Download Windows 3.0, and DOS 3.1 or higher. For 3-D charting, it is

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NEW BOOKS IN REVIEW
Windows 3.0, and DOS 3.1 or higher. For 3-D charting,
it is recommended that users have a 386-based PC compatible computer, 4MB RAM, 8MB hard disk space, and
VGA or Super VGA graphics card and monitor. Extra
memory is highly recommended. A full installation, with
help flies, clip art, and so forth, requires about 20MB
of hard disk space. Users should also be familiar with
basic Windows functions.
Extensive memory is necessary with either package to
take advantage of complex features, such as building slide
shows. (Reports indicate that some users have run out
of memory on machines with 8MB of RAM and who
attempt to use complex charts and transition effects in
the same slide show, as well as with sound effects on
the Macintosh.) The well-documented manual recommends several memory-saving techniques for such situations. A color monitor is important to enable the user
to visualize charts and graphs before printing. Printing
can be rather slow because of the complexity of the images, and seeing them first on the screen is the most
efficient way to operate. Further, a color monitor is essential to take advantage of the packages' slide show and
full color capabilities, and access to a color printer is
important.
Like many software initial releases, DeltaGraph Pro
for Windows has a couple of minor bugs. It is necessary
to have Adobe Type Manager (ATM) fonts installed on
the system for printing (an ATM utility is provided for
installation). Currently, a conflict with ATM and
DeltaGraph prevents the use of bold or italic styles with
ATM fonts if one is using the PostScript option in the
printing dialog. However, these difficulties are rather
minor and do not appear to warrant any delay in purchasing the product.
Summary
DeltaGraph Pro's charting capabilities are much more
advanced than those of its predecessor, DeltaGraph. Excel or other specialty business charting software is unable to compete with DeltaGraph Pro's options and ease
of use. The available colors in other packages seem boring in comparison with DeltaGraph Pro's 90-color palette. The program's flexibility for formating, tweaking,
and modifying every chart element, including vanishing
points and the rescaling of any or all axes, is unequaled.
Also unmatched is the excellent company user support
and the program's ability to enable files to be transferred
directly across platforms. (Currently only Mac to Windows transfers are possible. The company reports that
Windows to Mac will be incorporated into the next upgrade of the Mac version). Other programs also lack
DeltaGraph Pro's variety of drawing tools for customizing charts and support for backgrounds, clip art libraries, graphics, and gradient fills. I strongly recommend DeltaGraph Pro as the best all-around tool for
graphing and presenting data. In essence, DeltaGraph Pro
faces no serious competition.
CHARLES W . GROSS
University of New Hampshire
HEARING THE VOICE OF THE MARKET: COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH CREATIVE
USE OF MARKET INFORMATION, Vincent P.
Barabba and Gerald Zaltman. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1991, 294 pages.
During the past few years, a variety of books have
been published that attempt to encourage companies to
become more market oriented and point out the competitive pitfalls of failing to do so. The problem with
many of these books is that they provide little tangible
guidance as to what managers can do to become more
focused on the marketplace. Barabba and Zaltman offer
a different approach. They use a variety of conceptual
models to help develop and communicate the points they
want to make, and the effect created by this approach is
refreshing. Unlike many of the popular trade books published recently, the Barabba and Zaltman book is built
on a solid foundation. As a result, it should readily appeal to the academic community and generate some interest among business executives as well.
The authors are well qualified to write about the creative use of market information. One of the book's coauthors, Vincent P. Barabba, was Executive Director of
Marketing Research and Planning at General Motors
Corporation when this book was first published. Since
then, he has been named executive-in-charge of General
Motors' newly formed Marketing Research Center and
is responsible for helping GM better anticipate emerging
consumer trends and develop appropriate marketing
strategies. Prior to joining GM, Barabba held marketing
research positions at Xerox and Eastman Kodak and served
twice as the Director of the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
He also served as President of the American Statistical
Association.
The book's other coauthor, Gerald Zaltman, also has
had a distinguished career in the field of marketing research. Until recently, Zaltman was a professor at the
University of Pittsburgh's Katz Graduate School of
Business. Currently, he is a member of the marketing
faculty at the Harvard Business School. Well-known for
his research using concepts from sociology to better understand the marketplace, Zaltman has received many
honors from the consumer behavior and marketing disciplines. He served as President of the Association for
Consumer Research and was a recipient of the Irwin
Award, which is presented by the American Marketing
Association for outstanding contributions to the marketing profession. Zaltman's recent research has addressed
the management and use of information by decision
makers (see, e.g., Moorman, Zaltman, and Deshpande
1992), and Hearing the Voice of the Market seems to be
an outgrowth of that research stream.
The underlying theme of the book is simple: learning
about the marketplace and making creative use of marketing information to develop strategies and tactics can
have a substantial impact on an organizations's ability
to prosper in today's competitive marketplace. Even small
improvements in the effective use of market-related information can have such an impact. Further, every or-
122
ganization, regardless of its size or nature, can substantially improve its use of market information to develop
and deliver goods and services that reflect consumer needs
and desires.
Consistent with this theme, the purpose of the book is
to help managers and mjirketing researchers improve their
efforts to obtain, analyze, and use market information as
a way through which to benefit both consumers and the
market-oriented organization. However, the book contains few of the traditional data collection and data analysis topics typically covered in a marketing information
and/or research text. Instead, the content of the book
centers more on the development of an organizational
environment in which managers become inquisitive about
their markets, are able to satisfy their "need to know"
with accurate and useful market information, and develop skills to make market-based decisions that lead to
success. By emphasizing the organizational aspects of
marketing research and decision making, the authors
present a persuasive argument for changing the way
business executives think about marketing research.
Rather than viewing marketing research as an expensive and impractical exercise that is useful only for supporting decisions that have already been made solely on
the basis of managerial judgment, the authors point out
the many opportunities created by research that is both
properly conducted and properly used. If the organization can be adapted so that it uses market-based information more frequently and more intelligently, it will
benefit through enhancing its competitive edge. In contrast, companies that fail to properly use information
coming from customers, distributors, and competitors are
bound to lose touch with their markets in today's complex world. The authors' approach provides a strong
counterargument to the view of many business executives who question the benefits of marketing resesarch
(e.g., see Landler 1991).
The book is organized into an introductory chapter and
four major parts that contain a total of 12 chapters. An
Appendix discusses the use of current and near-term
technologies to implement the concept of the inquiry
center, one of the main constructs developed in the book.
A Glossary and an Index also are included. Numerous
exhibits are integrated into the text to communicate
graphically the ideas developed in the book.
In their introductory chapter, the authors begin laying
the groundwork for subsequent chapters by discussing
the use of information in today's world. They give several examples of organizations that found their business
environments were changing rapidly but did not have the
appropriate information to properly interpret the impact
of the changes on their markets. The introduction then
tums to a discussion of quality—both as it relates to the
quality of managers' decision-making processes and as
it relates to the quality of marketing information. Two
interesting dimensions of information quality are noted.
One dimension, the collection and analysis of data in
technically sound and appropriate ways, is well developed and should not be overly problematic. The other
JOURNAL OF AAARKETING RESEARCH, FEBRUARY 1993
dimension, the psychological, sociological, and other organizational dynamics associated with information usage,
is much less developed and is more likely to cause a
problem within the typical company. An interesting discussion ensues, and the authors provide considerable insight into these two elements of information quality.
In Part I of the book, Barabba and Zaitman address
the problems associated with using the voice of the market to make better decisions. They use the phrase "voice
of the firm" to express the idea that a company must
decide what it is capable of and what it is willing to
present to the market in terms of products, services, and
marketing programs. A market-based firm, according to
the authors, is created when the company's decisions are
based on the reconciliation of the voice of the market
(i.e., what the customer wants) and the voice of the firm
(i.e., what products and services the company wants to
offer to the customer).
In Chapter 1, "When Customers Speak and Firms Don't
Listen," emphasis is placed on the competitive edge that
often comes from knowing how and when to use information rather than simply having the information. Unfortunately, as the authors correctly point out, too many
organizations fail to achieve this competitive advantage
because they fail to properly use the information already
available to them. The authors discuss the need for better
information use and point out the factors that discourage
it.
Chapter 2 presents the concept of the inquiry center,
which is defined not as an organizational unit, but as a
corporatewide attitude or way of thinking that fosters better
use of information as part of the decision-making process. This company wide attitude breaks down the organizational barriers between functions and facilitates
improved management decisions and action. The inquiry
center concept focuses on the acquisition of information
and its subsequent use. In today's complex environment,
a firm cannot be market driven without the appropriate
use of information in decision-making situations. As this
chapter progresses, the inquiry center concept is illustrated with a discussion of General Motors Corporation's
quality function deployment (QFD) process used in the
design of automobiles.
Chapter 3 emphasizes that the "true customers" of a
company's marketing research can be found both internally and extemally. Though it is well understood that
many groups within the organization use marketing research, the authors argue that the customers of marketing
research also include two extemal groups that have strategic alliances with a company—its suppliers and its end
users. Hence, the inquiry center can serve as a way to
establish a solid relationship between an organization and
its extemal customers.
Part II of the book contains two chapters. One of them
(Chapter 4) pertains to the process of marketing research
as well as a few research fundamentals that yield useful
information. This chapter is adapted from Barabba's
(1990) article on this topic. The other chapter (Chapter
5) is much more engaging. It primarily describes ways
NEW BOOKS IN REVIEW
to enhance the use of research within a company environment, emphasizing that this process is dependent on
human behavior and its related imperfections. In addressing this problem, the chapter includes a discussion
of seven major obstacles encountered in effectively using research data and the authors' special approach for
surmounting them.
In Part III, Barabba and Zaitman present some vague,
but intriguing, ideas about human beings' acquisition and
use of information. The three chapters in Part III are said
by the authors to encourage "toying with ideas" that may
be useful but somewhat abstract. Chapter 6 discusses
managers' frames of reference and how they infiuence
managers' abilities to reach conclusions in light of new
information. Frames of reference consist of a set of general assumptions, decision rules, and expectations that
vary with the managers' position within an organization.
This concept explains why managers in different parts
of an organization interpret the same marketing research
information in totally different ways. Chapter 7 emphasizes the need to ask the right question in the right way,
and Chapter 8 addresses such issues as the relative costs
of acquiring various types of data, creating synergy among
various research efforts within the organization, and the
relevancy and reliability of data.
In the four chapters in Part IV, the focus is on the
information user. Specifically, Chapter 9 is concerned
with the interpretation of data for the purposes of decision making. Topics include the ability of human beings
to recognize patterns in data and the biases that often
distort the meaning of these patterns. Chapter 10 takes
the view that an organization should be considered a network, or system, of decisions resulting in actions and
judgments that represent the voice of the firm in the marketplace. A framework is presented for identifying alternative courses of action and then selecting the most
attractive one.
Chapter 11 continues this line of thinking by presenting the authors' ideas on how an organization can improve whatever inquiry center is currently in place. Emphasis here is on (i) the need for a "champion" to. serve
as a change agent in implementing the inquiry center
concept and (2) the need for senior management's commitment in order for a company to become truly marketbased in its decision making. In Chapter 11, the focus
is on the leaming that goes on in organizations as individual managers make decisions. The implicit models
used by managers in their decision making, which the
authors refer to as "theories-in-use," are discussed. The
point is made that these theories-in-use need to be made
more explicit so that they can be evaluated and improved. Organizational leaming takes place as systematic improvements in theories-in-use lead to systematic
improvements in decision making.
In reviewing this book, I quickly found that the authors provide a unique perspective on the use of marketing research. No other book, at least to my knowledge, comes close to Hearing the Voice of the Market
in terms of its specific content. More important, the book
123
does not provide a "how to" approach or a "10 easy
steps" approach to making companies more market oriented. The difficult organizational issues discussed in this
book are presented carefully, but the manager's expertise and creativity are needed to implement these ideas
in his or her organization. As a result, the book not only
presents new material, but does so in a way that managers would find challenging.
The book is especially important as the U.S. attempts
to improve its position in the world marketplace. To be
more competitive, companies not only need to know how
to acquire information, but also need to be able to use
it to improve the quality of their decision making. Many
of the concepts presented here can be used as the basis
for thinking about how to improve the chances of making correct decisions and thus developing more successful strategies. Though this book as not nearly as straightforward in its message as some of the business trade press
books (e.g., Naisbitt and Aburdene 1985), the implications are the same: companies need to improve the way
they use information in order to gain a competitive advantage in their marketplace.
Clearly, this book will have limited appeal to university professors for use in their courses. First, the book
is inappropriate for the vast majority of undergraduate
students. Second, it is also inappropriate for MBA's who
have no significant work experience. Only MBA students who have first-hand experience working in organizations will understand the issues related to organizational dynamics and organizational politics that are
brought up in the book. I could also envision the use of
this book in executive MBA programs, where the students fully understand how difficult it is to modify organizational behavior. If I were to bring up some of these
issues in the executive MBA course in marketing management that I teach at Michigan State, I would expect
a lively debate.
At the doctoral level, the book may be appealing. Many
PhD students in marketing perhaps would not have the
necessary interest in the use of marketing research (given
the more typical interest in research methods at the doctoral level), though the book may be more appropriate
for PhD students in the field of organizational behavior.
However, the growing research literature on the topic of
infomiation use (e.g., Moorman, Zaitman, and Deshpande 1992) ties in nicely with the book and could provide an incentive to adopt the book for use in a doctoral
seminar covering this topic. Another possibility might be
to assign Barabba and Zaitman's book as well as the
recently published book by Clancy and Shulman (1991),
which presents anecdotes on the collection and use of
market-based information and the development of strategies from this information. It would be instructive to
use the Barabba and Zaitman framework to evaluate some
of Clancy and Shulman's anecdotes.
Overall, I believe Hearing the Voice of the Market is
an interesting book. It addresses an important topic in a
unique way and provides a solid foundation for understanding how organizations use research (or abuse it!).
124
JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH, FEBRUARY 1993
It provides a new twist on well-established topics such
as the marketing concept and marketing myopia. In addition, the book presents some interesting examples of
the concepts being developed. It should be read by anyone who wants to delve into the organizational aspects
of the use of marketing research information.
R. DALE WILSON
Michigan State University
REFERENCES
Barabba, Vincent P. (1990), "The Market Research Encyclopedia," Harvard Business Review, 68 (January-February).
Clancy, Kevin J. and Robert S. Shulman (1991), The Marketing Revolution: A Radical Manefesto for Dominating the
Marketplace. New York: Harper Business.
Landler, Mark (1991), "The 'Bloodbath' in Market Research," Business Week, 3199 (February 11), 72, 74.
Moorman, Christine, Gerald Zaltman, and Rohit Deshpandd
(1992), "Relationships Between Providers and Users of
Marketing Research: The Dynamics of Trust Within and Between Organizations," Journal of Marketing Research, 29
(August), 314-28.
Naisbitt, John and Patricia Aburdene (1985), Re-inventing the
Corporation: Transforming Your Job and Your Company for
the New Information Society. New York: Warner Booics.
BOOKS AND SOFTWARE RECEIVED
Books
BOURQUE, LINDA B. and VIRGINIA A. CLARK, Processing Data:
The Survey Example, Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences # 8 5 . Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1992.
CZEPIEL, JOHN A., Competitive Marketing Strategy. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1992.
DEMARIS, ALFRED, Logit Modeling: Practical
Applications,
Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences #86. Newbury Park,
CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1992.
HEATH, ERNIE and GEOFFREY WALL, Marketing Tourism Destinations: A Strategic Planning Approach. New York: John Wiley
& Sons, Inc., 1992.
HOLTZ, HERMAN, Databased Marketing. New York: John Wiley
& Sons, Inc., 1992.
JOBSON, J. D., Applied Multivariate Data Analysis: Volume I:
Regression and Experimental Design. New York: Springer-Verlag
New York, Inc., 1991.
KREMER, JOHN, The Complete Direct Marketing Sourcebook. New
York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992.
LESSLER, JUDITH T. and WILLIAM D. KALSBEEK, Nonsampling Error in Surveys. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992.
POL, LOUIS G. and RICHARD K. THOMAS, The Demography of
Health and Health Care. New York: Plenum Press, 1992.
RUDESTAM, KJELL ERIK and RAE R. NEWTON, Surviving Your
Dissertation. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1992.
SEARLE, SHAYLE R., GEORGE CASELLA, and CHARLES E.
McCULLOCH, Variance Components. New York: John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., 1992.
THOMSEN, ESTEBAN F., Prices & Knowledge: A Market-Process
Perspective. New York: Routledge, Chapman & Hall, Inc., 1992.
BORNSTEIN, ROBERT F. and THANE S. PITTMAN, eds.. Perception Without Awareness: Cognitive. Clinical, and Social Perspectives. New York: The Guilford Press, 1992.
Reprint No. JMR301I09
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