professional ranks. But when it comes to the bottom line and market valuation, the Manchester United Football Club truly is No. 1. With a market value of roughly $1.5 billion, it leaves in the du...

While the benefits of being market oriented are largely accepted, a group of scholars and managers remain skeptical. Marketing scholars have sought to counter the criticisms leveled against market orientation (MO) by arguing that it has both responsive and proactive dimensions. However, few studies have empirically examined the complexity of the ef...

Adopting a contingency perspective, the authors present and test a fit-as-moderation model that posits that overall firm performance is influenced by how well the marketing organization's structural characteristics (i.e., formalization, centralization, and specialization) and strategic behavioral emphases (i.e., customer, competitor, innovation, an...

A study involving over 200 senior managers demonstrates that overall firm performance is strongly influenced by how well a firm's business strategy is matched to its organizational structure and the behavioral norms of its employees. The authors identify a taxonomy comprised of four different combinations of structure/behavior types, which they lab...

Focusing on the recent UK initiative Design Against Crime, this paper illustrates how organisations can utilise design to develop practical business approaches to social responsibility and thereby respond to both emotional and social values. We draw on thirty detailed design against crime case studies undertaken in the UK, Sweden, South Korea and t...

This article uses the promotional mix framework to examine tobacco promotional efforts in five distinct categories: advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, personal selling, and public relations. We specifically explore how tobacco companies are adapting their promotional efforts in each category subsequent to the 1998 Master Settlement Agr...

Today's strange, new business world needs an augmented model of industry and market analysis that reflects recent developments in industry dynamics, such as globalization, entrepreneurship, technological advances, and the Internet. Here we present such an updated model, built on and expanding the basic premises that underlie Porter's Five Competiti...

Different product-market strategies have different requirements for success. Just as organizational structures and processes are tailored to assist in implementing a chosen strategy, so too should the performance emphases adopted by a firm. The logic of this approach underlies the reason why many managers have adopted a balanced scorecard approach...

in Colorado Springs, Colo, has a record of 41 consecutive years of five-star rat-ings from The Mobil Travel Guide. The hotel's facilities and setting certainly help, but according to Perry Goodbar, vice president of marketing for The Broadmoor, "It's the people who truly make this place special. Exceptional service quality begins with exceptional p...

This paper describes a study that assesses the performance implications of matching marketing strategy to business strategy. In order to conduct this study we first reviewed the literature on marketing strategy to identify its key dimensions. We then conducted a survey of 1000 senior marketing executives about the strategic marketing practices adop...

This paper describes a study that assesses the performance implications of matching marketing strategy to business strategy. In order to conduct this study we first reviewed the literature on marketing strategy to identify its key dimensions. We then conducted a survey of 1000 senior marketing executives about the strategic marketing practices adop...

Successful new product development is fundamentally a multidisciplinary process. While this view has helped lead management to the wide‐spread adoption of cross‐functional new product development teams, in this study we question whether simply increasing the level of functional integration is truly a guarantee for enhancing the performance of new p...

The basic premise of the strategy implementation literature is that different business strategies require different configurations of organizational practices to achieve optimal performance. Sales force management is a key functional activity and should contribute to the successful implementation of business strategy. In this study, we examine the...

The basic premise of the strategy implementation literature is that different business strategies require different configurations of organizational practices to achieve optimal performance. Sales force management is a key functional activity and should contribute to the successful implementation of business strategy. In this study, we examine the...

Sumario: The basic premise of the strategy implementation literature is that different business strategies require different configurations of organizational practices to achieve optimal performance. Sales force management is a key functionall activity and should contribute to the successful implementation of business strategy. In this study, the a...

Market pioneer Iridium was a brilliant idea surrounded by multiple mistakes.

The basic premise of the strategy implementation literature is that different business strategies require different configurations of organizational practices to achieve optimal performance. Sales force management is a key functional activity and should contribute to the successful implementation of business strategy. In this study, we examine the...

Will aggressive growth strategies and innovation maintain Vail's edge?

In recent years, many nonprofit organizations have experienced significant cut-backs in support from traditional sources while demand for their services has continued to increase. Many of these organizations have attempted to bridge this growing chasm by increasing their fund raising efforts. While not without value, these activities alone will not...

How can executives and managers articulate the value of design? Eric Olson approaches the topic by thoughtfully defining the concept of "design equity." Tangible components of design equity encompass product, environmental, and communications designs to the degree that these elements create competitive advantage for their corporations. The intangib...

Western Pacific's guerrilla marketing tactics get the fledgling airline off the ground.

Marketing and sales personnel are frequently called on to work with-and sometimes to lead-specialists from other functional areas in the development of new products and services. Such cross-functional interactions can be structured and coordinated in a variety of ways, from bureaucratic approaches to more decentralized participatory mechanisms. Rec...

Marketing and sales personnel are frequently called on to work with—and sometimes to lead—specialists from other functional areas in the development of new products and services. Such cross-functional interactions can be structured and coordinated in a variety of ways, from bureaucratic approaches to more decentralized participatory mechanisms. Rec...