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Article
Publication date: 3 July 2017

Fawaz Baddar ALHussan, Faten Baddar AL-Husan and Lulu Alhesan

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of senior managers in managing intra-and inter-organizational relationships with key customers and the factors that influence such…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of senior managers in managing intra-and inter-organizational relationships with key customers and the factors that influence such involvement in a novel context in the Arab Middle East region.

Design/methodology/approach

An exploratory qualitative research design was used in which 68 face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted in Jordan with endogenous and Western firms.

Findings

Top/senior managers play a significant role in Arab business relationships and in creating value for the firms. Their involvement in key accounts is imperative at all levels – strategic, operational, and relational – mainly due to cultural and institutional factors that are unique to the Arab context.

Research limitations/implications

The study is limited to operations in one emerging country situated in a novel setting in one particular region of the world, which is the Middle East.

Practical implications

Arab senior managers’ participation is imperative and should continue with their relatively intense involvement with key accounts. For foreign investors operating in that part of the world, it is highly recommended that senior management have a more a hands-on approach when dealing with the Arab key customer and to focus more on the relational aspect of key account management than on the organizational aspect.

Originality/value

This paper adds to the very limited number of studies on senior management involvement in key account management, making a theoretical and practical contribution and adding insight on how to manage the relationship with the Arab key customer.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 32 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 June 2012

James I.F. Speakman and Lynette Ryals

Salespeople are frequently required to manage a wide range of complex internal relationships. This paper seeks to explore one aspect of the key account manager's internal selling…

4361

Abstract

Purpose

Salespeople are frequently required to manage a wide range of complex internal relationships. This paper seeks to explore one aspect of the key account manager's internal selling role which has not been addressed before, specifically how the key account manager handles multiple incidents of simultaneous conflict while carrying out their internal selling duties.

Design/methodology/approach

The research uses the critical incident technique together with an interpretive framework for data coding in order to explore the complex behavioural sequences adopted by key account managers while managing the many incidents of conflict which they frequently encounter within the organisation. Twenty‐nine key account managers from seven participating FMCG, Blue Chip organisations in the UK and USA participated in the research describing 112 incidents of conflict.

Findings

The research provides further insight into the complexity perspective of conflict management, suggesting that conflict episodes do not occur as discrete, isolated, incidents, rather incidents occur simultaneously requiring a combination of behaviours in their management.

Practical implications

The implications for a complex role such as selling are that, while carrying out their internal selling duties, rather than adopting a single managerial style or single combination of styles, key account managers are able to adapt and use a combination of management behaviours which can be modified throughout and across conflict episodes.

Originality/value

In contrast to the majority of research into personal selling, this research takes an interpretive approach through the analysis of transcripts from a series of CIT interviews with key account managers in the field.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 27 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 October 2018

Nick Ellis and Akihito Iwasaki

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relevance to situated managerial practice of the implementation frameworks contained in the global (key) account management (GAM…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relevance to situated managerial practice of the implementation frameworks contained in the global (key) account management (GAM) literature and to explore what specific GAM-related issues may be faced by key account managers working for an MNC based in Japan.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a critical literature review, including a discussion of sales management in Japan, an exploratory case study is conducted of a chemical supplier that claims to be making the transition toward GAM.

Findings

The findings confirm that intra-organizational contextual and cultural factors appear to influence the adoption of GAM programs by the focal firm. This suggests there is not a “one size fits all” strategic pathway to implementing GAM, and that western theoretical perspectives on KAM/GAM do not appear to have permeated the sense-making of some Japanese managers.

Research limitations/implications

While the study indicates that the US/European approach to KAM and GAM does not appear to fit well with the Japanese business culture, this conclusion must come with the caveat that this is not necessarily a generalizable case.

Originality/value

Much of the prior B2B marketing literature on KAM and GAM has investigated only western firms. This is possibly the first empirical research on GAM in a Japanese company. The paper offers a number of implications for theory and ponders the wisdom of making recommendations from such a culture-bound study.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 33 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 February 2009

Xuan Lorna Wang and David Bowie

This paper aims to explore the links between revenue management and business‐to‐business (B2B) relationships and explains how revenue management can both support and damage B2B…

7034

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the links between revenue management and business‐to‐business (B2B) relationships and explains how revenue management can both support and damage B2B relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

A single case study method was employed to conduct qualitative research into a company and its key accounts. In‐depth data were collected from three divergent sources (company revenue managers, company account managers and nine of the company's key accounts) through semi‐structured interviews, observations and document studies.

Findings

The research findings reveal that from the company's perspective, managers acknowledge that revenue management has positively influenced the process of identifying and analysing key account activities and conducting contractual decision making with key accounts. However, from the key accounts' perspective, revenue management practices were found to have significant negative consequences which damage trust and undermine long‐term relationships and commitment.

Research limitations/implications

Although the research findings cannot be generalised to other service sectors because of the single‐case study research method, the implications of this study suggest that the impact of revenue management practice on B2B relationships should be further investigated in a wide range of organisational and industry settings.

Practical implications

The research findings confirm the long‐held assumption that revenue management can negatively affect B2B relationships. The benefits of revenue management primarily reward the company, whilst long‐term B2B relationship development suffers from the short‐term consequences of the company's opportunistic behaviour.

Originality/value

This paper bridges the gap in the literature between revenue management and key account management. It also explores the conceptual incompatibility between revenue management and a long‐term relational approach to B2B relationships and provides evidence to support this proposition.

Details

Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0887-6045

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 March 2016

Björn S. Ivens and Catherine PARDO

The purpose of this paper is to identify what managerial implications research related to inter-organizational interfaces has been produced in marketing. For this aim, the authors…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify what managerial implications research related to inter-organizational interfaces has been produced in marketing. For this aim, the authors focus on a specific concept implemented in many firms that operate on business-to-business markets, which is key account management (KAM).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used the Ebsco Database entering “account management” as a key word in the title row. The search provided 51 papers to which the authors added four MSI reports written by Moriarty and Shapiro between 1980 and 1984. The authors then identified such keywords as “managers”, “practitioners”, “marketers”, “managerial”, “business”, and their variations as well as normative words such as “should”, “must”, etc. in order to identify managerial implications.

Findings

Four main findings are provided: a clear managerial purpose is affirmed by KAM academic works whether as a central “purpose” of the works or as “implications”; these managerial implications may display different forms (dimensions to be considered, consequences to anticipate, advices); though the managerial scope of KAM works is clearly visible, the sophistication of managerial recommendations remains … limited; the identification of who is exactly “the manager” targeted by the implications remains vague.

Research limitations/implications

The authors discuss the notion of managerial relevance of academic research.

Practical/implications

The authors explore sources for practices (whether they are the ones of scholars or managers) that could help “spelling out more effectively the managerial implications.

Originality/value

To the knowledge this is the first work that reviews so precisely how academic articles address to the managerial audience on a precise issue. Furthermore, the authors believe that KAM is an interesting and appropriate field for such a review because it is widely implemented on business markets.

Details

IMP Journal, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2059-1403

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 October 2009

Faten Baddar Al‐Husan and Ross Brennan

The strategy of carefully selecting the most important group of business customers for special treatment – for which several terms are in use – has come in for considerable recent…

2072

Abstract

Purpose

The strategy of carefully selecting the most important group of business customers for special treatment – for which several terms are in use – has come in for considerable recent attention from both academics and practitioners. The purpose of this paper is to examine “strategic account management” at a large telecommunications operator in a developing country (“Arab Telco”).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents an in‐depth single‐company case study.

Findings

The approach to strategic account management employed by Arab Telco shows excellent fit with the recommendations of Western authorities about the implementation of such programs. In particular, there is evidence that the program is being implemented sincerely, with the allocation of additional resources to the strategic account function and the delivery of special treatment to strategic account customers. However, the strategic account program is still relatively immature and the term “key account management” is also in use at Arab Telco; this term refers to many customers who are not of particular strategic significance to the company.

Research limitations/implications

Further research is needed into the impact of culture‐specific factors on the implementation of strategic account management. The transference of Western marketing models to emerging economies offers fruitful scope for additional research.

Originality/value

The paper examines the direct transfer of a well‐known Western management technique – i.e. strategic account management – to a major company in an emerging economy in the Arab world.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 24 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1990

Gordon Wills, Sherril H. Kennedy, John Cheese and Angela Rushton

To achieve a full understanding of the role ofmarketing from plan to profit requires a knowledgeof the basic building blocks. This textbookintroduces the key concepts in the art…

16099

Abstract

To achieve a full understanding of the role of marketing from plan to profit requires a knowledge of the basic building blocks. This textbook introduces the key concepts in the art or science of marketing to practising managers. Understanding your customers and consumers, the 4 Ps (Product, Place, Price and Promotion) provides the basic tools for effective marketing. Deploying your resources and informing your managerial decision making is dealt with in Unit VII introducing marketing intelligence, competition, budgeting and organisational issues. The logical conclusion of this effort is achieving sales and the particular techniques involved are explored in the final section.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1995

Tony Millman and Kevin Wilson

Recent interest in relationship marketing and customer retentionhas refocused the attention of marketing academics and managers towardskey account management (KAM) systems as a…

14453

Abstract

Recent interest in relationship marketing and customer retention has refocused the attention of marketing academics and managers towards key account management (KAM) systems as a means of operationalizing long‐term buyer/seller relationships. Examines the nature of KAM in industrial markets structured around several strategic issues elicited from two main sources: first, empirical research in the area of industrial sales management and selling to major accounts; and second, observations from running a series of management development programmes for account managers. There inter‐related conclusions have emerged from this work. First, most of the literature and debate on KAM has taken the seller′s perspective. Second, there appears to be inadequate matching of the seller′s total offering with the buyer′s increasingly strategic and dynamic context. This is particularly evident in the short‐term focus pervading some seller companies and in their failure to keep abreast of the kind of supply‐chain issues currently facing industrial buyers. Third, key account managers are often ill‐prepared for the wider and more demanding roles which take them into areas of business development, industry/market analysis, benchmarking, relationship management and so on.

Details

Journal of Marketing Practice: Applied Marketing Science, vol. 1 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2538

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 1999

Catherine Pardo

Aims to analyze the process of key account management in the industrial sector by highlighting the most recurrent problems that arise linked to this process. The research is based…

3266

Abstract

Aims to analyze the process of key account management in the industrial sector by highlighting the most recurrent problems that arise linked to this process. The research is based on a period of six years, during which several major industrial groups in France either set up or developed their key account management programs. It represents both a theoretical positioning according to the process of key account management, and the discovery made early on of an emerging picture of this process and the absence of any real understanding of it. Proposes two terms that best sum up key account management research: co‐ordination and transversality.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 14 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2002

Judith J. Madill, Lisa Feeney, Alan Riding and George H. Haines

The primary goal of this empirical research study is to identify key drivers of SME satisfaction related to a variety of aspects of the bank/SME relationship. The research uses…

4667

Abstract

The primary goal of this empirical research study is to identify key drivers of SME satisfaction related to a variety of aspects of the bank/SME relationship. The research uses data from 3,190 interviews with key informants – identified as the person who is most responsible for financial and banking decisions – in Canadian SMEs. Research focused on how SME overall satisfaction is affected by the account manager’s management of the bank/SME relationship, the branch staff’s management of the bank/SME relationship and the bank’s policies and procedures regarding bank/SME relationships. All three drivers were significantly and strongly related to SME satisfaction with the bank with which they had their primary relationship.

Details

International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 20 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-2323

Keywords

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