Jonothan Swift. \"Foreign Language Competence

Jonothan Swift. "Foreign Language Competence and Cultural Affinity: A Study of UK Executives Foreign Markets."

In this article, Swift, senior lecturer in marketing at the University of Salford where he specializes in culture and linguistic competence, makes an attempt to test the correlation between language and culture that has been espoused by nearly all linguists, sociologists, and students of business. Swift begins by discussing relevant views, such as the view that having an appreciation for a culture increases linguistic competence in that culture's language or the view that people who had disliked a cross-cultural experience were less likely to achieve linguistic competence. Next, Swift discusses how understanding a culture/language link might be beneficial for those in managerial or business roles. Finally, Swift introduces his own study, which measured a person's like or dislike of a culture, in addition to comparing that variable with linguistic competence. In this study, Swift measured two variables, whether or not a person liked a certain culture, which was gathered via self-report data, and linguistic competence, which was gathered using self-report data in which participants gauged their level of competence in several areas. What Swift found is that the assumed relationship had been correct -- there is a very weak correlation between having a positive opinion of a cultural group and attaining competency in their language. However, new results that Swift produced indicated that the correlation may be much higher in certain markets. For instance, Swift found the Spanish market to be one of this type. Further, Swift goes on to show that the case of the Spanish market raises another question -- does length of exposure change a person's view of a culture in a more positive or negative manner? To conclude the piece, Swift suggests that it is not yet decided whether linguistic competence leads to liking a culture or vice versa, and that further research can expand the topic to make even more connections to the business world.

Conway, Tony and Swift, Jonathan. "International Relationship Marketing: The Importance of Psychic Distance."

In this article, the authors discuss how culture and psychic distance fit into relationship marketing in international markets. The primary argument that the authors espouse is that larger levels of psychic distance result in more difficult relationships, or relationships that require a great deal of "effort" to maintain (Conway and Swift 1391). The authors begin by identifying the variables that secondary research has shown as important in international relationships. These include, commitment, trust, empathy or customer orientation, experience or satisfaction, and communication (Conway and Swift 1393). After defining each of these variables that have been deemed important in international relationships, Conway and Swift give a definition of psychic distance, which suggests that if two companies have very different cultures, the psychic difference between the companies is great. "A high level of cultural affinity," paired with "a low level of trust and little mutual experience" can result in greater psychic distances, which "can jeopardize the establishment and/or development of relationships," while a low degree of psychic distance can foster "good business relationships" (1400). After following this relationship through the previously identified variables, the authors offer a model that they believe better explains the relationship between international relationship marketing and psychic distance. In this model, they identify the stages of relationship development as "pre-contact, initial interaction, development and maturation" (1405). Arguing that each of the variables for relationship marketing play a different role in each stage of development, the authors suggest that by keeping in tune to this, psychic distance can be reduced. Still, Swift and Conway agree that the development of relationship marketing, along with psychic distance, can help predict how successful a business marketing relationship will eventually be. The authors argue that if their "model is valid, there should be a positive correlation between RM success and psychic distance" (Swift and Conway 1408). Because of this they offer "communication strategies" that can help bridge the gap (1408).

Blolos, Keith J. "Relationships in business to business marketing -- how is their value assessed?"

In this study, the author investigates the question of how managers decide to do business with customers. That is, what customers to managers decide to focus their attentions on and why? Although Blolos argues that managers could make that decision fairly easily if they had access to accounting analysis, he continues to suggest that most do not have access to this information. Blols continues by defining what a profitable relationship is to a corporation, arguing that a customer must bring in more revenue than the cost of maintaining the relationship. He suggests that investment in a certain relationship before that relationship occurs, providing that the customer does eventually bring more revenue than costs to the company, is warranted. In order to shed more light on this situation, Blolos decided to determine "if and how the costs of managing existing and potential relationships are assessed" (92). Interviewing managers in 20 firms in four countries, the author found that the managers had difficulty grasping a definition for "relationship marketing," although they were aware of the concept of theory. They also had "cynical" views of relationships with other firms, although they identified relationship marketing as a positive practice. Further, Blols found that "a measurement problem exits," meaning it was difficult for managers to find a way to determine which relationships with which clients were worth pursuing (98). Although managers tended to believe that they had formed successful relationships, they could not measure that success.

Anderson, Paul Hourman. "Relationship Development and Communication: an integrative model."

In this article, author Paul Anderson makes an attempt at reconciling market relationship development with the classic elements of rhetorical thinking, as market relationships are a facet of communication. As "communication is a fundamental aspect of relationship development" the author argues that classical rhetorical philosophy is a very important part of relationship marketing, as both are concerned with using communication to persuade others (169). Classical rhetorical philosophy involves three aspects, ethos, logos, and pathos, which have traditionally been incorporated in persuasive writing. Generally, logos applies to logic, ethos applies to credibility, and pathos has to do with emotion. Since marketing relationships involve a great deal of persuasion and communication, the author argues that the model is applicable to business and business relationships. In order to reconcile these theories, the author proposes a model using the Jyske Bank in Denmark as a case study, suggesting that each communication relationship marketing event consists of three important phases -- the pre-relationship phase, the negotiation phase, and the relationship development phase. According to Anderson, "each of these phases involves a number of challenges in terms of the design of communication means and strategies" (171). Anderson goes on to communicate what each of these challenge is in each phase, using the Jyske Bank as a reference point. Based on this information, Anderson concludes that "because communication needs to change during the relationship-building process, relationship marketing management has to adjust its communication strategy accordingly" through the proposed model focusing on the important phases identified earlier, as well as the "interrelatedness of ethos and logos" (178). Further, he identifies implications for management as well as academic implications, suggesting that the implication of this model, including further research and reforming communication methods.