|
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Today, the DSEF is in the midst of re-launching an exciting academic research program with an array of opportunities for engagement for member companies of the Direct Selling Association (DSA). In addition to a long and successful partnership with academics in marketing and sales, the DSEF’s new initiative is expanding its focus to include the fields of consumer behavior, corporate social responsibility/sustainability/ethics, and women’s entrepreneurship/leadership. Over the past two years, a blue-ribbon task force of academics, industry leaders and DSEF staff has been engaged in creating a world-class research program to expand knowledge and understanding of some of the most fundamental issues relevant to today’s world of direct selling. Importantly, this initiative complements the research efforts already under way at the DSA and the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA).
Given the above, the mission of the DSEF Education Committee, which I have the distinct privilege of chairing, is: “To expand knowledge and understanding of the fundamental principles of direct selling through academic research and educational programs.” The goals of the academic research initiative are:
The benefits of the DSEF academic research initiative for the industry and its DSA member companies are multifaceted and include:
Although the benefits for the industry obviously are substantial and compelling, our academic friends achieve benefit from the collaboration too, making the DSEF academic research initiative a truly win-win proposition! Our academic partners very much want to work with member companies! Here are some of the key benefits, listed by academics, of DSEF firm partnerships:
In celebration of the introduction of the new DSEF academic research initiative, a gala “Meet the Researchers” session was held before a packed room at the 2010 DSA Annual Meeting. Four top-of-field scholars were invited to participate in a “beta-test” year of the new process, and all four attended the event to present their work. The DSEF Research Task Force determined the following key themes for this inaugural year based on dozens of comprehensive interviews and surveys of industry leaders:
In terms of process, for the beta-test year, the task force invited the four targeted academic experts to submit proposals based on their alignment with the program’s areas of general research priorities, which are as follows:
I am delighted to announce a summary of the proposals from scholars who have been invited to participate in the inaugural year of the DSEF re-launched academic research program. Here are summaries of the four projects funded during the beta-test year, linked to their respective element within our research priorities:
Developing an Immersive 3D Environment (Virtual World) for the Training & Support of Representatives in Direct Selling
Michael Solomon, Ph.D., Professor of Marketing, Director, Center for Consumer Research, Erivan K. Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph’s University; Professor of Consumer Behaviour at the Manchester School of Business
Natalie T. Wood, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Erivan K. Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph’s University
This research project develops a demonstration project to explore the capabilities of an immersive 3D environment (a.k.a. “virtual world”) for training and support of independent representatives in a direct selling environment to provide a highly cost-efficient and engaging way to enable participants to role-play sales presentations in a risk-free environment prior to conducting actual sales calls. The goal is to create a mirror experience based on a current sales training protocol used by a DSA member company that will be enacted in a virtual world designed for the study.
Advancing Environmental Sustainability in Direct Selling
Mark Starik, Ph.D., Department Chair and Professor of Strategic Management & Public Policy, George Washington University School of Business; Interim Director, GW Institute for Sustainability, Research, Education, & Policy; Director, GW Institute for Corporate Responsibility, Environmental Sustainability Program
This research project assesses the “ecological footprint” of the industry by focusing on the environmental sustainability goals, strategies and operations of the business organizations and individuals that are involved in the direct selling of goods and services in the United States. There is mounting evidence that firms that practice sustainability tend to experience stronger customer relationships and loyalty, especially among members of Generation Y and younger. Thus, the capability resulting from this work to recommend initial strategies that would advance those effective organizational environmental sustainability provides high value for direct selling firms.
Organizational Identification and the Social Network Phenomena in the Field of Direct Selling
Michael Ahearne, Ph.D., Professor of Marketing, Executive Director, Sales Excellence Institute, Marketing Department Ph.D. Coordinator, Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship, C.T. Bauer College of Business, University of Houston
This research project conducts a comprehensive study to evaluate the levels of organizational and job identifications among large samples of independent representatives connected to an established direct selling firm. The goal is to design managerial techniques and guidelines to strengthen directs sellers’ organizational and job identifications to improve their representatives’ job satisfaction, in-role performance and organizational commitment.
Considering that informal networks play critical roles in the direct selling context, the study focuses on determining how these networks form among direct salespeople, and what factors determine the growth and strength of such networks in the long term. The findings will provide insights for managers in designing strategies to enable independent representatives to build and maintain more productive and efficient social networks. Ultimately, direct selling firms will gain through a better understanding of how to promote social networks to strengthen relationships, enhance retention, and possibly impact performance/productivity.
The Influence of Family Orientation on Direct Selling Entrepreneurs
Teresa Nelson, Ph.D., Elizabeth J. McCandless Chair in Entrepreneurship, Director of the Entrepreneurship Program, Simmons College School of Management
Background: The direct selling organizational structure is noted for the relational aspect of its sales process. In addition to the direct person-to-person sales interaction that is the hallmark of the industry, about two-thirds of all direct sales representatives in the United States also generate income from the network of distributed sales representatives that they have built and also take some role in managing on an ongoing basis. These networks, in concert with but largely independent of the parent source firms, manage a sales flow-through of products and services that generated $30 billion in revenue in the United States in 2008.
Current Project: How social capital ties, as expressed in the theoretical concept of “familiness,” impact the structuring of the above-mentioned relational, distributed networks among sales representatives is the topic of this research. This exploration has very important implications for direct selling firms. In focus is the role of relationships in growing and maintaining a sales force of entrepreneurial independent representatives and, by extension, sales and profits for both the entrepreneur and the direct selling organization.
Mary Kay Corporation kindly hosted a meeting of the Academic Research Initiative Task Force in October 2010 at their headquarters in Dallas. At that meeting, each of the above currently commissioned projects was reviewed and updated in detail and plans were formulated for pushing out the new initiative post-beta-test year. Two topics of particular interest were identified for the next round of funded academic research projects: (1) Generation Y issues in relation to potential independent representatives and customers of direct selling firms and (2) the role of social media in all aspects of direct selling. The Task Force urges members of DSA and DSEF to contact Robin Diamond, DSEF Program Manager, with their interest in these topics for the next round of research projects. We will begin matching companies to potential academic researchers soon. Robin can be reached at .
Greg W. Marshall, Ph.D., is the Charles Harwood Professor of Marketing and Strategy in the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College, Winter Park, Fla. Dr. Marshall is a member of the Direct Selling Education Foundation Board of Directors, serving as chairperson of the education committee.
