The Role of Coordinated Marketing-Operations Strategy in Services: Implications for Managerial Decisions and Execution

Abstract

PurposeIn this article, we discuss the importance of a coordinated marketing and operations strategy in goods and service producing business organizations. Customer engagement and co-production are imperative service delivery considerations, and therefore an aligned marketing and operations strategy is essential for the formulation, development, and effectiveness of managerial decisions especially for service sector firms. Design/Methodology/ApproachWe present arguments in support of this paper's primary objectives by reviewing past research that have introduced theoretical frameworks, empirical support and applications in support of the close coordination between marketing and operations strategy. We then describe how the interrelationship between marketing and operations strategy impacts several managerial decisions. FindingsWe discuss several different types of managerial decisions within goods and service producing firms that require active interaction between marketing and operations. These decisions include aligning strategic priorities, new product development, service design, and experience design. Research Limitations/Implications (if applicable)This paper is primarily theoretical and therefore does not include any new empirical data. Practical Implications (if applicable)The inter-relationship between the marketing and operations functions is well known to practicing managers. However, they may not have a specific understanding of the academic research described in this paper that shows how firm performance can be further improved by better managing these interactions for specific managerial decisions. Originality/ValueThis paper is theoretical and provides a comprehensive review of literature and a compelling argument for including marketing and operations strategy in the corporate executive suite.Therefore, this paper should be of interest to researchers and practitioners interested in the functional areas of marketing, operations, and strategy for service organizations.

Surprise, Anticipation, and Sequence Effects in the Design of Experiential Services

“…This supports the call from academics for better coordination of marketing and operations efforts in service innovation, design, and delivery (Dixon et al. , Kwortnik and Thompson ).…”

The effects of service supply on perceived value proposition under different levels of customer involvement

“…framework of operations management, and it closely links both strategic and tactical operations decisions to firm objectives and to other business functions, such as marketing (Strandvik, Holmlund, & Grönroos, 2014). The conclusion is that marketing and operations must work closely to solicit and process customer inputs so that customers appreciate the value of the final output (Dixon et al, 2014). Our study highlights the importance of service supply in enabling customer perceived value.…”

“…Thus, customers are key sources of development resources (Froehle et al, 2000;Zomerdijk & Voss, 2011). Moreover, customers not only create demand and provide key inputs to the service process, they also participate in the creation of product and service bundles produced by the firm (Dixon, Karniouchina, Van der Rhee, Verma, & Victorino, 2014).…”

Características para una plataforma de información dirigida a profesionales que desean vivir y trabajar en el exterior basada en marketing experiencial y diseño de servicios

“…Como se puede observar el Marketing Experiencial y el Diseño de Servicios son conceptos con puntos afines, por lo tanto algunos autores han realizado investigaciones basados en estos dos, tales como: Dixon, et al (2014) resaltan la importancia de la coproducción del cliente, aplicado al diseño de servicios y experiencias en los cuales el cliente sea partícipe. A su vez, para el caso de las prácticas realizadas para teléfonos inteligentes en Taiwan se analiza la relación por medio de un diseño de un servicio de hardware y software, entre el valor percibido por el cliente, la calidad y el valor social del precio (Hsiao, 2013), en suma, se evidencia la posibilidad de crear servicios acordes a la percepción del cliente y a estos se les asocia un precio de acuerdo a la calidad que considera el cliente posee.…”