This research presents (a) a methodological framework for examining formality as an ingredient of a company's product elimination process, and (b) some exploratory findings showing the manner in which formality varies across different organizational settings, and its effects upon the content and managerial effectiveness of the product elimination process.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlexanderRalph S. (1964), “The Death and Burial of Sick Products,”Journal of Marketing, 28 (April), 1–7.
2.
AvlonitisGeorge J. (1980), “An Exploratory Investigation of the Product Elimination Decision-Making Process in the UK Engineering Industry,”Glasgow: University of Strathclyde, Ph.D. dissertation.
3.
AvlonitisGeorge J. (1981), “Product Elimination: A Neglected Phase of Innovation,”in Marketing: Future Imperfect, Vol. 1, FloodP. R., GrantC. L., and O'DriscollA., eds., Dublin: Marketing Education Group of the UK Annual Conference Proceedings, 3–50.
4.
AvlonitisGeorge J., and JamesBert G. S. (1982), “Some Dangerous Axioms of Product Elimination Decision-Making,”European Journal of Marketing, 16 (May), 36–48.
5.
BanvilleG. B., and PletcherB. A. (1974), “The Product Elimination Function,”Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, 41 (Summer), 432–446.
6.
BerensonConrad (1963), “Pruning the Product-Line,”Business Horizons, 6 (Summer), 63–70.
7.
BrowneWilliam G., and KempPatrick S. (1976), “A Three-Stage Product Review Process,”Industrial Marketing Management, 5 (December), 333–342.
8.
BurnsTom, and StalkerG. M. (1961), The Management of Innovation, London: Tavistock.
9.
Business Week (1974), “The Squeeze on Product-Mix,” (January 5), 50–55.
10.
ChildJohn (1972), “Organization Structure and Strategies of Control: A Replication of the Aston Study,”Administrative Science Quarterly, 17 (June), 163–177.
ChildJohn (1975), “Managerial and Organizational Factors Associated with Company Performance: Part 2,”Journal of Management Studies, 12 (February), 12–27.
13.
ChildJohn, and MansfieldRoger (1972), “Technology, Size, and Organization Structure,”Sociology, 6 (September), 369–393.
14.
DunkanR. B. (1972), “Characteristics of Organizational Environments and Perceived Environmental Uncertainty,”Administrative Science Quarterly, 17 (September), 313–327.
15.
EcklesR. W. (1971), “Product Line Deletion and Simplification,”Business Horizons, 14 (October), 71–74.
HamelmanP. H., and MazzeE. M. (1972), “Improving Product Abandonment Decisions,”Journal of Marketing, 36 (April), 20–26.
18.
HiseRichard T. (1977), Product/Service Strategy, New York: Petrocelli/Charter.
19.
HiseRichard T., and McGinnisM. A. (1975), “Product Elimination: Practices, Policies, and Ethics,”Business Horizons, 18 (June), 25–32.
20.
HopkinsDavid S. (1977), Business Strategies for Problem Products, New York: The Conference Board Inc., Report No., 714.
21.
JacobyJacob (1978), “Consumer Research: A State of the Art Review,”Journal of Marketing, 42 (April), 87–96.
22.
JamesBert G. S. (1972), Integrated Marketing, Middlesex: Penguin.
23.
JohnsonM. L. (1975), “End of the Line for Weak Products?,”Industry Week (September 15), 25–29.
24.
KerlingerF. N. (1973), Foundations of Behavioral Research, 2nd ed., New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston Inc.
25.
KhandwallaPradip N. (1970), “The Influence of Techno-Economic Environment on the Organizational Structure of the Firm,” Ph.D. dissertation, Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University.
26.
KhandwallaPradip N. (1973), “Effect of Competition on the Structure of Top Management Control,”Academy of Management Journal, 16 (June), 285–295.
27.
KhandwallaPradip N. (1974), “Mass-Output Orientation of Operations Technology and Organizational Structure,”Administrative Science Quarterly, 19 (March), 74–97.
28.
KhandwallaPradip N. (1976), “The Techno-Economic Ecology of Corporate Strategy,”Journal of Management Studies, 13 (February), 62–75.
29.
KimJae-On (1978), “Multivariate Analysis of Ordinal Variables Revisited,”American Journal of Sociology, 84 (September), 448–457.
30.
KimberlyJohn R. (1976), “Organizational Size and the Structuralist Perspective: A Review, Critique, and Proposal,”Administrative Science Quarterly, 21 (December), 571–597.
31.
KotlerPhilip (1965), “Phasing-out Weak Products,”Harvard Business Review, 43 (March-April), 108–118.
32.
LabovitzSanford (1967), “Some Observations of Measurement and Statistics,”Social Forces, 46 (December), 151–160.
33.
LawrenceP. R., and LorschJ. W. (1967), “Differentiation and Integration in Complex Organizations,”Administrative Science Quarterly, 12 (June), 1–47.
34.
LevyP., and PughD. (1969), “Scaling and Multivariate Analyses in the Study of Organizational Variables,”Sociology, 3 (May), 193–213.
35.
NegandhiA. R., and ReimannB. C. (1972), “A Contingency Theory of Organization Re-examined in the Context of a Developing Country,”Academy of Management Journal, 15 (March), 137–146.
36.
NunnallyJ. C. (1978), Psychometric Theory, 2nd ed., New York: McGraw Hill.
37.
PerrowC. (1967), “A Framework for the Comparative Analysis of Organizations,”American Sociological Review, 32 (April), 197–208.
38.
PhillipsLynn W. (1981), “Assessing Measurement Error in Key Informant Reports: A Methodological Note on Organizational Analysis in Marketing,”Journal of Marketing Research, 18 (November), 395–415.
PughD. (1969), “The Context of Organization Structures,”Administrative Science Quarterly, 17 (March), 91–114.
41.
RotheJames T. (1970), “The Product Elimination Decision,”MSU Business Topics, 18 (Autumn), 45–52.
42.
SchoonhovenC. B. (1981), “Problems with Contingency Theory: Testing Assumptions Hidden in the Language of Contingency Theory,”Administrative Science Quarterly, 26 (September), 349–377.
43.
SmithD. C. (1962), “Pruning Products: The Move Away from Full-Line Marketing,”Management Review, 10 (October), 10–12.
44.
WoodwardJoan (1965), Industrial Organization: Theory and Practice, London: Oxford University Press.
45.
WorthingP. M. (1975), “Improving Product Deletion Decision-Making,”MSU Business Topics, 23 (Summer), 29–38.