Dr. Stefan Worm is Associate Professor at the BI Norwegian Business School’s Marketing Department. He holds a doctoral degree in Marketing and a master’s degree with majors in Business Administration and Mechanical Engineering from University of Kaiserslautern, Germany. Prior to joining BI, he was on the faculty of HEC Paris, France. He has previously been a visiting professor at Singapore Management University, University of Georgia, USA, and Indian School of Business, and a visiting scholar at Emory University, USA. Stefan is doctoral fellow at ISBM (Penn’ State University), and affiliated faculty at ISBM Asia (Indian School of Business) and the Sales and Marketing Strategy Institute (Foster School of Business, University of Washington).
Stefan’s research has been published in the International Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of Retailing, and Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. He serves as a member of the editorial review board for the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (FT 50). He is further an ad-hoc reviewer for International Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, and Journal of Marketing.
Stefan received the ISBM Business Marketing Doctoral Award for his dissertation. He has also received the 2015 SYNTEC prize, awarded by the French Association of Business Educators (FNEGE) for the best academic marketing publication in France for his research on component supplier brands. He has organized events bringing together scholars and managers, and he has co-chaired academic conferences in collaboration with INFORMS MSI, LabEx ECODEC, Journal of Retailing, and Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
At BI, Stefan teaches in the Bachelor and Master programs. He also teaches in the Executive MBA program at Hamburg School of Business Administration and the Master in Management at Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.
Stefan’s research interest centers on the impact of marketing strategies on firm value, with a focus on B2B markets. First, he looks into the performance outcomes of brand strategies in B2B markets. Second, Stefan investigates how traditional suppliers in B2B markets can profitably grow by becoming providers of services and customer solutions. Third, he examines the role of senior management teams and corporate governance in marketing.
The servitization literature has evolved into a rich field of academic inquiry that today calls for a consolidation of extant knowledge and opens new opportunities for meta-analytic reviews. The present research provides a fine-grained understanding of the servitization–firm performance relationship. We first develop an integrative conceptual framework that systematically ties together factors identified in prior research that affect the relationship. Through a meta-analysis of 379 effect sizes across 85 studies, we then provide broad-based empirical evidence that servitization indeed exerts a positive effect on firm performance. We further examine a broad set of potential moderators affecting the servitization–performance relationship to understand and explain the heterogeneity and, at times, the inconsistency of prior results regarding the relationship’s directionality and strength. Finally, we provide guidance for future research, from both a substantive and methodological standpoint, and sketch out an integrative conceptual model for future research.
Burs, Lukas; Roemer, Ellen, Worm, Stefan & Masini, Andrea (2020)
Are they all equal? Uncovering adopter groups of battery electric vehicles
Battery Electric Vehicles are regarded as highly important to reach environmental goals, such as CO2 savings in the transport sector. Despite governments making strong efforts to encourage their adoption and diffusion, sales still remain at a notoriously low level. One of the reasons may be the lack of a deeper understanding of the differences among potential adopters of Battery Electric Vehicles. To close this research gap, the authors segment adopter groups in a new way. They simultaneously use preferences for product attributes and personal characteristics to identify and characterize adopter groups of Battery Electric Vehicles. In this way, adopters can be effectively segmented, uncovering a more precise picture of adopters’ needs. Moreover, the authors introduce a three-step-procedure combining inputs from an adaptive choice-based conjoint experiment with a questionnaire. This approach can be used to segment adopter groups of other eco-innovations, as well. Based on three adopter groups of Battery Electric Vehicles (Utilitarian Savers, Performance Seekers, and Green Technologists), the authors develop tailored measures for decision-makers in policy and management to foster the adoption and diffusion of Battery Electric Vehicles.
Nezami, Mehdi; Worm, Stefan & Palmatier, Robert (2018)
Disentangling the Effect of Services on B2B Firm Value: Trade-Offs of Sales, Profits, and Earnings Volatility
In the face of declining business and growing pressures from low-cost competitors, many business-to-business (B2B) manufacturers have moved from their previously successful product-centric strategies to more service-oriented business models. Yet despite their substantial investments in services, firms fail to understand the performance ramifications of these offerings. With a longitudinal data set (2001–2016) of 227 B2B manufacturers listed in the S&P 1500 index, this study disentangles the simultaneous effects of financial-based mechanisms that link the service ratio (i.e., share of a firm’s revenue generated from selling services) to firm value. The findings reveal significant trade-offs across these mechanisms. Although the service ratio monotonously boosts sales growth, it has U-shaped curvilinear relationships with profitability and earnings volatility. These effects also depend on industry- and firm-level factors. Industry maturity positively moderates the effects of the service ratio on sales growth and profitability. However, business scope has an adverse effect on the service ratio–profitability relationship. Finally, industry turbulence negatively moderates the effect of services on earnings volatility.
Worm, Stefan; Bharadwaj, Sundar, Ulaga, Wolfgang & Reinartz, Werner (2017)
When and why do customer solutions pay off in business markets?
Manufacturers invest in customer solutions to differentiate their offerings and sustain profitability despite declining margins from goods sales. Notwithstanding strong managerial and academic interest, an examination of whether and explanations for when and why solutions translate into superior performance are lacking. We test hypotheses developed from the resource-based theory and transaction cost economics, supplemented with in-depth theory-in-use interviews, on primary and secondary data collected from 175 manufacturers. From a model that corrects for endogeneity, the findings suggest that, compared with other service offerings, solutions are associated with increased return on sales. This positive profitability effect is enhanced in firms with greater sales capabilities; it is stronger in industries with greater buyer power but weaker in technology-intensive industries. These results caution against the simplistic view of solutions as a universal route to gaining competitive advantage and aid in better identifying the role of solutions in a manufacturer’s offering portfolio.
Watson, George; Worm, Stefan, Palmatier, Robert & Ganesan, Shankar (2015)
The Evolution of Marketing Channels: Trends and Research Directions
Despite the vast increase in marketing channels research published in the past decade, few contemporary analyses review or synthesize the domain. This article provides a comprehensive review of marketing channels research from 1980 to 2014. To present a multidimensional view of marketing channels, the authors evaluate extant literature from four perspectives: (1) key theories and constructs, (2) marketing channel strategies, (3) units of analyses, and (4) substantive topics in channels research. A content analysis of the relevant topics within each perspective that have had the greatest impact on channel research provides insights into research trends. This multidimensional analysis offers an integrated guide to extant literature, as well as an outline of promising directions for research, in light of the most significant trends.
Worm, Stefan & Srivastava, Rajendra K. (2014)
Impact of Component Supplier Branding on Profitability
In recent years, many business-to-business (B2B) component supplier (CS) firms have added branding to their marketing toolbox. By extending the logic of ingredient branding to B2B components, they aim to create “pull” from B2B end customers by building a strong CS brand image among their customers' customers. In contrast with the established “push” approach of building strong relationships with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), it is unclear whether and under which conditions CS branding is a worthy strategy. On the one hand, anecdotal evidence suggests that suppliers can leverage strong CS brand image in negotiations with increasingly powerful OEMs to enhance their financial performance. On the other hand, many B2B managers believe that branding does not work in their industry context and erodes profitability. We build a data set consisting of survey measures and archival data across a broad set of industries. Our results indicate that the financial outcomes of CS branding largely depend on the characteristics of the CS and OEM industries. Unlike dyadic OEM–CS relationships, which enhance profitability invariably across industry contexts, CS branding is effective only in well-defined situations. CS branding initiatives can enhance return in CS industries with substantial levels of product differentiation and technology intensity. However, unfavorable results may arise in industry contexts in which OEM–end customer relationships or OEM brands are important.
Worm, Stefan (2011)
Branded Component Strategies: Ingredient Branding in B2B Markets
Springer Gabler.
In the quest for better differentiation of their products, many firms in B2B markets have started to systematically invest in brand building. Stefan Worm analyzes how component supplier brand strength among original equipment manufacturers’ (OEMs’) customers affects component suppliers’ market performance in their relationships with these OEMs. Further, the author determines which management instruments are effective in building, sustaining, and leveraging component supplier brand strength. The analysis relies on data collected from multiple manufacturing industries.
Worm, Stefan (2008)
Ingredient Branding as a Brand-Building Instrument: How Ingredient Brands Gain from Co-Branded Extensions
VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG.
Worm, Stefan & Chabanova, Aleksandra (2019)
Hvordan kan markedsføring påvirke organisasjonens resultater?
BI Business Review [Fagblad]
Worm, Stefan & Chabanova, Aleksandra (2019)
Hvordan kan markedsføring påvirke organisasjonens resultater?
BI Marketing Magazine [Fagblad]
Hanna, Julia; Nezami, Mehdi, Worm, Stefan & Palmatier, Robert (2017)
Is service transition a silver bullet for B2B firms?
In the B2B sector, expanding from products into services is often seen as a surefire way to improve firm performance—particularly when commoditization drives down prices. Managers want to follow the successful example of former manufacturers like IBM, who transformed themselves into service providers. With pressure to enter services, or expand them, however, comes an even more critical imperative: Understanding how these changes— which require significant resource investments— affect overall performance.
Worm, Stefan (2015)
Les Echos (French Business Newspaper): Hip-Hop management et pensée chinoise au Prix académique de la recherche en management
[Avis]
Le 9 avril, six lauréats ont été distingués pour leurs travaux lors de la 7e édition du Prix académqiue de la recherche en management. Les lauréats du Prix académique de la recherche en management ont été remis le 9 avril. Dans la catégorie, Marketing/Sciences de la décision, Stefan Worm (HEC Paris) l’emporte avec son article « L’impact de l’image de marque des fournisseurs de composants sur la rentabilité - Quand investir dans la création d’une marque de composants B2B et quand vous axer plutôt sur votre relation client. » publié par International Journal of Research in Marketing.
Worm, Stefan & Wiersema, Fred (2013)
ISBM B2B Leadership Board Topic Brief # 13-02: B2B Innovation: The Promise of Customer Solutions
[Internett]
Faramarzi, Ashkan; Worm, Stefan & Ulaga, Wolfgang (2020)
A Meta Analysis of the Service Transition Literature
[Academic lecture]. 50th Annual Meeting of the Marketing Section within the VHB.
Worm, Stefan (2019)
B2B manufacturers’ Service transition: When and how will it pay off?
[Academic lecture]. 49th Annual Meeting of the Marketing Section within the VHB.
Chabanova, Aleksandra; Worm, Stefan & Sotgiu, Francesca (2018)
The Framework of Market-Based Assets – A Meta-Analytical Study
[Academic lecture]. JAMS Thought Leaders’ Conference on Generalizations in Marketing.
Chabanova, Aleksandra; Worm, Stefan & Sotgiu, Francesca (2017)
The Framework of Market-Based Assets – A Meta-Analytical Study
[Academic lecture]. Marketing Strategy Meets Wall Street Conference V.
Nezami, Mehdi; Worm, Stefan & Palmatier, Robert (2016)
Dynamic Effects of Service Transition Strategies on B2B Firm Value: Tradeoffs in Sales, Profits, and Cash Flow
[Report]. Marketing Science Institute.
In the face of declining business and growing pressures from low-cost competitors, many business-to-business manufacturers are transitioning to services. Yet despite substantial investments, firms fail to understand the performance effects of adding more service offerings. In this study, Mehdi Nezami, Stefan Worm, and Robert Palmatier identify three financial-based mediators linking service ratio (the share of a firm’s revenue generated from selling services) to firm value. With a longitudinal data set (1998–2013) of 525 manufacturers, they test a comprehensive framework that explores the effects of these mechanisms--sales growth, profitability, and cash flow volatility--on firms’ overall performance at several stages of the service transition. They find that although providing services monotonously boosts sales growth, it has a U-shaped curvilinear relationship with profitability and linearly reduces cash flow volatility. The performance effects of moving into services also depend on industry- and firm-level factors; for example, the positive effect of services on sales growth is greater in mature industries. Increasing the scope of the service business by diversifying across different markets unfavorably moderates the effect of the transition to services on profitability.
Worm, Stefan; Bharadwaj, Sundar & Srivastava, Rajendra K. (2016)
Bringing Marketing into the Boardroom: Actionable Drivers of Senior Management’s Marketing Mindset Quotient
[Academic lecture]. TPM Conference 2016.
Nezami, Mehdi; Worm, Stefan & Palmatier, Robert (2016)
Dynamic Effects of Service Transition Strategies on B2B Firm Value: Tradeoffs in Sales, Profits, and Cash Flow
[Academic lecture]. 2016 EMAC Conference.
Nezami, Mehdi; Worm, Stefan & Palmatier, Robert (2016)
Impact of New Service Introduction on B2B Manufacturers’ Firm Value
[Academic lecture]. ISBM Academic Conference.
Mehdi, Nezami; Worm, Stefan & Palmatier, Robert (2016)
Impact of New Service Introduction on B2B Manufacturers’ Firm Value
[Academic lecture]. 2016 AMA Winter Educator’s Conference.
Mehdi, Nezami; Worm, Stefan & Palmatier, Robert (2015)
Impact of New Service Introduction on B2B Manufacturers’ Firm Value
[Academic lecture]. Marketing Strategy Meets Wall Street Conference.