Purpose – Drawing on the theories of planned obsolescence and dynamic capabilities, this study aims to jointly address marketing and organizational aspects of the transition from the existing to the new generation of a product (i.e. a product rollover). It conceptualizes the relevance of organizational unlearning in rollovers and relates it to the improvement in the marketing mix of multigenerational products to predict product rollover performance. Design/methodology/approach – The study reports on a cross-sectoral sample of 179 product rollovers among UK-based manufacturers of multigenerational products. Findings – Organizational unlearning is indirectly associated with product rollover performance through the improvement in the marketing mix of the rollover. Environmental dynamism plays a moderating role. Research limitations/implications – This study enriches the operations management-leaning rollover literature with evidence about the under-addressed marketing perspective of rollovers. Owing to its theoretical foundations, it makes the rollover literature more cross-disciplinary. Not considering additional product and environmental factors is among its limitations. Practical implications – Firms whose products evolve through successive generations can boost rollover performance by deploying an organization-level dynamic capability (i.e. organizational unlearning), which promotes departure from encased knowledge, subject to the competence of channeling this capability in the marketing mix of multigenerational products. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to empirically address rollover marketing mix dynamics from the side of the firm, with underpinnings in economic and organizational theories.

Design capabilities have been recognized as drivers of innovation, yet the distinction between internal and external design integration remains largely underexplored, as do the ways through which these integration types contribute to new product development (NPD) performance. Drawing on the dynamic knowledge management view, this study conceptualizes internal and external design integration as distinct loci of market-facing knowledge generation that are associated with launch strategy proficiency and, in turn, with NPD performance. Survey data from 247 U.S. firms show an indirect association between both types of design integration and NPD performance through launch strategy proficiency. Market dynamism reveals a capability reversal. Under stable market conditions, internal design integration is positively associated with launch strategy proficiency, whereas external design integration becomes negatively associated with it at very low levels of dynamism. Under dynamic market conditions, external design integration is positively associated with launch strategy proficiency, whereas the association between internal design integration and launch strategy proficiency is attenuated. The findings connect the design and marketing research streams and offer guidance for decision-makers on aligning the locus of design integration with the level of market dynamism.

Although previous literature has identified personal branding as an important concept in marketing, little is understood about the effects of personal brand equity (PBE) during the personnel selection process. To address this research gap, we performed two experimental studies and one field study in the domains of sales and engineering to examine the effect of candidates’ PBE on hiring outcomes through recruiters’ perceptions. This research draws upon signaling theory and an integration of the accessibility-diagnosticity model with the competence-based view of careers and regards PBE as the interpreted outcome of personal branding signals, reflecting how recruiters perceive and evaluate the value conveyed by job candidates. We unveil that candidates’ PBE positively predicts hiring recommendation and that credibility mediates this relationship. Moreover, job hierarchy and objective job qualifications appear to negatively moderate the relationship between candidates’ PBE and hiring recommendation. Our findings also indicate that objective job qualifications negatively interact with candidates’ PBE in predicting their credibility. The present research contributes to personal branding and selection research by offering novel insights into the role of PBE during the interview process, thereby providing guidance for job candidates and practitioners.