| Abstract: | Purpose: The paper aims to consider the different ways the firm-marketplace relationship has gone through over time in order, on one hand, to develop some interpretive reasoning and, on the other hand, to introduce some questions able to direct future research.
Methodology/Approach: A conceptual approach is taken, trying to provide an understanding of the long-term changings that took place in the firm-marketplace relationship in its first part, and to raise some relevant issues about the evolution to come in is second part.
Findings: In the firm-marketplace relationship evolution five significant stages are to be found: product and selling orientation, marketing orientation, total quality management, one-to-one/relationship marketing, experience economy.
So, if one looks retrospectively and on the whole at the evolution occurred in the above mentioned relationship through the different stages, it’s quite easy to realize that a shift took place from:
- mass to individual as supply’s addressee
- unsatisfied needs to sensations to be felt as customer’s end
- goods and things to services and experiences as transaction’s core in a context of ever growing supply’s quantity, variety, quality and accessibility.
From an interpretive point of view, it seems that business firm and capitalistic system got to highest degree of development and of exploitation of their potential, at least if no change of paradigm is assumed.
As a matter of fact, it seems really hard to imagine for almost any product a more plentiful marketplace, a greater choice among alternative offers, a superior technical performance, an easier purchase availability, a higher customization, a stronger perceived utility and satisfaction.
As long as such analysis proves right, it’s quite logical to conclude that the ongoing paradigm has reached its possible maximum outcome. If so, it becomes reasonable to hypothesize the rising of a new paradigm in the firm-marketplace relationship, considerably different from the actual one.
(Not) to conclude, some insightful questions for discussion and future research could be:
- how much frequent is a product shortage situation?
- what can be products’ quality level?
- is it harder to choose because of too many alternatives or too little ones?
- what can be there beyond a brand able to provide even love?
- how come business ethics and corporate social responsibility are so popular topics of discussion today both among academics and practitioners?
- how come consumption-wellbeing relationship, happiness or, better, happiness paradox are getting more and more attention nowadays?
- how can simplicity-oriented lifestyle choices and growing number of anti-business movements be explained?
- are there any weak signals of innovative firm behaviour detectable?
- what is the direction such changings are pointing to?
Limitation/implication: As the paper provides a personal interpretation of what happened and is going on from the firm-marketplace perspective, anyone could object or at least non completely agree with such an interpretation.
Originality/Value: The paper tries to take in and to relate to the managerial field some broad issues often discussed in civil, social and economic realm. While firms are deeply involved in the actual state of capitalism and society at large, it seems no equivalent contribution has been made by management scholars in order to find a more suitable role for the firm. |
Ph.D., Lic. Theses
