Managing Market Relationships: Methodological and Empirical Insights

Citation

Hughes, T. (2010), "Managing Market Relationships: Methodological and Empirical Insights", Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 7-8. https://doi.org/10.1108/02634501011014570

Managing Market Relationships presents case studies that seek to explain relationship marketing and how it is implemented, evolved and controlled. It draws mainly on Lindgreen and colleagues' own research and the contextual depth provided by these case studies is a definite strength of the book. For example, the multiple case studies from the Australian/New Zealand wine industries were based on no less than 159 interviews (Beverland and Lindgreen, 2004). At the same time, a limitation is that the research base for the book is product and business‐to‐business (b2b) oriented, concentrating mainly on food and wine and automotive supply chains.

The book begins with a lengthy explanation of the case study approach adopted for much of the research. This would provide useful reading for anyone planning to conduct multiple case studies and for doctoral students in particular. The discussion then moves on to the subject of customer value which is seen by Lindgreen as central to any understanding of relationship marketing. While this section of the book contains some good material on value it would, perhaps, also have been beneficial to have included a discussion on value co‐creation (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). The role that co‐creation of value plays within the service‐dominant logic discourse would seem to be particularly relevant in understanding how mutual value is created through relationships.

The chapter on implementation features food supply chains and how these have developed as partnerships between retailers and suppliers to ensure consistency of quality and supply. Some interesting cases are featured – the Tesco meat supply chain, the UK fresh produce industry and the Danish pork meat industry. Market evolution is demonstrated in the case of the Australian/New Zealand wine industries, showing how different stages in market development require companies to follow relationship marketing strategies that are appropriate to each stage. Furthermore, different buyer‐seller situations may require different degrees of relationship marketing and transactional marketing effort. Companies need to draw upon both the relationship and transactional paradigms as appropriate. This implies that managers need to have a pro‐active strategy with regard to controlling relationship marketing and Lindgreen provides an assessment tool and implementation model designed for practitioners. He also suggests that different leadership styles are required in relational and transactional situations and therefore managers need to adapt their style to match the context.

As hinted in the subtitle Methodological and Empirical Insights, this book would seem to be mainly aimed at an academic audience in that it provides both an interesting example of the use of the case study method and adds to the body of knowledge in relation to b2b relationships in supply chains. However, it would also provide a challenging read for practising managers who would probably be less interested in the theoretical and methodological aspects, but would benefit from the insights into the conditions under which they should emphasise either relationship or transactional marketing strategies. The challenge for practitioners if they decide to implement a relationship strategy is, of course, that it usually requires cultural and organisational changes that are very hard to achieve. Perhaps, this is the greatest relationship marketing challenge for practising marketers. It is more straightforward to implement the 4Ps than change the organisation.

Further research could usefully provide more evidence on the practice of relationship marketing and the challenges of how to manage implementation in different organisational contexts. There is also much to learn from areas of practice not covered in this book such as services and business to consumer relationships. It would be interesting to compare the conditions relating to the application of the relational and transactional paradigms outlined by Lindgreen in b2b supply chains with those in other contexts.