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International marketing/export marketing.

This case is appropriate for discussion in courses such as international marketing and export marketing of post graduate studies in management. The case can also be used for management development programmes concerning practising managers.

The case is based on export marketing strategy with special focus on developing strong buyer (customer) relationships and the associated challenges of a trading company, The Handicrafts and Handlooms Exports Corporation of India Ltd (HHEC). The corporation primarily engages in export of handlooms and handicraft products from India. Since 2005-06 the corporation has been incurring losses and it was only in 2010-11 that the corporation has registered a positive net profit.

To understand the appropriate strategies for buyer retention; to understand appropriate promotion strategies of non-essential items like handicraft, handloom and carpets; and to help students in making decisions for export marketing like understanding product characteristic, development of samples, procurement of products, vendor management, and pricing decisions.

Teaching notes.

This study aims to examine how the widespread adoption of digital technology (DT) in business-to-business (B2B) markets affects and, in particular, increases the velocity of relationship development over time.

A literature search was conducted to develop propositions concerning DT’s effect on the various stages of an existing B2B buyer-seller relationship development model. A group of 55 experienced practitioners was used to obtain reactions to the propositions.

DT affects buyer-seller relationship development by reducing the time needed to initiate and advance through sequential relationship stages. Agility in the decision-making process fosters stronger inter-firm relationships and influences other important attributes of B2B relationships, such as organizational commitment, organizational embeddedness, trust and value creation.

A broader, more diverse sample of commercial buyers and sellers is required to permit testing the generalizability of the study’s findings.

DT affects the speed and agility of B2B relationship formation regardless of stage. As DT evolves in the age of Industry 4.0, an understanding of the effects of DT will aid managers in assessing ways to leverage its potential and apply appropriate DT strategies throughout the B2B relationship process to capitalize on current and future business opportunities. Firms need to explore the positive and negative effects of the digital revolution on managers within their supply chain networks.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that specifically addresses DT’s impact during the specific stages of the relationship development process.

This paper aims to analyze the inhibitory effect of non-controlling shareholders governance mechanism on the retention of self-interest management, which provides theoretical support and practical basis for standardizing the control transfer behavior of listed companies and improving the governance mechanism of non-controlling shareholders.

Taking A-share listed companies with control transfer from 2000 to 2017 as sample, this paper investigates the strategy, path and retention consequence of the target company’s market selected top management who collude with the new controlling shareholder to avoid the risk of being taken over by control transfer.

This research explores that negative earnings management behavior may reduce the real premium of control transfer after deducting the “shell value”. The lower the real premium of control transfer after deducting the “shell value”, the higher the probability of management retention after control transfer. This paper also reveals that the real premium of control transfer after deducting the “shell value” plays complete mediation role between the negative earnings management behavior of the management and their own retention. The mediation effect of “collusion and price reduction” in the control transfer will be inversely moderated by the governance mechanism of noncontrolling shareholders including the old shareholders of the seller.

This paper not only constitutes a supplement to the existing literature but also provides empirical evidence for standardizing the control transfer behavior of listed companies, and making good use of the old shareholders of the seller to improve corporate governance and alleviate agency conflict after control transfer.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate money attitudes and credit card usage, between compulsive and non‐compulsive buyers, of young Australians. It also serves to validate the money attitude scale (MAS) using an Australian sample.

Data were collected using a mall intercept method in a major shopping complex in Perth, Western Australia. A self‐administered questionnaire was distributed and recorded a response rate of 18 per cent.

Compulsive buyers are more likely to perceive money as a source of power and prestige. They are also more frequent users of credit cards and are more likely to bargain hunt. There are no differences between compulsive and non‐compulsive buyers for the dimensions of time retention, distrust, and anxiety of the MAS.

The study has only captured young adult Australians and should not be generalized across other demographics and national consumers. Studies on compulsive behaviour of online shopping and a comparison between fashion and non‐fashion related variables could also be explored.

Firms should consider using advertising campaigns that portray images of status and prestige in order to appeal to young adults. They could utilize aggressive in‐store promotion and selling techniques and highlight the discount or best buy slogans. For the credit card companies and banks, word‐of‐mouth through family and friends are better promotional tools to attract users. Marketers and policy makers are recommended to incorporate consumer education programs for young adults to build skills to counter financial problems.

This is the first Australian study that examined money attitudes, credit card usage and compulsive behaviour. Further the MAS scale is validated with the addition of the “bargain hunting” variable.

The purpose of this paper is to assess customers' perceived value of professional services and how this influences satisfaction, loyalty and ultimately retention.

A survey is conducted among professional service providers in the Tampa Bay, Florida (USA) Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes attorneys, financial professionals, physicians, dentists and private investigators.

There is a highly significant relationship between service and customer retention, quality and customer retention, image and customer retention, price and customer retention, and value and customer retention. There is a significant relationship between value and satisfaction on customer retention; between value and loyalty's effect on customer retention; and among value, satisfaction and loyalty on customer retention.

Statistically, the findings cannot be generalized beyond the scope of this study and the Tampa area. However, this can be tested in further research.

The service, quality, image and price model had a significant correlation to customer retention. The four components of value – service, quality, image and price – are each directly related to customer retention and therefore should be used by service professionals and managers as an important strategy to retain their clients.

Professional services is an under researched area in the value, satisfaction and customer retention area and this study fills this gap.

Combining a conceptual framework with empirical evidence, this study aims to offer insights into why small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the business-to-business beauty sector switch suppliers, due to pricing considerations.

Data gathered from 475 telephone surveys of Spanish hairdressers provide the input for discrete choice models for testing the proposed hypotheses.

The SMEs that change suppliers tend to be sensitive to promotions, express less satisfaction with a current supplier’s offerings and serve fewer customers who buy professional products for their in-home use. If SMEs are satisfied with the supplier’s services though, they are less likely to change and more prone to negotiate with that supplier.

This study does not address why dissatisfied SMEs might remain with their current suppliers. Further research might replicate this study using additional pricing data from suppliers.

Suppliers in business-to-business (B2B) sectors can leverage these findings to allocate their marketing budgets optimally and establish service strategies that will enable them to retain buyers and reduce their switching risk.

As an extension of extant literature, this study specifies switching drivers for SMEs in the B2B beauty sector. The findings should apply throughout this worldwide service sector, as well as to similar markets such as health, beauty and personal care and well-being services.

The purpose of this paper is to specify and test factors surrounding relationship strength between buyers and suppliers in a global, business‐to‐business (B2B) services context. In so doing, the paper helps extend relationship marketing theories to this under‐researched domain.

A literature review, along with results of field interviews and surveys, provide a conceptual framework for the relationship strength formation process in the context of multi‐cultures. The research then tests a model of hypothesized relationships using structural equation modeling.

The paper confirms the influence of perceived value, switching costs and relationship quality (satisfaction, trust and affective commitment) on relationship strength. As predicted, relationship quality mediates the influence that perceived value has on relationship strength. Switching costs further mediate the influence that relationship quality has on relationship strength which, in turn, influences substitution scarcity. No support, however, was offered for the proposed moderating influence that national culture (as measured by a buyer's country masculinity and individualism) has on quality/strength linkages and value/strength linkages.

The sample of buyers in 42 countries includes a higher share of buyers from individualist than collective countries. Consequently, a more balanced cultural sample may have supported the otherwise rejected proposition that culture has a moderating impact on relationship building.

The study provides managerially relevant (“actionable”) results which may help buyers execute customer retention strategies that lead to higher customer profitability.

This study adds to the limited literature on building B2B service relationships in a global context. The paper seeks to provide a balanced account of the social and economic aspects of relationship strength formation.

The purpose of this paper is to specify and test factors surrounding trusting relationships between buyers and suppliers in a global, business‐to‐business services context. In so doing, the paper aims to help to extend relationship marketing theories to this under‐researched domain.

A literature review and results of qualitative interviews in the paper provide a conceptual framework for the trust formation process and relational outcomes of trust. The research then tests a model of hypothesized relationships using structural equation modeling.

The paper confirms the influence of trust building behaviors (social interaction, open communications, customer orientation) and service outcomes (technical, functional and economic quality) on trust formation. Trust is shown to have a positive influence on key relational outcomes, loyalty commitment and share of purchases.

The sample consists of buyers of aviation component repair services who may be susceptible to idiosyncratic industry pressures. Further, the sample of buyers in 42 countries includes a higher share of buyers from individualist countries.

The study provides managerially relevant (“actionable”) results that may help buyers execute customer retention strategies that lead to higher customer profitability.

This study adds to the limited literature on building trust in B2B services in a global context. The paper seeks to provide a balanced account of the interpersonal and tangible aspects of trust formation.

This paper investigates the effects of service quality on customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions among customers of the KFC Fast Food Restaurant Chains.

In total, 500 randomly sampled KFC restaurant customers were surveyed using a quantitative research design. The partial least square technique was used for data analysis.

This paper shows that service quality and recovery directly impact customers' repurchase intention. The results further showed that a positive and significant connection exists between customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions.

The study recommends that KFC utilizes service quality dimensions to meet their customers' expectations and elicit repurchase intentions necessary to remain competitive in the fast-food industry.

This paper highlights the impact of service quality in developing loyal customers in the fast-food sector. It offers managers insight into understanding the factors positively impacting repurchase intentions and the nexus between service recovery performance and repurchase intentions from an emerging market perspective.

Using firm-level data from small- to micro-sized agro-based enterprises located in developing Africa, the purpose of this paper is to employ a resource-based marketing model to explain financial and nonfinancial organizational performance outcomes. The moderating effect of firm size on the structural inter-linkages between customer retention orientation, eBrand promotion and the organizational performance outcomes is also explored.

Partial least squares path modeling approach was the analytical method for data analysis purposes.

The data support the assumption that marketing resources as well as the moderating influence of firm size play a strong role on the agro-based enterprise performance.

This study widens the context of inquiry on agro-based enterprise performance to include developing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa. The value of the paper rests in its intent to offer small- to micro-sized agro-based businesses in emerging markets more practical ways to enhance their performance.