This article explores how service-company attempts to win market share by offering numerous customer options can be counterproductive and can create consumer anxiety. The authors research the product offerings at major North American banks and find a large range between one bank offering four credit cards and another offering 29. They define “productization” as when service organizations add value by providing products that complement their service offerings. Unfortunately, productization is often left unchecked, resulting in product bias in a firm’s innovation strategy and the proliferation of products. Excessive complexity produced by productization hinders employees’ ability to manage service encounters, and productization as a differentiator is unlikely a defensible position. <br><br>When considering productization in a service environment, firms should remember that product satisfaction should be subordinate to good service and that a product’s capability and reputation should complement the service delivery and customer perception of the service. To better serve customers, firms should a) review the vision and direction of the organization, b) reduce complexity by understanding what type of customer is served, c) eliminate products that do not support the vision, complement the service or appeal to the identified customer, d) apply freed resources to train front-line employees and e) guard against the introduction of inappropriate new products and services.

Say-on-pay votes give shareholders a valuable opportunity to express their views on executive compensation. The goal of say-on-pay is to increase the accountability, transparency and performance linkage of executive pay and improve communication between shareholders and boards of directors. Among major Western nations, Canada is an outlier in not having adopted mandatory say-on-pay. About 60 per cent of Canada’s 100 largest companies have adopted say-on-pay, and the authors find that, on average, adopters are significantly larger than non-adopters in market capitalization and assets. They also find that the majority of non-adopters are family firms and that non-adoption prevails most in certain industries such as real estate. Stock-based compensation represents the greater proportion of pay for mandatory say-on-pay adopters, while cash compensation represents the greater proportion for non-adopters. The authors argue that stock-based compensation better aligns the interests of management and shareholders, and that the presence or absence of a say-on-pay vote is generally consistent with a firm’s overall governance strength. All but the most egregious pay packages are typically approved in say-on-pay voting, with negative votes providing a benchmark for what practices are deemed unacceptable. By not mandating say-on-pay votes, Canada is falling behind in corporate governance practices.

Dynamic Customer Strategy: Today's CRM is a 10-chapter book published in 2014 by the Business Expert Press and written by Jeff Tanner, Jr., Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Research at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. In this book, the author explains how business leaders can capitalize on "Big Data," or the infinite customer information available in today's technology-based business environment. He provides a model for competitive advantage and maximized marketing performance through Dynamic Customer Strategy (DCS), an approach to understanding and utilizing Big Data. He includes real-world examples throughout the book and offers practical advice and discussion questions for both practitioners and students. In Chapter 1, Big Data and Dynamic Customer Strategy (19 pages), the author explains the foundation of his strategic model. He reviews the range of customer information from interaction to purchasing, and considers the volume, variety, and velocity of data. He explains how to work with and plan for big data through DCS and outlines the benefits of this approach, such as creating a shared organizational understanding of the business model. He illustrates a successful DCS with a real world example of how the retailer Cabela's increased the purchase follow-through of online customers. He also explores the technology required to implementing DCS and two common obstacles, the data itself and employee mindset.

Dynamic Customer Strategy: Today's CRM is a 10-chapter book published in 2014 by the Business Expert Press and written by Jeff Tanner, Jr., Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Research at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. In this book, the author explains how business leaders can capitalize on "Big Data," or the infinite customer information available in today's technology-based business environment. He provides a model for competitive advantage and maximized marketing performance through Dynamic Customer Strategy (DCS), an approach to understanding and utilizing Big Data. He includes real-world examples throughout the book and offers practical advice and discussion questions for both practitioners and students. Chapter 2, The Elements of Dynamic Customer Strategy (11 pages), explains that developing strong strategy begins with understanding good theory. The author defines the main components of a theory, such as conceptual definitions of end goals, relationships between variables, and the conditions dictated by environmental variables. He says that DCS is based on understanding market factors and the relationship between them. Decision-making requires business managers to isolate the effects of each variable, including the correlation, chronology, and causality of the relationships between variables. This process also requires managers to (eliminate) variables that are not relevant. The author explains how control can be achieved through experimentation or statistics and illustrates these concepts in an analysis of how Target Corporation used customer transaction data to identify future purchase interests.

Dynamic Customer Strategy: Today's CRM is a 10-chapter book published in 2014 by the Business Expert Press and written by Jeff Tanner, Jr., Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Research at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. In this book, the author explains how business leaders can capitalize on "Big Data," or the infinite customer information available in today's technology-based business environment. He provides a model for competitive advantage and maximized marketing performance through Dynamic Customer Strategy (DCS), an approach to understanding and utilizing Big Data. He includes real-world examples throughout the book and offers practical advice and discussion questions for both practitioners and students. In Chapter 3, Making Sense of Big Data (13 pages), the author examines the importance of developing a data strategy. He explains that companies often make misleading assumptions about data that send managers down the wrong decision making path. He defines data traps, such as assuming that all customers are alike, and how a proper data strategy can help companies avoid these mistakes. He outlines a four-step model for creating a data strategy: acquire the right data for the decisions to be made, analyze appropriately, apply¬ the knowledge operationally, and assess the data and the process. He considers different types of data needed: transactional, demographic, motivational, and lifestyle, among others. He highlights the use of a successful data strategy with the real-world example of Gallery Furniture.

Dynamic Customer Strategy: Today's CRM is a 10-chapter book published in 2014 by the Business Expert Press and written by Jeff Tanner, Jr., Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Research at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. In this book, the author explains how business leaders can capitalize on "Big Data," or the infinite customer information available in today's technology-based business environment. He provides a model for competitive advantage and maximized marketing performance through Dynamic Customer Strategy (DCS), an approach to understanding and utilizing Big Data. He includes real-world examples throughout the book and offers practical advice and discussion questions for both practitioners and students. In Chapter 4, Operationalizing Strategy (12 pages), the author explains how to translate theoretical concepts into measurable marketing actions. The first step is to articulate the operational definitions that will be used to guide and measure actions. For example, there must be a definition of what makes a lead qualified-number of website visits, previous purchase, etc.-and everyone in the company must share this understanding. These definitions help to focus attention on the relevant aspects of big data. The author also outlines the common obstacles in making good decisions with big data, such as moving too fast, misinterpreting numbers, and mistrusting data. He presents an example of a how Random House used data to successfully change their strategy. He explains how to use decision rules as a way to put definitions into action.

Dynamic Customer Strategy: Today's CRM is a 10-chapter book published in 2014 by the Business Expert Press and written by Jeff Tanner, Jr., Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Research at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. In this book, the author explains how business leaders can capitalize on "Big Data," or the infinite customer information available in today's technology-based business environment. He provides a model for competitive advantage and maximized marketing performance through Dynamic Customer Strategy (DCS), an approach to understanding and utilizing Big Data. He includes real-world examples throughout the book and offers practical advice and discussion questions for both practitioners and students. In Chapter 5, Acquiring Big (and Little) Data (14 pages), the author explains how to make data usable. The most important step, he says, is to know what data will inform decision-making. He recommends a Data Assets Inventory, which is a matrix of data variables and sources, to manage the data. He explains the criteria for judging data quality: accuracy and precision. He considers data variety, volume, and velocity and how technology enables companies to link varied data sources for new and innovative outcomes. He presents a real world example from JC Penney about asking for customer data and presents different methods of customer profiling. He also explains that, after acquiring the data, a company must go through the process of data cleaning and definition to prepare for analysis.

Dynamic Customer Strategy: Today's CRM is a 10-chapter book published in 2014 by the Business Expert Press and written by Jeff Tanner, Jr., Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Research at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. In this book, the author explains how business leaders can capitalize on "Big Data," or the infinite customer information available in today's technology-based business environment. He provides a model for competitive advantage and maximized marketing performance through Dynamic Customer Strategy (DCS), an approach to understanding and utilizing Big Data. He includes real-world examples throughout the book and offers practical advice and discussion questions for both practitioners and students. In Chapter 6, Analytics for the Rest of Us (14 pages), the author considers the relationship between data and decision-making, highlighting the importance of selecting the right statistical analysis. He reviews different types of analytics, including research, reporting, and affinity, and expands his previous discussion of the characteristics of good data to include metric versus non-metric data, distribution of the data, and unstructured data. He provides a real-world example of how the online retailer Gilt Groupe used big data to segment customers and tailor sales offers. He analyzes methods for measuring the impact of marketing messages and channels through techniques such as attribution models and sequential basket analysis.

Dynamic Customer Strategy: Today's CRM is a 10-chapter book published in 2014 by the Business Expert Press and written by Jeff Tanner, Jr., Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Research at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. In this book, the author explains how business leaders can capitalize on "Big Data," or the infinite customer information available in today's technology-based business environment. He provides a model for competitive advantage and maximized marketing performance through Dynamic Customer Strategy (DCS), an approach to understanding and utilizing Big Data. He includes real-world examples throughout the book and offers practical advice and discussion questions for both practitioners and students. In Chapter 7, Turning Models Into Customers (15 pages), the author outlines three steps for putting knowledge into practice. The first is to simplify the operational model to enable employees to capture key data and respond accordingly and quickly. He explains how to use personas to guide frontline employees on how to react to typical customer types both at the market level to guide decisions about the marketing mix and at the customer level to individualize customer experience. The second step is to map customer conversations to understand the customer decision process and identify opportunities for effective marketing. The author illustrates the value of both market and consumer level DCS through an analysis of Maybank. The third step is to move customers to the next stage of the purchase process, or convert them, in a profitable way by testing approaches and learning from their outcomes. He reviews two "test and learn" methods, attribution modeling and experimental design.

Dynamic Customer Strategy: Today's CRM is a 10-chapter book published in 2014 by the Business Expert Press and written by Jeff Tanner, Jr., Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Research at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. In this book, the author explains how business leaders can capitalize on "Big Data," or the infinite customer information available in today's technology-based business environment. He provides a model for competitive advantage and maximized marketing performance through Dynamic Customer Strategy (DCS), an approach to understanding and utilizing Big Data. He includes real-world examples throughout the book and offers practical advice and discussion questions for both practitioners and students. Chapter 8, Of Metrics and Models (17 pages), considers the use of data analysis in marketing models. The author reviews basic metrics and provides a model for data monitoring in three steps. The first is to decide what to monitor. The second is to identify the tolerance range (the appropriate range of variance in results). The third is to create a reporting or display system that provides for meaningful comparison and monitoring. He looks at different display types (such as statistic, real-time, conventional, and structured) and offers insight on how to determine the best method. He outlines assumptions in the decision-making process and provides three recommendations for decision-making. First, identify the assumptions underlying the data. Second, create metrics that fit the decision at hand. And, third, include statistics in the decision-making process. He illustrates the successful use of metrics through the example of Royal Bank of Canada.

Dynamic Customer Strategy: Today's CRM is a 10-chapter book published in 2014 by the Business Expert Press and written by Jeff Tanner, Jr., Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Research at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. In this book, the author explains how business leaders can capitalize on "Big Data," or the infinite customer information available in today's technology-based business environment. He provides a model for competitive advantage and maximized marketing performance through Dynamic Customer Strategy (DCS), an approach to understanding and utilizing Big Data. He includes real-world examples throughout the book and offers practical advice and discussion questions for both practitioners and students. Chapter 10, Customer Culture (14 pages), explains the importance creating and maintaining the right company culture to sustain a DCS. The author outlines the requirements for this culture, starting with leadership that teaches strategy rather than simply mandating it. He says that it is essentials to have a Customer Knowledge Competence (CKC), which entails a company's ability to acquire, analyze, disseminate, and operationalize customer information. CKC depends on three factors: people with the right skills, tools that enable data acquisition and management, and supporting work processes and policies. He adds customer culture as an additional requirement, including valuing and rewarding CKC. He highlights the importance of a culture of learning and outlines several ways to focus on learning, such as individual brainstorming and team-based decision making. He presents the real world example of how the Meredith Corporation successfully brought data management in-house.

Chapter 1, Service Growth (10 pages), considers the development of the service economy across several segments, including professional, business, government, and education. The author reviews trends in service growth and explains the factors that predict continued growth in service jobs, including the aging population's need for services, customer demand for sophisticated services, and market expectations for technology-based service improvement. He explores how a service enterprise can maximize resources such as employees, knowledge, and technology, and suggests that there are two approaches to service leadership-strategic differentiation and operational excellence-each of which is explored in subsequent chapters.

In Chapter 2, Strategic Differentiation (40 pages), the author explores one of the two basic approaches to service leadership: creating strategic differentiation. This approach is focused on the creation of innovative service offerings. Chang defines core and supplemental service elements and how services have a life cycle, much like products. He reviews methods for idea generation and provides an in-depth look at the "DeepThink" approach. He explains how to achieve success by using DeepThink within a virtual team structure. He considers key issues in determining which ideas to pursue, such as financial viability and marketplace success, and outlines a stage-gate process to address the five main issues in service innovation. He looks at the importance of customer satisfaction and retaining learning from the innovation process. He describes the responsibilities of service enterprise leaders and concludes with practical insight for managers. The chapter includes two appendices for implementing a DeepThink methodology and one appendix on evaluating financial viability.

Having explored one approach to service excellence (strategic differentiation through innovation) in Chapter 2, Chang explores his second approach in Chapter 3, Operational Excellence (49 pages), which focuses on improving work productivity. He explores how managers can improve service speed, quality, and cost through a combination of the Lean principle and Six Sigma methodology. He reviews web-based tools for customer relationship management, enterprise resource management, and project management tools, and provides real-world examples of each. He explores emerging web services used by companies like Amazon.com and provides an in-depth analysis of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and the important implications for managers. He shares insight into the implementation of programs that improve business operations and outlines practical steps and key considerations. The chapter includes an appendix on the using Lean Six Sigma as a service model.

In Chapter 4, Take Charge-Conclusions (16 pages), the author summarizes the knowledge, skills, and values that he considers essential to service leadership. He reviews the foundational skills and capabilities that are essential to all service professionals. He presents a Three-Decker Knowledge Architecture that outlines twelve additional skill sets that are critical for advanced leadership. He considers a model for leadership and provides a list of ten habits for successful service professionals. He frames the challenges facing the service industry in six dimensions: inside, outside, present, future, local, and global, and summarizes research on global economic growth. He explains the importance of satisfying the five key stakeholders and maps his two paths to service excellence to each stakeholder. He concludes with an overview of his "Take Charge" model for service professionals and leaders to achieve service excellence.

Chapter 1, Information, Intelligence, and Sales Strategy (28 pages), begins with an overview of the historical evolution of competitive intelligence and its value for an organization. The author explains how the sales person connects an organization to its market, and considers five factors that impact sales performance: skills/competencies, work ethic/motivation, resources, territory, and luck. He defines data, information, competitive intelligence, and knowledge, describing how each fits into a competitive intelligence system. He explains the importance of information quality, defined by dimensions in four categories: overall quality, relevancy, format, and meaning. He considers the ultimate purpose of competitive intelligence to inform strategy and decision-making. He explores the nature and value of a marketing and sales information system to guide marketing and sales decisions. He ends the chapter with practical insight about the importance of synthesizing a variety of information from different sources.

Chapter 2, Competitive Intelligence and the Market-Oriented Organization (22 pages), considers the manager's role in creating an environment that generates, disseminates, and responds to field intelligence. The author states that a market orientation strategy derives from a company's ability to both collect and utilize market-related information. He considers three determinants of market orientation: top management, interdepartmental dynamics, and organizational systems. He explains why market orientation also requires collaboration between marketing and sales, and presents a model of eight factors in the relationship between marketing and sales: vision, alignment, processes, information, knowledge, decision, resources, and culture. He reviews three main responsibilities for sales in finding and communicating information to the rest of the organization. He explains that a company's competitive intelligence system should process and validate information as well as make it actionable for decision makers. He considers three obstacles to information acquisition, evaluation, and transmission.

In Chapter 3, Competitive Intelligence and the Sales Organization (36 pages), the author explains how an organization should enable competitive intelligence gathering among sales people. He contrasts motivation versus attitude, exploring fundamental aspects of each, and presents three elements of successful intelligence gathering: an eagerness to seek out information, the perceived value of timely information sharing, and the perceived value of a casting a wide net for information. The author outlines the individual, organizational, and environmental factors that influence a sales person's information gathering activities. He offers insight into how leaders can manage these factors to influence both motivation and attitude, and improve sales performance.

In Chapter 4, Competitive Intelligence Acquisition, Management, and Sales Ethics (24 pages), the author reviews field investigation strategies for sales people and organizational systems for information. The author explains that sales people gain market insight by developing a network and drawing out information, and notes key elements in training and coaching for these skills. He considers three ways in which salespeople gather data: being given information, asking for information, or investigating and finding information. He explains that the organization is responsible for gathering, consolidating, and processing information and offers practical guidance for each step of the process. He outlines specific questions and processes for collecting and communicating information within an organization. He concludes with considerations of the importance of setting rules around ethical information gathering.

Consumers used to rely mainly on manufacturers' product information, delivered through marketing materials, but online reviews and peer-to-peer information are increasingly influential. Companies should closely track the sources of information their customers turn to and find the combination of marketing channels and tools that will successfully steer their buying decisions.