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Purpose – The paper aims to provide a better understanding of the interrelatedness of customer and service orientations in the organizational structures of capital goods manufacturing companies. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative, multi-case research design was employed using 36 European capital goods manufacturing companies. Findings – This article explored four different patterns of how companies move from being product-focused to service-focused, and from having an organizational structure that is geographically focused to one that is customer-focused. The four patterns are termed as follows: emphasizing service orientation, service-focused organizational structure, emphasizing customer orientation, and customer-focused organizational structure. Research limitations/implications – Although the study is based on 36 case studies, the external validity (generalizability) of the findings could not be assessed accurately. Practical implications – The description of the four organizational approaches offers guidance for managers to restructure their companies towards service and customer orientations. Originality/value – The article links the relatively independent discussions of service and customer orientations in the context of organizational structures. The four patterns provide a better understanding of how capital goods manufacturers integrate increased customer and service focuses in their organizational structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper sets out to review the sociological perspective on the changing role of managers in US corporations following the demise of Fordist hierarchies. Design/methodology/approach - The paper reviews literature on how changing managerial prerogatives altered the control of the workplace, and provides a theoretically informed assessment of the current impasse. Findings - The post-Second World War decades saw sustained economic growth that was predicated on an employment relationship in which managers and workers had relatively secure career ladders within firms and were provided with regular pay increases. The changing competitive environment in the 1980s altered this relationship: traditional hierarchical structures were increasingly subject to internal market forces, and organizations supplanted and supplemented their operations with network forms. Originality/value - The paper shows how workplace changes increased insecurity for managers by questioning the traditional operation of that role within organizations; though simultaneously, these changes served to enhance features of overall organizational efficiency and equalize opportunity for career advancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Organizational resistance to technological innovations creates hurdles to diffusion of innovations in industrial technology markets. This study aims to examine the causes of this problematic phenomenon and develop useful strategies to overcome innovation resistance of organizational customers. Design/methodology/approach - The paper's conceptual framework is adapted from the motivation-opportunity-ability (MOA) paradigm of consumer and organizational information processing. The analysis draws on a body of multidisciplinary literature, empirical observations, and case studies. Findings - The determinants of organizational innovation resistance encompass the psychological, economic, technological, political, strategic, and organizational structural aspects of a technological innovation. Information flow is the key to breaking through the resistance barrier and promoting diffusion of innovations among industrial customers. Research limitations/implications - An empirical study is needed in the future to test the propositions developed. Practical implications - The study offers useful strategies to overcome organizational innovation resistance and new approaches to segment and target organizational buyers in technology markets. Originality/value - The paper fills a research gap in studies on diffusion of innovation by explaining organizational innovation resistance and proposing useful strategies to tackle this problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Recent research suggests that organizations cycle through a small set of possible configurations. Each buying center as an informal organization within one of these four viable types of structure will exhibit distinct configuration attributes. Describing and predicting the buying center's configuration as indicated by organizational structure are the purpose of this research. Design/methodology/approach – Data collected via mail survey are used to classify organizations into hypothesized segments via K-means cluster analysis. Buying center structure is contrasted and tested for differences using MANOVA, MDA, and post hoc t-tests. Findings – The extensivity or level of participation in the buying center is significantly related to the type of organization. Organizational formalization and centralization are consistently related to the formalization and centrality of the buying center. Research limitations/implications – The generalizability of the findings is limited as the sample is from a single US geographical area. Buying center participation and structure may be a function of the product. Research findings are limited to a specific service. Practical implications – Awareness of the structure of the buying center is useful for marketing and sales managers. This knowledge can guide their efforts to allocate scarce sales resources at appropriate levels for business customers. Originality/value – This paper closes a gap in the business-to-business marketing literature about antecedents to the buying center's structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]