Sheth Wilson Award

Ulaga and Reinartz win 2021 ISBM-David T. Wilson-Sheth Foundation Award for Long Term Impact in B2B Marketing

Wolfgang Ulaga (INSEAD) and Werner J. Reinartz (University of Cologne) have won the 2021 ISBM-David T. Wilson-Sheth Foundation Award for Long Term Impact in B2B Marketing for their 2011 Journal of Marketing paper, “Hybrid Offerings: How Manufacturing Firms Combine Goods and Services Successfully.” The biennial award is made to a paper published in a refereed journal that has made a significant long run impact on the theory and practice of B2B Marketing.

The award is supported by the Sheth Foundation and named in honor of the late Penn State Professor David T. Wilson, a leading B2B scholar and founding Managing Director of the ISBM (Institute for the Study of Business Markets).

“The winning paper provides a unique perspective on hybrid offerings, combinations of goods and service, which contrasts with the focus in the prior literature on either products or services. The authors use rigorous qualitative methods to develop the foundations for a new theory of hybrid offerings, including the identification of distinctive capabilities and unique resources that drive the generation of successful hybrid offerings. This ground-breaking article opened up a new field of inquiry in B2B marketing academia and addressed important managerial challenges in B2B marketing practice that still resonate today, as B2B firms struggle to develop winning value propositions,” noted Prof. Stefan Wuyts, Penn State, ISBM Director and Prize Committee Chair. (Other Committee Members were Prof. J. Andrew Petersen, Penn State and ISBM Associate Director, Prof. Gary L. Lilien, Penn State and ISBM Director Emeritus, and Prof. Ruth N. Bolton, Arizona State and President, Sheth Foundation.)  “The authors identified four unique resources and five distinctive capabilities that enable firms to design and deliver successful hybrid offerings. The five capabilities, which cover unique data processing, risk assessment, design, sales, and deployment processes, serve to guide B2B marketing managers in their pursuit of competitive advantage. The authors also developed a typology of service offerings depending on whether they are input-based or output-based, and whether they are oriented toward the supplier’s good or the customer’s process. This typology mirrors heterogeneity in B2B marketing practice, making the paper’ insights even more actionable. The paper’s significant impact is evident from its nearly 1000 citations in subsequent academic articles and books,” continued Wuyts.

The two winners will share a cash award of $2000 along with a plaque of recognition and will be honored at a special session in their honor at the virtual ISBM B2B Academic Conference (August 5-6. 2021).

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