There has been scarce research into the topic of B2B in the context of social media. Due to this, the aim of this study was to explore how social media is used within B2B in the initial phase of building relationships. The research questions regarded; attracting new customers, which channels that were used and potential drawbacks of using social media. An analytical framework was presented with the factors reputation, familiarity, similarity and knowledge of alternatives from literature within attraction. In order to collect the empirical data, semi-structured interviews were conducted with consultancy agencies. The results showed that social media was used to increase familiarity through third party sources, which was enabled by companies networks. Channels used for this were LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Regarding similarity, companies used social media to promote its personality that could attract customers both in a business and personal manner. The channels used for this were LinkedIn and Facebook. Furthermore, it was important that the type of information that was shared represented the company, and companies worked to improve this type of information. Further on, companies encouraged people in their network to share content in order to enhance reputation by third party sources. Channels used for this were LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Concerning knowledge of alternatives, social media were used as search-friendly channels, which enabled companies to remain on top in the search list, and make them a potential choice for customers. Channels used for this were LinkedIn and blogs. Furthermore, the major social media drawbacks for B2B companies were lack of resources in terms of time and lack of control over the information once it was posted online.

Purpose/Topic: The proposed research explores impact of the direct marketing actions by component suppliers on (a) sales (objective measure) and (b) industrial customer‟s perception (subjective measures) of the final product (c) and the market development. The proposed research will focus on the bicycle industry. Research Question: "To what extent Shimano‟s component brands important to Shimano customer, and which actions can Shimano undertake to facilitate its brand‟s further market penetration?" Design/Methodology: Two approaches were used to answer the main research question. First, existing literature on ingredient and co-branding was analyzed. Second, we conducted an experiment on a new direct marketing initiative by Shimano-Europe BV. The initiative is "Reliability" campaign that introduces a service logbook across 8 European countries. Originality/Value: There is no research to this date, which empirically examines the influence of component supplier on sales and perception of ingredient brand, especially in the bicycle industry. Role of service and service network is also examined as one of the crucial influences on ingredient brand management. This research provides the base for further exploration in the area of ingredient branding and give guidelines for Ingredient Brand Management. So far, ingredient branding has been studied in contexts of food, chemical and computer industries. This research examines market leader in bicycle industry on 8 different national markets in Europe. Products supplied by Shimano require service and those products differ from ingredients which are consumed in form of food or apparel (that does not requires any service).

As the fast progress of world economy and information technologies, each major business in Taiwan is now thinking hardly to find out a upgrade path to adapt to the outside environment¡¦s changes. The gold and jewelry industry in Taiwan cannot be an exception. Both of traditional jewelry dealers or the newly emerged jewelry associate have all been well developed. If they want to have another breakthrough in business, they should consider of using the power of information technology to recreate a new business model so that the overall industry will be benefit. Thus it is the time for business owners to understand information techniques and internet, and start thinking how to use it to change the way of running his business. The approach of this study uses the methodology of exploration research. It is done in two paths. The ¡§inside out¡¨ path first collects the real data from business, identifies its current issues and difficulties through strategy analysis, and then finds out possible solutions. The ¡§outside in¡¨ path refers to the successful business strategies and models that are currently using in ecommerce from other businesses, and thinking inwardly to see if any of them can be adopted. Then the results from the two paths of research are compared with pros and cons. Those that are feasible in gold and jewelry industry are classified and ranked. In the end of this paper, it also suggests two strategies about how to introduce ecommerce to the gold and jewelry industry for reference. Their possible IT strategies and business models are described.

Abstract E-Marketplace is a major model for B2B commerce. The thesis uses the transaction cost theory to investigate factors affecting the intention of adopting e-marketplace for Taiwanese petrochemical companies, Factors under study include characteristics of petrochemical products, the readiness of computerization in business, and attitude toward adopting e-marketplace. The results indicate that larger companies have stronger intentions than smaller ones to adopt an e-marketplace. Companies having a great demand on digitizing their procurement procedures are more willing to reduce their transaction costs through e-marketplaces. Businesses with higher degree of computerized operations require more functions in the e-marketplace. In addition, security over the Internet and the degree of collaboration among partners are also key factors. With regard to choosing a marketplace, most local petrochemical companies prefer joining the e-Marketplace, managed by large suppliers of raw materials. Based on the above observations, Chinese Petroleum Corporation, may be the largest upstream company producing petrochemical raw materials in Taiwan, may be the most suitable for offering such an e-marketplace to facilitate collaboration and alliance among companies. This also provides a means for globalization in the future.

<p>Abstract</p><p>In the complex business environments of today, firms are in need of external expertise in order to achieve a competitive edge. The increased complexity is partly due to technological devel-opment and facilitated global access affecting most markets. Therefore, marketing activities has increased importance in a firm’s core strategy. Being able to communicate to customers in a creative and more direct way is vital in order to survive in a global battlefield. One interesting question is how one should involve external expertise in achieving successful marketing in an effective manner. There seem to be difficulties in maintaining long-term agency-client relation-ships and one could question why? Quite often one finds clear differences reflecting role defi-nition and what the parties expect of each other.</p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the relationship between advertising agencies and their clients. The authors aim to investigate how companies use external influence/advertising agencies in their marketing communication process and identify the crucial factors leading to suc-cess/failure of agency-client relationships.</p><p>A pre-study was made in order to get an understanding about the actual situation on the field, and gave us the interest in investigate the agency-client relationship. Then, a qualitative multiple case studies have been made and gave a relatively good insight in the agency-client relationship. Insight in where the relationships are lacking and where improvement is needed.</p><p>The authors discovered that why agencies and clients fail in their relationships, many times is a result of miscommunication and misunderstandings. Attitudes towards each others field of op-erating and lack of dialogue seem to be the reasons why this appears. They need to meet at a level somewhere in between the points at the present, hence need for agencies to have a deeper understanding than present client desire and for agencies to be able to adjust to client needs, and correlating their abilities. The key is communication. A lot of the improvements is up to agencies in mediating and marketing themselves in a more efficient manner than today. Advertising agencies are often failing in establishing an effective communication process with their clients.</p>

I denna uppsats undersöker vi i vilken utsträckning som marknadsföring anpassat för cykliska branscher används inom byggbranschen och vilka av dessa metoder som skapar överlägset finansiellt resultat. Undersökningen genomfördes med hjälp av en enkät som baseras på en tidigare studie och skickades till Sveriges största byggföretag. Resultatet visar på att företagen använder sig i varierande utsträckning av de marknadsföringsmetoder som enligt tidigare forskning är lämpligast under konjunktursvängningar. Exempel på en aktivitet som de prioriterar är relationsmarknadsföring medan exempelvis försök att ta marknadsandel inte anses lika viktigt. Vi finner vidare att det finns tydliga indikationer på att en del av marknadsföringsmetoderna som undersöks påverkar det finansiella resultatet, men ingen av denna påverkan kan statistiskt säkerställas. Det som närmast kan påvisas är att företag som tar konjunktursvängningar i beaktning vid utformning av företagsstrategier har bättre resultat än de som inte gör det.

The collaboration of educational institutions and enterprises has already been a live topic for several years. One of best ways to ensure this mutual partnership is to encourage students to have their internships and bachelor (master) works at industrial enterprises. The main purpose of this project was to design a collaboration system model between enterprises and educational institutions and implement it. This model and system will facilitate collaboration between enterprises and educational institutions while students will find where to have their internships and bachelor (master) works at industrial enterprises.

The aim of this study is to explore what cultural differences Swedish business negotiators perceive and how they adapt and/or manage the differences.

Title: Factors influencing a customer’s loyalty in B2B relationships: A qualitative study of relationship marketing Authors: Klara Karlström &amp; Pia Andersson Advisor: Svante Andersson Level: Master thesis in marketing (15 Swedish credits). Spring 2014. Keywords: Customer loyalty, Behavior, Relationship marketing, B2B Purpose: The purpose of this study is to get a deeper understanding of which factors that influence a customer’s loyalty in the relationship between a supplier and a customer in B2B and how these factors are achieved? Frame of Reference: In the following chapter we present theory from previous research related to our research questions and purpose. First, a conceptualization of relationship marketing is outlined followed by theory regarding customer loyalty. Second, the selected factors of relationship marketing that can indicate customer loyalty are presented one by one. Methodology: In this chapter all the method choices to fulfill the thesis’ purpose and to answer the research questions are discussed and motivated. The choices for this study are comprehensive approach, qualitative method, a case study with one case company interviewing three informants. Empirical Study: In this chapter we present primary data that is collected for our study. It is collected through personal interviews with three informants at Getinge. Conclusion: Our conclusion is that satisfaction is more important that the other nine factors and that shared value and bonding are less important then the other factors. How they are achieved depend on the situation, the employee at Getinge and the customer in specific and there are no clear guidelines on how the should be achieved. Although there are no guidelines there are directions and the achievement of the factors are based on Getinge’s core values. The employees of Getinge are using the core values together with their individual common sense to reach the best result of customer loyalty.

Syfte - Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur relationen mellan producenter och detaljister inom den svenska sportbranschen sannolikt påverkas av producenters val att sälja direkt till slutkonsument samt vad som kan bli konsekvenserna av detta. Metod - En kvalitativ forskningsansats valdes eftersom området är relativt outforskat samt eftersom syftet tillsammans med forskningsfrågorna är relativt explorativa. För att undersöka hur relationer mellan producenter och detaljister påverkas av producenters direktdistributionskanaler så gjordes intervjuer med utvalda producenter och detaljister. Både telefonintervjuer och e-mailintervjuer användes, och utfördes efter önskningar och överenskommelser med respondenterna. En urvalsmetod som ligger under kategorin icke-sannolikhetsurval har använts i den här studien, nämligen ändamålsenligt urval, som baserades på författarens förkunskaper inom området. För att utvärdera vad konsekvenserna skulle kunna bli så utvärderades empirin systematiskt mot en teoretisk bakgrund. Slutsats – Relationer mellan producenter och detaljister inom den svenska sportbranschen påverkas, baserat på den presenterade empirin, sannolikt mer negativt än positivt av producenters val att bedriva direktdistribution. En möjlig konsekvens av detta är att detaljister lägger om inköpsval mot en annan, likvärdig producent.