Rajiv Mehta

• PhD
• Professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology

By examining networks is possible to understand the nature of inter-firm relationships among organizational entities in any given corporate group, such as Toyota’s, Nissan’s or Mazda’s Keiretsu. Recently, a new three-dimensional spatial model has been developed that allows organizational scholars to ascertain the structure of a corporate group, the...

Widely recognized as providing vital services in the transportation sector, it is important to identify the determinants as well as estimate their impact on Michinoeki today. Seemingly, no research has studied their influence using data on all the 1107 Michinoeki established as of April 2017. To attain a better understanding, Japan was divided into...

Personal selling and sales management issues have been the focus of tremendous attention by research scholars, thus expanding our extant knowledge of the field of marketing. However, studies on the development of the discipline of personal selling and sales management from a historical perspective have been sparse. Accordingly, this manuscript make...

Enhancing efficiency is a critical objective of corporate management. While numerous approaches to measure efficiency have been devised, this manuscript suggests a new method referred to as dynamic network-based Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) as a more advanced procedure for examining transaction priorities in any network based organization. Using...

A survey of the relevant literature reveals that a plethora of network analytic facets, such as degree, eigenvalue, density, block, cluster, have been developed and employed to further our understanding of network structures. To extend our understanding of network systems, additional dimensions need to be identified that shed light on the dynamic p...

The current manuscript reviews the literature associated with corporate strategy, and proposes a new approach of acceleration to measure momentum based on limited cycle theory. Thus, this research manuscript makes a contribution to extant thought by: 1) Defining momentum, 2) Discussing the nature of the relationship between momentum to its external...

Marketing channels around the globe exist in an increasingly competitive environment. Consequently, many alternative channel structures and methods of distribution have emerged. Specifically, many firms have re-engineered their international marketing channel systems by forging cross-cultural alliances to respond quickly to new opportunities and th...

This paper introduces recent fundamental modifications to the Japanese alliance system known as the keiretsu, and analyses how these changes have affected corporate performance. More specially, the performance of Japanese auto manufacturers, such as Toyota, Nissan and others, has significantly improved due to sophisticated production system technol...

This paper discusses recent fundamental changes in the Japanese alliance networks known as keiretsu, and reports the findings of an empirical investigation on the relationship between these changes and corporate performance. More specially, the performance of Japanese auto manufacturers, such as Toyota, Mazda and Nissan, among others, has significa...

Applying the most effective leadership style (participative, supportive, directive, or achievement-oriented) in specific cultural environments can provide global sales managers with powerful tools for managing their diverse salespeople on a world-wide basis. This conceptualization seeks to advance our current understanding of sales manager leadersh...

Today’s sales managers need comprehensive multicultural training to successfully prepare their sales forces to sell in increasingly diverse domestic and foreign markets. Yet, the sparse literature on sales management training indicates that most sales managers do not receive any training for their multicultural roles. Unless sales managers begin re...

Today’s salespeople must be trained to sell in multicultural markets, yet those largely responsible for sales training, i.e., sales managers, also need multicultural training. The limited literature on sales management training indicates that most sales managers receive little or no training, and rarely does the training cover multicultural markets...

Although two major Japanese manufacturers, Toyota and Mazda, compete in the automotive market, their corporate performance, respectively, is different because the internal resources and the way they coordinate interrelationships among their network partners is known to be divergent. Both these two companies have their own collaborating organization...

Just as workflow and transactional linkages, inter-firm capital relationships are similarly known to have an impact on corporate performance. Because of the superior performance of Japanese networks known as Keiretsu, many companies have begun to recognize the importance of capital linkages whereas other companies have placed emphasis on improving...

Two psychological theories of moral behavior and justice--Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development and Haidt's Moral Foundations Theory--and two normative frameworks for justice are presented and evaluated in this paper. Moral Foundations Theory derives its fundamental ideas from the works of David Hume, Jonathan Haidt, Jesse Grahm, etc. The two norm...

In severe economic downturns, only a few business leaders have the courage and wisdom to invest in customer loyalty to increase profits instead of reflexively cutting costs to try to maintain falling profit margins. Moreover, the usual research and advice tends to focus on how companies can effectively and efficiently reduce costs in order to survi...

Relationship marketing literature suggests that concepts such as trust, integration, and relationship openness tend to increase cooperation and commitment among channels of distribution partners. However, can relationship marketing theory be extended to international strategic alliances in the manufacturer–distribution channel context? More specifi...

Newly selected sales managers often have problems making a successful transition from personal selling to sales management. Yet, sales management training remains one of the most neglected areas in the personal selling and sales management literature. In the past thirty-two years, only three studies have been published on this important topic. Find...

In the sales and channel management literatures it has been posited that sales managers are the de facto “channel managers.” This assertion implies that their scope of responsibilities goes far beyond traditional sales management tasks and functions. Consequently, determining whether these additional responsibilities with regard to channel manageme...

This paper evaluates the market for tablet computers by simultaneously considering several leading tablet computers on several important subjective and objective criteria like price, screen size, ease of use, display, touch quality, portability, weight, storage capacity, OS, data plans, hotspot capability, memory, etc. The ratings of these tablet c...

According to Freeman, centrality indices, which include degree, closeness, and betweenness, are an effective way to measure organizational structure. However, Ito discussed the implications of centrality, and found that differences exist even when the centrality is the same. Using data on transactions and cross shareholdings that were drawn from Ma...

Maintaining symbiotic inter-relationships with suppliers is an integral part of developing tightly interwoven vertical supply arrangements among members participating in a network of companies. This article reviews the relevant literature on network theory to test the interrelationships among transactions, cross shareholdings, and sales among all t...

An extensive literature in economics and business provides guidelines for profit maximization for firms in various market structures. However, these elaborate and sophisticated techniques and rules for profit maximization require appropriate estimation of a company’s cost and revenue functions that are often difficult to obtain for many companies....

Capacity is defined as the power resulting from the specific position of a company in a network organization. This article extends the theory of network organizations to examine Mazda’s Yokokai Keiretsu, and proposes a new approach to calculating a firm’s capacity in a network. Capacity is divided into two categories, take-in capacity and take-out...

An extensive literature in economics and business provides guidelines for profit maximization for firms in various market structures. However, these elaborate and sophisticated techniques and rules for profit maximization require appropriate estimation of a company’s cost and revenue functions that are often difficult to obtain for many companies....

With cross-border channel partnerships increasingly being forged in global markets, manifest conflict between international partners has become a serious problem leading to potentially deleterious effects on overall channel performance. Using data drawn from a cross-national study of distribution practices in three countries, we investigate whether...

Purpose The success of implementing Deming's management method depends on the ability of managers to operationally define and measure Deming's 14 Points. Tamimi et al. developed a set of operational measures for these 14 Points. They tested the validity and reliability of their instrument using a sample of firms that were involved in implementing T...

This article proposes the use of limit cycle theory and velocity history as effective tools for analyzing the behavior of members of an organized network. Specifically, the limit cycle and velocity history of firms in the Kansai Yokokai, one of the three major groups of suppliers that constitute Mazda’s keiretsu, are examined using a new analytical...

In a keiretsu, i.e., a set of companies with interlocking business relationships, it is important for corporate management to identify those companies over which they reciprocally exercise greater influence and power. In this article we employ a DEcision MAking Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) to illustrate the reciprocal influence of each...

Although the topic of conflict has been extensively studied in the distribution channels literature from a domestic perspective, there is relatively little published research examining the construct within the international distribution channels context. This is of particular concern because cross-national channel partnerships are on the rise, and...

Given the differing dynamics of managing a distribution channel system, can the extant research on international strategic alliances, which largely focuses on the manufacturer–supplier interface, be extended to the manufacturer–distribution channels context? Owing to the paucity of research on strategic alliances in international distribution chann...

Given slower growth and fierce competition in the domestic market, combined with increasing opportunities in many overseas markets, more and more U.S. companies are going international. While many doing so may initially use a direct exporting approach that relies on foreign channel members to distribute the product in the host country, over time, s...

Anderson et al. (1994) developed a model of the theory of quality management underlying the Deming management method; Anderson et al. (1995) tested that model using path analysis. They used data from an existing database collected from 41 manufacturing plants in the electronics, machinery, and transportation industries with 100 or more employees. I...

As firms seek to prosper in a fiercely competitive global economy, cooperative inter-firm alliances among members of the value chain are increasingly being forged. In the area of marketing channels, strategic alliances among international channel partners have become the norm as well. Thus, identification of inter-firm influence strategies – such a...

For decades, marketing channel management has been widely written and talked about but never connected with any "real world" business position. What's more, the many articles and textbooks on the topic seldom provide any hint as to who is supposed to be doing all these functions. At last, based on a national study and a systematic review of the lit...

For years, the channel manager remained an organizational position found mainly in textbooks and the literature and seldom on company organization charts. Recently, however, persuasive evidence has revealed that marketing channel management comes chiefly under the purview of the sales manager. Accepting this new reality, sales management training w...

Marketing channels exist in an increasingly competitive international and global environment. Consequently, many firms have reengineered their marketing channels systems by placing greater emphasis on fostering higher levels of cooperation among international channel participants. However, there are relatively few studies that explore cross-cultura...

Sales managers operate in an environment that is rife with uncertainty (or risk). As a result, they generally experience some level of ambiguity when making decisions that affect salespeople's performance. This uncertainty can lead to faulty decision-making, the end result of which could be salesperson failure. Traditionally, sales managers tend to...

States that little empirical work is available as a guide in the design and implementation of sales manager training programs. Examines the relationship between trainee satisfaction with sales manager training (a measure for training effectiveness) and the format, site, instructor, instructional method, and content of the program. Reports results o...

The primary intent of this research was to determine whether the perceived importance of various rewards is influenced by the career stage of sales managers. This study found that sales managers in different career stages have distinct intrinsic and extrinsic reward preferences that may ultimately affect motivation and productivity. Although severa...

What rewards are important to sales managers? Does the importance of different types of rewards vary across sales management hierarchical levels? Research bearing on these issues has been minimal to date, so these questions have not been answered in the literature. The answers, however, have become increasingly more urgent with dramatic changes in...

What rewards are important to sales managers? Does the importance of different types of rewards vary across sales management hierarchical levels? Research bearing on these issues has been minimal to date, so these questions have not been answered in the literature. The answers, however, have become increasingly more urgent with dramatic changes in...

While channel decision makers can expend considerable effort in designing efficient and effective distribution channel systems to serve their target markets, success in achieving the firm's distribution objectives may not be realized without implementing a systematic program for motivating distribution channel partners. This places a premium on the...

Despite the important role sales managers play in an organization, little empirical work has explored various facets of their jobs. The state of knowledge regarding this issue is woefully inadequate. To partially address this gap in the sales management literature, this paper reports the results of a study that investigated recruitment/selection, t...

Explores the effect of market orientation on operating effectiveness and cost efficiency using data drawn from automotive distribution channels in Finland and Poland. The results indicate that market orientation is positively associated with measures of effectiveness such as service quality and overall customer service level. Market orientation als...

Applying the most effective leadership style (participative, supportive, directive, or achievement-oriented) in specific cultural environments can provide global sales managers with powerful tools for successfully managing their diverse salespeople on a global basis. This conceptualization seeks to advance our current understanding of sales manager...

Since the early 1960s, standardization has often been viewed as an efficient strategy for global marketers while others have argued for the relative merits of adaptation. A review of the literature reveals two important points: first, relative to other areas of marketing, channels of distribution are given short shrift in the standardization versus...

The manufacturer depends on channel members for the performance of marketing functions. Therefore, the channel participants need to co-operate with one another while simultaneously pursuing independent as well as systemic goals. Examines how co-operation among distribution channel members can be fostered through the use of participative, supportive...