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PurposeTo provide propositions regarding how product, market, and firm contextual factors influence the appropriate channel structure of product services and to examine organizational actions resulting from maladjusted channel structures.Design/methodology/approachBuilding on previous research, six propositions are presented regarding how the choice of direct/indirect service processes is influenced by contextual factors. A seventh proposition is suggested regarding how maladjusted service channels put pressure on the industrial firm to change the service channel, or to compensate for the maladjustment by taking other measures. Five qualitative case studies conducted at American and European companies from different industries are used to test the seventh proposition.FindingsProvides empirical support for the seventh proposition and illustrates alternatives for how compensation for maladjustments may be carried out.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research is needed into the mechanisms that can compensate for deviations from the appropriate service distribution channel suggested by the propositions put forth in this paper. Statistical generalization of the propositions on the other hand could be achieved through a wide survey.Practical implicationsThe propositions could function as a managerial tool for identifying inappropriate channel structures, and thus also for identifying the need for change.Originality/valueRefines and extends previous theory on the interrelationship between contextual factors and service distribution channels.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to offer an integrative model of foreign market learning, including different learning processes, antecedents and outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThe paper makes a critical review of the relevant literature, drawing on a keywords-based search of three major databases and a range of other published work for a broader perspective on the subject.FindingsThe resulting integrative model shows in a number of ways how companies can learn and benefit from differences in foreign markets and what results this can lead to.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample of subject-specific contributions to the literature may have been insufficient, and a wider selection of keywords to identify them might have captured a richer variety of concepts and opinions.Originality/valueThe integrative model contributes to the literature on foreign market learning and innovation and serves as a basis for future studies and current management strategy.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to contribute a framework that explains how value is formed during the usage of immersive technologies in industrial contexts.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on activity theory and a customer-dominant logic, the authors tentatively develop an activity-centric framework for value formation enabled by physical and mental activities conducted by users of immersive technologies. The authors evaluate the framework through a case study focusing on the use of virtual reality (VR) in an industrial setting.FindingsThe findings from the case study illustrate the tentative framework and specify how it is enacted by users in the studied context through three physical activities constituted by a set of actions and reflected in five emotional responses.Research limitations/implicationsBoth researchers and practitioners may use the framework presented in this paper as a guide for further academic and practical developments concerning the value of immersive technologies such as VR and augmented reality.Originality/valueThe activity-centric framework contributes a novel perspective to the literature on value formation enabled by immersive technologies.

Purpose
Previous studies on innovation tend to view innovation as consisting of a creative phase of novel and useful ideas, and a non-creative, or at least a less creative phase, as this considered to be the mere implementation and validation of the initially created ideas. In contrast, this paper aims to stress on the significance of the process of validating a new idea as being a creative, learning, exploratory process that shapes the degree of novelty of the innovation as a whole.


Design/methodology/approach
In driving this argument, this study deductively builds on a theoretical pre-understanding derived from extant literature related to management innovation and organizational legitimacy, and inductively draws on information gleaned from three in-depth case studies.


Findings
The study shows that the validation phase in the innovation process is a creative process, rather than just being a set of activities that relate to the mere execution of the created ideas. Viewing the validation process as an exploratory search for new knowledge, this study establishes a relationship between the form of knowledge mobilized, vertically within an organization or horizontally from outside, and the form of legitimation required. Validation based on internally generated knowledge is effective in terms of achieving pragmatic (efficiency-driven) objectives. Inter-organizational knowledge inflows are associated with cognitive legitimacy – a form of legitimacy that leads to changes in the stakeholders' beliefs about a the product. In contradistinction, horizontal, socio–cultural inflows of knowledge are likely to improve on the product itself, thereby generating more traction for validation.


Research limitations/implications
This research is based on data collected from three firms only.


Practical implications
The idea developed here can provide business organizations a better understanding of the validation process of management innovations. This study suggests that successful innovation often requires managers to be prepared to seek knowledge beyond the confines of their own organizations.


Originality/value
This study contributes in three ways: it submits that there is a dynamic interplay between the moments of creation and validation, which is largely shaped by the novelty of the mobilized knowledge, depending on whether it is internal top–down or external horizontal; relatedly, the effectiveness of validation is shaped by the novelty of the knowledge garnered to justify the initial ideas; and the present paper has extended Suchman's (1995) framework by linking the effectiveness of the various forms of legitimacy to the source of knowledge mobilized in the validation process.

AbstractThe country‐of‐origin effect is a topic central to the field of international marketing. Country of origin has been found to exert a particularly potent effect on consumer evaluation in situations where there is a strong link between a country and a particular product category. The present study provides further insight into how this particular effect can be understood. Drawing on a novel conceptualization of how country image and product categories interact, this study tested the relative evaluative relevance of product category with respect to estimates of brand equity across a variety of product categories. The findings suggest that facets of a country's image that are more closely related to the evaluation situation exert a greater influence on the evaluation of brands. This result encourages scholars as well as practitioners to re‐evaluate which situations might cause the country of origin effect to hold managerial relevance and paves the way for new paths toward a more comprehensive understanding of the effect. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.