Faculty of Management Sciences
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Item The external environment’s effect on management and strategy : a complexity theory approach(Emerald Group Publishing, 2007) Mason, Roger BrucePurpose – This paper seeks to investigate the influence of the external environment on the choice of strategic management activities, from a chaos and complexity perspective, since a business environment is a complex adaptive system. Design/methodology/approach – The study in this paper was of an exploratory nature, using the qualitative techniques of case study, depth interviews and document analysis to collect data from two companies each in the IT and packaging industries, namely, more successful/less successful companies. Findings – The paper finds that first, it was proposed that more successful companies in turbulent environments would use radical, fast and disruptive strategies. Furthermore, strategy making should be a democratic, bottom-up process and should be organic, self-organising, adaptive and emergent. The results confirmed these propositions. Second, it was proposed that more successful companies in stable environments would use more traditional management and strategies and more formal strategy planning activities. The findings did not confirm this proposition, probably due to the fact that in reality a truly stable environment does not exist in South Africa. Originality/value – This paper is of benefit to managers and strategists by emphasising a new way to consider the future management and strategies of their companies. Since businesses and markets are complex adaptive systems, using complexity theory to increase understanding of how to cope in complex and turbulent environments is necessary, but has not been widely researched.Item Price tactics for a turbulent environment : a complexity theory view(The Clute Institute, 2015) Mason, Roger BruceThis paper proposes that pricing tactics are influenced by the nature of the external environment. It illustrates the pricing tactics suggested for a turbulent, versus a stable, environment, when viewed through a complexity theory lens. A qualitative, case method, using depth interviews, investigated the pricing tactics in four firms to identify the tactics adopted in more successful, versus less successful, firms in turbulent versus stable environments. The results partially confirmed that the use of destabilizing pricing tactics can be helpful in a turbulent market, while stabilizing tactics can be helpful in a stable market. However, the effect of such tactics on business performance was not clear. These findings will benefit marketers by emphasizing a new way to consider future pricing activities. How this approach can assist marketers, and suggestions for further research, are provided. Since businesses and markets are complex adaptive systems, using complexity theory to understand how to cope in turbulent environments is necessary but has not been widely researched. Therefore, this paper can be seen as a foundation for research using complexity theory to better understand pricing tactics in turbulent environments.Item The influence of the level of environmental complexity and turbulence on the choice of marketing tactics(Open Journal Systems, 2016-04) Mason, Roger Bruce; Dobbelstein, ThomasThis paper proposes that the choice of marketing tactics is influenced by the company’s external environment. It aims to illustrate the marketing tactics suggested for a complex, turbulent environment, when marketing and the environment are viewed through a complexity lens. A quantitative, descriptive, cross sectional study was used, based on an e-mailed survey to a purchased mailing list, which resulted in a sample of 860 senior marketing or sales managers in medium to large profit oriented businesses in South Africa. The study found that the manager’s evaluation of the environment as complex/turbulent was important, and that there is a relationship between the use of destabilizing marketing tactics and complex/turbulent environments. Although there is only a limited relationship with ‘success’, the study generally stresses the importance of destabilizing tactics, and in fact, all marketing tactics, in a complex/turbulent environment. Most work on complexity in marketing has concentrated on strategy, with little emphasis on tactics and the marketing mix. Therefore, this paper is an important contribution to the understanding of marketing mix choices, of interest to both practicing marketers and marketing academics.Item An exploration of marketing tactics for turbulent environments(Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2009) Mason, Roger Bruce; Staude, GavinThe purpose of this paper is to propose that the choice of marketing tactics is influenced by the company's external environment. It aims to illustrate the marketing tactics suggested for a complex, turbulent environment, when marketing and the environment are viewed through a complexity lens. Design/methodology/approach – A marketing mix model, derived from complexity literature, was assessed via a multiple case study to identify the type of marketing mix suggested for a complex, turbulent environment. The study was exploratory, using in-depth interviews with two companies in the IT industry. Findings – The results tentatively confirmed that the more successful company used a destabilizing marketing mix, and suggest that using complexity theory to develop marketing tactics could be helpful in turbulent environments. Research limitations/implications – The findings are limited by the study's exploratory, qualitative nature and the small sample. Generalizing should be done with care and therefore further research with larger samples and in different environments is recommended. Practical implications – The paper will benefit marketers by emphasizing a new way to consider future marketing activities of their companies. The model can assist marketers to identify the tactics to use, dependent on the nature of their environment. Originality/value – Most work on complexity in marketing has concentrated on strategy, with little emphasis on tactics and the marketing mix. Therefore, the paper is an important contribution to the understanding of marketing mix choices, of interest to both practising marketers and marketing academics.Item Word of mouth as a promotional tool for turbulent markets(Routledge, 2008) Mason, Roger BruceWord-of-mouth advertising involves activities to encourage consumers to talk about a product or company to friends and neighbours, setting in motion a chain of communication that could spread through a whole market. Each activity, itself small and relatively unimportant, could escalate through word of mouth to create strong, positive brand images and beliefs. A major characteristic of chaos theory, sensitive dependence on initial conditions (the butterfly effect) is at work in word of mouth. This paper reviews word of mouth literature from a chaos/complexity theory perspective. Using a multiple case study approach, the significance of word of mouth in turbulent markets is assessed. It was found that more successful companies tended to use word of mouth proactively, and that it is an effective marketing tool for turbulent environments. Furthermore, chaos theory is shown as a good lens through which to view word of mouth. This paper is important because word of mouth has had little attention from the academic community, with the exception of electronic or Internet based word of mouth. Furthermore, it suggests an academic theory to underpin word of mouth that has not been considered before. In addition, it is important because, in South Africa and possibly in other under-developed and developing countries, word of mouth is critical to marketing to less sophisticated or literate markets.