Biography

Biography Reshma H. Shah is a Professor in the Practice of Marketing at Goizueta. Professor Shah joined the Goizueta Business School Faculty in 1997 after completing her PhD in Marketing from the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. She has a BS in Business Administration from the University of Illinois - UC and an MBA from the University of Southern California. Reshma has worked full time in Corporate Component Procurement for IBM Corporation; in Litigation Consulting for Price Waterhouse; in Strategic Brand Planning for Unilever, PLC; and in Account Management for Leo Burnett Advertising.

Reshma's research interests include marketing alliances; relationship marketing; brand and category management; and integrated marketing communications. Her research has been published in the Strategic Management Journal, the Journal of Retailing, the Journal of Brand Strategy, Industrial Marketing Management, the Journal of Public Management and Social Policy, and the Proceedings of several of the top academic marketing associations. Reshma is also the co-author of two books, one in the area of Social Media entitled, How to Make Money with Social Media: An Insider’s Guide on Using New and Emerging Media to Grow Your Business, and one in the area of Emerging Markets entitled, Breakout Strategies for Emerging Markets: Business and Marketing Tactics for Achieving Growth.

Reshma has taught or is currently teaching Marketing Consulting, Integrated Marketing Communications, Marketing Management, Consumer Behavior and Marketing Strategy at both the undergraduate and MBA levels. Reshma has won several University-wide and Goizueta awards for her excellence in teaching and been asked to be a keynote speaker at major academic and industry events. In addition to her teaching and research, Reshma spent 20 years as the Faculty Lead to the Goizueta Marketing Strategy Consultancy (GMSC), Goizueta’s flagship experiential learning program. In this role, Reshma assisted student teams in completing marketing consulting assignments for such companies as: IBM, The Coca Cola Company, HP, Delta, Focus Brands, The Home Depot, CibaVision, GE, Kodak, UPS, Cox Communications, Earthlink, BellSouth, Turner, Motorola, Saab, Porsche, Acuity Brands, Chubb Insurance, and many others. As a result of its success, GMSC is now part of Goizueta’s IMPACT curriculum.

Education

  • PhD in Marketing
    Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh
  • MBA in Marketing and Strategy
    University of Southern California
  • BSc in Business Administration
    University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

Factors influencing partner selection in strategic alliances: The moderating role of alliance context

Strategic Management Journal
July 30, 2025
2008

The growth of alliances has generated considerable interest in this topic among both academics and practitioners. While multiple factors may affect alliance success, partner selection emerges as one of the most influential. Previous studies on alliances present general models that assume the factors (e.g., trust, commitment, complementarity, financial payoff) that drive partner attractiveness and, in turn, the likelihood of selection, are consistent across varying alliance projects and situations. In contrast, the present study proposes a contingency approach grounded in management control theory that suggests the criteria managers use in choosing alliance partners will vary by alliance project type. Specifically, it introduces a framework that addresses when and why managers select partners with certain, specific characteristics. The results of the present study strongly support hypotheses that the critical criteria for assessing alliance partner attractiveness and selection vary depending on the differential levels of process manageability and outcome interpretability inherent in a strategic alliance. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Till death do us part…but not always: Six antecedents to a customer's relational preference in buyer–seller exchanges

Elsevier Inc.
June 1, 2003
Since its emergence in the early 1990s as marketing's newest paradigm or school of thought, research in the area of relationship marketing has been proliferating. From the customer's perspective, initial attempts to become lifelong partners with key sellers or suppliers were appealing. However, as these propositions multiply in number and carry with them increasing burdens in terms of time and commitment, customers are reticent to enter into long-lasting relationships with all sellers. In this paper, we consider relationship formation from the customers' perspective and examine the antecedents to a customer's preference for a relational exchange orientation versus a transactional exchange orientation. Our belief is that, depending upon a set of contextual factors surrounding the exchange, customers will opt for a relational orientation with suppliers in some cases and for a more transactional orientation in others.

Determinants and outcomes of plan objectivity and implementation in category management relationships

Elsevier Inc.
January 11, 2001
Category management holds great potential, but has several inherent barriers that can impede category performance. This study examines factors thought to impact category performance because of the critical role category management plays at the end of the supply chain in Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) relationships between manufacturers and grocery retailers. Two central factors, category plan objectivity and implementation of the plans, as well as five factors antecedent to objectivity and implementation, were identified through a qualitative study of retailer and supplier category managers. The interrelationships of these factors were tested in an empirical study of 128 supplier category managers.

As a direct effect on performance, implementation of category plans had a stronger impact on category performance than did the objectivity of the plans. The retailer’s trust in the category management process was found to be a critical component on the implementation of category plans. Preplanning agreement between the retailer and the supplier was found to impact both objectivity and implementation. The internal conflict between supplier’s brand management and sales/category managers had only a minor impact on objectivity, and that effect was mediated by the supplier’s overall opportunism. Several theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.