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Marketing Channel Management

Marketing Channel Management
Dr. Alok Kumar’s recent work explores the existing literature on American multinational corporations (MNCs) within marketing.

Dr. Alok Kumar, associate professor of marketing and W. W. Marshall College Professor, was at Smeal College of Business at Penn State University before joining Nebraska Business in 2013. He earned his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests include interorganizational governance, business-to-business relationships, distribution systems and marketing strategy. His research has appeared in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research and Strategic Management Journal.

Kumar’s recent work explores the existing literature on American multinational corporations (MNCs) within marketing. Although MNCs represent a common and complex organizational form, there is little research devoted to channel management from an MNC perspective. Aiming to address this gap, Kumar and his co-authors, including Dr. Amit Saini, associate professor of marketing and W. W. Marshall College Professor at Nebraska, propose an organizing framework to spur and guide further research. For practitioners, their integrative piece suggests three elements MNCs should consider in managing their foreign distribution channels: the headquarter-subsidiary relationship, the subsidiary-channel partner relationship, and the local institutions and legal differences of the countries in which the channels operate.
 

MNCs include several household names such as Apple, Boeing, Caterpillar, Ford and Wal-Mart. Accounting for several trillions of dollars in revenues and employing over 22 million domestic workers, they are a backbone of the U.S. economy. Comprised of headquarters located in the U.S. and subsidiaries located in foreign markets, they accrue a significant portion of their revenues from foreign markets. The subsidiaries, under mandate from headquarters, rely on foreign distribution channel partners to sell offerings abroad. Clearly, MNC fortunes are partially tied to how well they can manage their foreign channel partners.

"MNCs include several household names such as Apple, Boeing, Caterpillar, Ford and Wal-Mart. Accounting for several trillions of dollars in revenues and employing over 22 million domestic workers, they are a backbone of the U.S. economy. Comprised of headquarters located in the U.S. and subsidiaries located in foreign markets, they accrue a significant portion of their revenues from foreign markets. The subsidiaries, under mandate from headquarters, rely on foreign distribution channel partners to sell offerings abroad. Clearly, MNC fortunes are partially tied to how well they can manage their foreign channel partners."
Dr. Alok Kumar
Associate Professor of Marketing and W. W. Marshall College Professor
Published: November 9, 2018