My primary research interests are in understanding the influence of chief marketing officers (CMOs) on marketing performance. In addition to research on CMOs, I am also interested in the area of product quality, word-of-mouth and social media marketing. My research has been recognized at the American Marketing Association Educators Conference, the premier marketing conference in North America. The research on product quality that I presented at the AMA Summer 2015 conference was recognized as the best paper in the ‘Business to Business and Inter-organizational Issues in Marketing’ track. Additionally, I have presented at the Southeast Marketing Symposium (2016) where my research was awarded the William O. Bearden Doctoral Student Research Award. My research was selected as the Best Overall Conference Paper and best paper in the "Marketing Strategy, Innovation, and New Products" track for AMA Summer 2016. My research has also received funding from the Center for Executive Succession at the Moore School of Business and SPARC program at USC. I was also awarded the 2015-2016 Moore School of Business Doctoral Student Association Promising Researcher Award and 2016-2017 W. Pierce Liles Outstanding Graduate Student Award.
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Awards & Fellowships
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AMA-Sheth Foundation Doctoral Consortium Fellow (2017)
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Best Overall Conference Paper, AMA Summer Educators’ Conference, Atlanta, GA (2016)
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Best Paper in the Marketing Strategy, Innovation and New Product Track, AMA Summer Educators’ Conference, Atlanta, GA (2016)
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Best Paper in the Business to Business and Inter-organizational Issues in Marketing Track, AMA Summer Educators’ Conference, Chicago, IL (2015)
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Charles Coker Graduate Fellowship (2017)
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​W. Pierce Liles Outstanding Graduate Student, Moore School of Business Doctoral Student Association (2017)
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William O. Bearden Research Award, Southeast Marketing Symposium (2016)
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Promising Researcher Award, Moore School of Business Doctoral Student Association (2015-2016)
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SPARC Grant Award Recipient, University of South Carolina, $5,000 (2016-2017)
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Center for Executive Succession Research Grant, University of South Carolina, $6,250 (2015)
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Doctoral Student Travel Grant, University of South Carolina Graduate School (2015)
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Principal Investigator, US Department of Commerce i6 Grant, $1 million, University of South Florida (2012)
Education
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University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Ph.D. in Business, Marketing Concentration, 2018
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Master of Science, Finance, 2012
Master of Business Administration and Master of Science, Marketing, 2010
Bachelor of Science, Business Administration, Cum Laude, 2004
Teaching
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University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Principles of Marketing--Summer 2016
Overall Course 4.6 out of 5.0; Instructor Performance 4.65 out of 5.0
Personal Selling and Sales Management--Spring 2017
Overall Course 4.39 out of 5.0; Instructor Performance 4.5 out of 5.0
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Principles of Finance, Teaching Assistant--Fall 2009 to Spring 2011
Average evaluation score of 4.4 out of 5.0 over 11 sections
Publications
Eilert, A., Satish Jayachandran, Kartik Kalaignanam, and Tracey A. Swartz (2017), “Does It Pay to Recall Your Product Early? An Empirical Investigation in the Automobile Industry,” Journal of Marketing, 81 (3), 111-129.
Defective products are often recalled to limit harm to consumers and damage to the firm. However, little is known about why the timing of product recalls varies after an investigation is opened. Likewise, there is little evidence on whether stock markets care about recall timing. This study tests the effect of problem severity on time to recall and the role of brand characteristics in moderating this relationship, and the stock market impact of time to recall. The hypotheses are tested on a sample of 381 recall investigations in the automobile industry between 1999 and 2012. The results show that while problem severity increases time to recall, this relationship is weaker when the brand under investigation has a) a strong reputation for reliability and b) experienced severe recalls in the recent past. However, the relationship between problem severity and time to recall is stronger when the brand is diverse. Importantly, the results reveal that recall delays are punished by stock markets. The study suggests that time to recall has significant implications for managers and policy makers.
Kalaignanam, Kartik, Tarun Kushwaha and Tracey Swartz (2017), “The Differential Impact of NPD Make/Buy Choices on Immediate and Future Product Quality: Insights from the Automobile Industry,” Journal of Marketing, November. (Lead Article, Equal Authorship)
This paper examines the impact of NPD make/buy choices on product quality using data from the automobile industry. While the business press laments that NPD outsourcing compromises product quality, there is no systematic evidence to support or refute this assertion. Against this backdrop, this study tests a contingency model of the impact of NPD make/buy decisions on immediate and future product quality. The hypotheses are tested using data on NPD make/buy choices of 173 models of 12 automobile firms in the United States between 2007 and 2014. The authors find that while NPD buy has a more positive impact on immediate product quality, NPD make has a more positive impact on future product quality. Further, the immediate product quality impact of NPD buy is stronger when a) technologies are more complex and b) firm NPD capability is higher. In contrast, the future product quality impact of NPD make is stronger when a) there is post-launch adverse feedback and b) firm NPD capability is higher. The study highlights the complex tradeoffs associated with NPD ‘make/buy’ decisions and offers valuable insights on how firms could manage these decisions.
