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Good companies innovate. In the process, they consider target markets, target customers, new product or service offerings, and the positioning of these relative to competitors. This forms a basic strategy for the innovation. However, the lesson of competitive dynamics today is that innovation effort stops short of its ultimate potential if it does not also embrace the business model possibilities provided by the innovation itself. This short article provides a strategic lens for considering the efficacy and power of a business model for a product or service innovation.

The current paper is grounded in the empirical results of an ongoing longitudinal study (undertaken by the authors team in the U.S., Canada and Ukraine) aimed at exploring the structure, characteristics, evolution, and performance outcomes of organizational business models.

The business model’s key characteristics are customer value (the “effectiveness side” of the equation, i.e., doing right things for customers that the latters are ready to appreciate and pay for, but not always to the focal firm) and business value (the “efficiency side” of the equation, reflecting translation of the customer value into profit). Importantly, our evidence strongly reveals the dynamic nature of the business model construct, implying that the companies evolve in terms of these two dimensions.

The recommendations part of the article is primarily based on the in-depth analysis of the recent history of large companies that were struggling to: sustain customer value, and develop and apply internal product and production platforms to increase operating efficiency, and hence business value. All these firms had either slipped into or were in the danger of slipping into Impostor status, and were seeking ways to regain and sustain their Innovation advantage, often over newer entrants in their respective industries.

Introduction of the Business Model Value Matrix allowing to analyze the current company’s business model; practical recommendations regarding getting to and remaining in the Winner quadrant

County Community Bank (CCB), the largest community bank in the state of Mississippi, built its success in the regional business market through relationship marketing and a high‐touch approach. However, by the mid‐1990s, CCB management began to believe that its image as “a small town bank” would be detrimental to future success. To be better aligned with new national competition, an image change was undertaken whereby the bank shifted its competitive advantage to include the area of technology, eventually becoming one of the most technologically aggressive banks in the state, and even the region. Had CCB become too product‐driven in its business‐to‐business marketing decisions, or were they still customer‐driven? Had the changes resulted in the intended outcomes? Consequently, CCB commissioned a market research study in which current business customers were surveyed. The results of this study are presented. This case ends with discussion questions that will assist in guiding the instructor and students in the interpretation of the research results and, ultimately, in making recommendations to the bank regarding how best to attract and manage business customers.

The aim of this chapter is to illustrate and discuss — through a case study of Sandvik Corporation — how business practices with focus on sales can improve with regard to effectiveness and efficiency by utilization of IT tools. This approach challenges the traditional view of doing business in big industrial corporations where sales experts known as sales stars have traditionally developed relationships with customers. In order to do this, the chapter initially delineates the traditional business practices and the main issues associated with this approach.

The following section brings up the case of Sandvik Corporation. This part of the chapter first discusses problems with unorganized business practices as a source of business inefficiency. These problems are represented by (1) offer and order management, (2) pricing and value, and (3) customer planning and daily work routines. The consequent part of this section illustrates how the company improved its business by organizing business practices using CRM tools. The discussion of the new efficiencies is supported by elaboration on the Sandvik’s Sales Program that the organization launched in order to address the above mentioned problems of inefficiencies is sales work. The chapter ends with potential new challenges that the implementation of IT tools brought about and a summary of the chapter.

Customer experience (CE) has been of research interest especially with researchers in a Business-to-Consumer (B2C) context. Extensive research has identified the potential of similar studies in Business-to Business (B2B) contexts, yet we have little understanding of what influences a customer's experience in a B2B environment.

This chapter aims to capture the adequacy of efforts to capture the intricacies of CE in a B2B context using input–output measures both in the traditional and modern-day environment. The chapter would provide marketing managers with a clear understanding of how CE is affected in the B2B context. Essentially, it describes the importance of creating a positive CE through the direct interaction of various stakeholders with the company and its brand. This chapter advances the current state of knowledge by analysing the impact of CE on all dimensions of customer journey, creating a differential advantage over time.

This study provides a comprehensive framework of adaptation in triadic business relationship settings in the service sector. The framework is based on the industrial network approach (see, e.g., Axelsson & Easton, 1992; Håkansson & Snehota, 1995a). The study describes how adaptations initiate, how they progress, and what the outcomes of these adaptations are. Furthermore, the framework takes into account how adaptations spread in triadic relationship settings. The empirical context is corporate travel management, which is a chain of activities where an industrial enterprise, and its preferred travel agency and service supplier partners combine their resources. The scientific philosophy, on which the knowledge creation is based, is realist ontology. Epistemologically, the study relies on constructionist processes and interpretation. Case studies with in-depth interviews are the main source of data.

In today’s markets, many organizations feel pressure to become more responsive to their customers. Managing your business to deliver superior value to targeted customers may provide a strong avenue to improved performance. The route from value-based strategies to share holder value can be complicated, however. These strategies have the most direct impact on performance with your customers in the form of customer satisfaction, word of mouth and loyalty. Successful customer performance should translate into higher market performance, as evidenced by a supplier’s higher customer retention rates and sales. Finally, market performance provides the engine for increasing company performance or shareholder value. Attaining shareholder value through customer value strategies requires committing major management attention to how best to create, deliver and communicate superior value to targeted customers.

In the past few decades, relationship management (RM) theory and RM strategies in business-to-business (B2B) contexts have evolved tremendously, driven by constant innovation. Hence, the purpose of this study is to understand the trends and evolution of RM and relationship quality (RQ) in B2B contexts and empirical insights on RM and RQ in B2B, which in turn would provide insights into trends and future research directions.

Grounded on the industrial marketing and purchasing group, this study adopts a critical systematic literature review to provide a comprehensive analysis of the past, current and future trends in empirical research insights of RM and RQ in B2B markets.

This study provides some novel insights into RM in B2B context by using a multidimensional approach to RM and RQ and analyzing prior marketing research from three perspectives: the evolution of RM and RQ in B2B context; prior empirical research; and practical business insights. Overall, these perspectives inform the development of an evolving side of RQ in B2B contexts, leading to some predictions regarding the future of RM in B2B markets.

The exploratory results of this study shed light on the key factors that drive RQ and the importance of RM in B2B markets in the digital age where customers still long for human interaction regardless of the prevalence of advanced technology.

In the wake of advanced technologies and particularly, B2B companies had to turn to virtual platforms and embrace digital transformation to establish and manage their customer relationships. Yet, managing relationships via digital channels has its own challenges for both B2B practitioners and scholars. This indicates that there is still a huge need for attuned RM strategies that align with the changing environments – mainly driven by technological advancement – in B2B markets.

Hospitality businesses have been challenged to pick fitting electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) management strategies, yet accurate return on investment assessments and contextual contingencies interpretation essential for leveraging eWOM power are largely absent. This study aims to fill these gaps and develop a tool aiming at more holistic and accurate eWOM management assessment.

An agent-based model is developed based on eWOM-related hospitality/business theories and empirical evidence on the NetLogo 6.0.2 platform, wherein a series of simulated experiments are conducted.

Simulation patterns suggest that conformity to the majority’s choice of eWOM usage can be beneficial for consumption satisfaction, yet conformity to a group’s eWOM posting choice can compromise satisfaction. Compared to the brief reputation-boosting benefit of exaggerated advertising, honesty in advertising is preferable given its compatibility with competing eWOM distribution and long-term reputation benefits.

A preliminary tool is developed for hospitality businesses that aids the clearer interpretation of and more accurate/cost-efficient assessment of effectiveness in managing eWOM distribution. Generic directions for improved eWOM management are also provided.

A prototype model is established that surpasses existing models in its ability to capture the complexity of eWOM management and more accurately assess management effectiveness. The authors also reveal emerging novel patterns concerning the interactive dynamics of eWOM behaviors and contextual influences. The research also adds to the scarce agent-based model applications in hospitality research/practices and recommends future potential applications.

This paper aims to identify how, in contrast to a provider-oriented stance where customer value is conceptualised as being controlled by the provider, customer value is formed for business customers beyond what is visible to the provider.

This paper builds on the primacy of the customer. Customer-dominant logic (CDL) is used as the conceptual underpinning, meaning that the customer, rather than the service provider or the service system, is at the centre. A case study was conducted with seven key users from three customer companies of an information and communications technology (ICT) provider of in-house services. The study used a micro-social level focus by capturing customers’ experiences of those activities where value in use is formed.

The findings indicate that value formation is not related only to direct service interactions and furthermore substantially takes place beyond a service provider’s visibility line. Hence, value formation is in large part hidden for the service provider because it is embedded in customers’ activities and experiences.

Although the study is limited to one case concerning ICT services, these findings may apply to other service businesses, in particular to knowledge-intensive outsourcing businesses.

Understanding a customer’s value formation from the customer’s point of view is the key to service development for any business service provider.

Applying a CDL approach, the authors deepen the understanding of customer value formation as it emerges in customer activities. The study provides detailed insight into business customers’ value formation processes. The study’s findings challenge the current emphasis on interactions and co-creation and instead demonstrate the importance of understanding customer logics and contexts.