This study applies a configuration theoretic approach to understand the interplay between business strategy and relationship strategy. It is hypothesised that business relationships make their greatest contributions to both relationship performance and firm performance when the structure of a relationship is accurately aligned with the business strategy (i.e. configuration model 1) and the relationship strategy (i.e. configuration model 2) of a focal firm. The hypotheses are tested using four seemingly complementary approaches to fit consisting of profile deviation, moderation, mediation, and covariation. This study adopts both qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey to address the research questions. First, a total of 30 interviews with CEOs and other senior marketing managers in the UK and the USA were conducted to develop a new typology for relationship strategies (termed resource acquisition strategies). The five resource acquisition strategies consist of Money Bonds, New Market Bonds, Utilisation Bonds, Intellectual Bonds, and Credibility Bonds. A further quantitative pretest, with 311 full time MBA and international executive MBA students at Manchester Business School, supported the validity and reliability of this typology. To examine the two configuration models, a sample of 658 usable responses from the US service industries was collected through a web-based survey. In the first configuration model, the results of a profile deviation analysis confirmed the existence of an ideal relational configuration for each business strategy so that the degree of adherence to this ideal profile is significantly and positively related to performance variables. Several robustness tests gave further confidence to these findings. In addition, while the two neo-classical approaches to fit, profile deviation and covariation, were strongly supported, the results only loosely supported the operationalisation of fit from the two classical approaches, fit as moderation and mediation. In the second configuration model, the results of the profile deviation analyses indicated that strategic coalignment between the business relationship characteristics and the relationship strategy is a desirable property for performance enhancement. Several robustness tests supported this finding. Moreover, the results of examining the interplay between business strategy and relationship strategy, and linking it to performance, rejected the association between the two strategy types, implying that there are several alternative, equally effective, routes to success in building relationships. This study adds to the body of knowledge via providing sufficient evidence for the appropriateness of using configuration theory in the study of relationship marketing based phenomena, thus widening the scope of this theory. It also sheds new light on our understanding of relationship strategies which is further development of the resource-based view and Industrial Marketing and Purchasing approach. It contributes to the extant literature by investigating the degree and patterns of coalignment between relationship structure and both business strategy and relationship strategy. Moreover, juxtaposing alternative forms of fit added new insight into the fit methodology literature. From a managerial perspective, this study provides specific guidelines to help managers design their relationships in ways that are aligned with their strategic intent. It also suggests that marketing managers can usefully draw on configuration theory and profile deviation approach to optimise their benchmarking decisions.

Purpose: This study aims to (1) describe and analyse the local ground operator’s role in the network of the Botswana tourism industry, (2) to investigate what factors characterize and influence their relationships with foreign tour operators, as well as (3) to provide implications for improving these relations. Methodology: This study has been conducted as a case study, where the empirical data was collected during a two months field trip to Botswana. A qualitative research method, and a deductive approach has been used. Five semi-structured interviews were conducted with ground operators to get their perspective of their own situation, and one with a person representing a governmental organisation. Most data was collected through the interviews, but participating observation also served as a source of information. The validity and reliability of the study has been enhanced by defining core concepts, interviewing several respondents, using an interview guide and recording most of the interviews. Results: Local ground operators play are crucial role in the network of Botswana’s tourism industry, as they are engaged in a high number of business relationships, are bringing the services at the destination together, and are connecting them to the tourists. They play a role as both customers and suppliers. Their relationship to tour operators abroad consists of a lot of resource ties, activity links as well as some actor bonds. Trust is found to be a very essential part of the relationship, and they perceive themselves as being dependent on the tour operators. Culture is not identified as a major influencing factor. As for managerial recommendations, a better communication in expectations and an increased adaptation of products and processes, to create customer dependence, are among the results advised.

Aim: The aim of this work is to study the role that culture plays in business relationships between the Netherlands and Sweden. Further, the effects of time and trust on the business relationships are also investigated. The investigation entails whether there are cultural differences between the two countries and how those differences are managed. Method: The research is conducted by a qualitative approach with the use of primary and secondary data. The empirical study is conducted through semi-structured interviews participated by seven Dutch and six Swedish employees from an organization with business operation in the Netherlands and Sweden. Interviews involve one face-to-face meeting and all others are done through Skype due to time, location and cost constraint. Scientific theory is compared against the empirical findings and the coded themes are discussed in analysis. Results and conclusions: The national culture dimensions of Hofstede are compared with the empirical findings and this study supports that the four national culture dimensions of Hofstede’s; Power Distance, Individualism, Femininity and low and middle Uncertainty Avoidance correspond with the description of the Dutch and Swedish interviewees behavior. These national characteristics are observed to have influence in the cross cultural business relationship between the employees in the Netherlands and the employees in Sweden. The two largest cultural difference are in the way the Dutch communicate compared with the Swedes and the perception on pace of work. Although both parties work in different countries, they interact with each other frequently by phone, Skype and face to face meetings due to the fact that they share common customers. The common customers are managed through the local country operation such as Sweden and also at the headquarters level in the Netherlands. As such, the frequent communication results in the development of a working relationship between the Dutch and Swedish colleagues. The efforts to adapt to each other’s cultural differences further increases the trust level in each other's working method in order to serve their customers better. Suggestions for future research: The limitation of the research is that it focuses on one company which belongs to one specific industry. Therefore integrating participants from different companies within the same industry or across industries could result in a dissimilar result. The shortcoming is addressed by suggesting that for future research, this study should be replicated in different industries in the Netherlands and Sweden. Contribution of the thesis: This research contributes to the improvement of business relationships in multinational companies and managers can implement these improvements. Keywords: Culture, Time, Trust, Adaptation, Business Relationship

Companies have started to concentrate more on customer relationship, meaning more attention on customer contact, instead of concentrating on the product. Those thoughts have further developed into that companies continuously create and add value for their customers, to keep them loyal and satisfied. Value can be created in different ways, and the companies need to understand the value factors that are considered most important among their customers. For the same reason IKEA commissioned this thesis; to know how to deliver greater customer value. Therefore the purpose of this thesis is to evaluate and rank the factors that perceive customer value for IKEA’s business customers in the kitchen market. With a quantitative approach in mind a market research is accomplished to find opportunities and solve problems of the existing strategy. Data was collected with help from a survey, in accordance with the method chapter. Further was the survey analyzed and interpreted with help from the theory in the frame of reference. The conclusions are presented in the end of the thesis. The theories within the subject of customer value show that price, performance and personalization are the main factors that contribute to perceived customer value. Good customer value can be achieved when price, performance and personalization are in harmony and exceeds customer expectations. When companies only present parts of the triad, maximization of perceived customer value cannot be reached. The empirical data, received through market research and personal communication with A. Larsson at IKEA, was analyzed with assistance of the theories. Through market research the factors that perceive customer value are identified, evaluated and ranked. The findings have made it possible to test if the model of price, performance and personalization is ac-curate in accordance to the reality. The findings show, in ranked order, that price, quality and distribution activities are the main variables creating customer value in the business-to-business relationship in the kitchen market. The authors found that price and performance are the main drivers behind perceived customer value. Personalization is also considered contributing to customer value, but works more as a motivation factor that is strengthening the business relationship. This guides us to the question; what’s in it for you? It is of high importance to understand that customers and groups of customers perceive value in different ways. This leads to that IKEA needs to consider what factors that are in there for you, as a business customer, and how those variables can be improved for a better business relationship.

No description available.

<p>Companies have started to concentrate more on customer relationship, meaning more attention on customer contact, instead of concentrating on the product. Those thoughts have further developed into that companies continuously create and add value for their customers, to keep them loyal and satisfied. Value can be created in different ways, and the companies need to understand the value factors that are considered most important among their customers. For the same reason IKEA commissioned this thesis; to know how to deliver greater customer value. Therefore the purpose of this thesis is to evaluate and rank the factors that perceive customer value for IKEA’s business customers in the kitchen market.</p><p>With a quantitative approach in mind a market research is accomplished to find opportunities and solve problems of the existing strategy. Data was collected with help from a survey, in accordance with the method chapter. Further was the survey analyzed and interpreted with help from the theory in the frame of reference. The conclusions are presented in the end of the thesis.</p><p>The theories within the subject of customer value show that price, performance and personalization are the main factors that contribute to perceived customer value. Good customer value can be achieved when price, performance and personalization are in harmony and exceeds customer expectations. When companies only present parts of the triad, maximization of perceived customer value cannot be reached.</p><p>The empirical data, received through market research and personal communication with A. Larsson at IKEA, was analyzed with assistance of the theories. Through market research the factors that perceive customer value are identified, evaluated and ranked. The findings have made it possible to test if the model of price, performance and personalization is ac-curate in accordance to the reality.</p><p>The findings show, in ranked order, that price, quality and distribution activities are the main variables creating customer value in the business-to-business relationship in the kitchen market. The authors found that price and performance are the main drivers behind perceived customer value. Personalization is also considered contributing to customer value, but works more as a motivation factor that is strengthening the business relationship.</p><p>This guides us to the question; what’s in it for you? It is of high importance to understand that customers and groups of customers perceive value in different ways. This leads to that IKEA needs to consider what factors that are in there for you, as a business customer, and how those variables can be improved for a better business relationship.</p>

Business-to-business exchanges have become a common form of procurement due to their advantages regarding flexibility (such as the ability of being able to quickly change business partners), although the mean procurement prices are generally higher compared to long-term contracts. On the other side, a lot of procurement managers still believe that long-term relationships are the key in the procurement process partly due to cost savings. Two main conflicting opinions on the optimal type of relationship - as it seems. In this thesis, a portfolio approach for risk-hedging supply chains in dynamic business environments is presented, where uncertainties are defined by value ranges in addition to target or mean values. This portfolio approach combines the advantages of both relationship types - spot market and long-term relationship - while avoiding influences of disadvantages. This portfolio approach uses simulation techniques in order to find portfolio and contract settings that coordinate supply chain partners and achieves cost-optimal supply chain performance in dynamic business environments. Furthermore, inventory is used as real option in an approach that is called speculative forward procurement. Speculative forward procurement is shown to be advantageous for the overall performance of supply chains in nearly all simulation settings. The presented model is developed and evaluated using a real supply chain process of the chemical processing industry. If procurement managers use a portfolio approach and speculative forward procurement, it is shown that cost savings of more than 10 % compared to only using the spot market and about 5 % compared to the use of long-term relationships for coordinating settings can be achieved. (author's abstract)

Contracts play a key role in many business to business relationships. Service organisations are no exception. Despite a growing interest of services and how services are managed, research on how to use contracts to manage services has been surprisingly sparse in service research. The overall aim of this thesis is to contribute to a deeper understanding of using contracts to manage services in business-to-business relationships. Contract theories together with concepts from service research are used to enrich and understand how contracts are used to manage services and thus make contributions to service research. The thesis will give an empirically grounded understanding of managing services through contracts. The thesis consists of six separate papers, all based on data gathered from contractual relationships between contractors and service providers. The results are based on studies of authentic contracts which are not the case in most previous studies. The methods used for gathering and analysing data involve case studies, content analysis of authentic contracts, interviews and document studies of the public transport sector in Sweden which is an empirically rich area for studying contracts. The three main contributions of this dissertation are; firstly, an extended understanding of how contracts are used to manage the prerequisites for service quality for the parties involved. It was found that the concept service quality is brought forward on three interdependent managerial levels; from a detailed operational level, to a systemic oriented strategic level, and also a visionary rhetorical level each specifying the prerequisite for the services. To manage the prerequisites, the contracts rely on three identified means; laws and regulations, standards and measurements and economical incentives. Secondly, the detailed contents and rigidity of the contracts bring forward an inflexible and asymmetric relationship, where the parties are restricted in their activities. Here the contracts become a substitute for trust and commitment instead of supporting the development of trust and commitment. Finally, the thesis deepen the understanding of the role of contracts in governing services, from being a static abbreviator to a dyadic market based relationship, to becoming a dynamic tool for developing and sustaining a value creating and value driven collaborative network.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study aims to investigate the identity of Chinese businesspeople in a South African context. This is to determine whether their knowledge of and application of the traditional Confucian concepts of ‘guanxi’ (relationships) and ‘mianzi’ (face) offer that community any tangible benefits to negotiating and maintaining business relationships. While much has been written of the group’s early history, more could be done to determine their contribution toward South African society today. Bilateral trade with China and domestic job creation are just two areas where more research could develop our mutual understanding, given our unique relationship with China. South Africa is the only African country to invest in China and is also home to the largest and longest standing Chinese community in Africa. A self-administered questionnaire was disseminated to previously identified groups of Chines businesspeople located within the metropolitan Cape Town area. The purpose was to collect data that would provide practical assistance to inform local South African business people on how to tailor their approach to interact in commercial enterprises with their Chinese counterparts. The prospect was that better understanding of Chinese culture and historical traditions may prove a meaningful tool to bolster intercultural relationships. This could then lead to enhanced business relationships and a better understanding of this misunderstood and marginalised community. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie beoog om die identiteit van Sjinese besigheidsmense binne ’n Suid-Afrikaanse konteks te ondersoek. Dit is om te bepaal of hulle kennis asook die toepassing van hulle tradisionele Konfusiaanse konsepte van ‘guanxi’ (verhoudings) en ‘mianzi’ (aansien) hulle gemeenskap enige tasbare voordele ten op sigte van die onderhandeling en instandhouding van besigheidsverhoudings bekom. Terwyl daar alreeds redelike skrywe omtrent hierdie groep se vroeë geskiedenis bestaan, kan daar baie meer gedoen word om vas te stel wat hulle bydrae tot vandag se Suid-Afrikaanse gemeenskap is. Bilaterale handel met Sjina en plaaslike werkskepping is slegs twee areas waar verdere navorsing wedersydse begrip kan bevorder, siende ons unieke verhouding met Sjina. Suid-Afrika is die enigste land in Afrika om in Sjina te investeer en is ook die tuiste van die grootste asook die mees lank bestaande Sjinese gemeenskap in Afrika. ’n Selftoegediende vraelys was versprei onder voorafgeïdentifiseerde groepe van Sjinese besigheidsmense wat in die Kaapstadse metropool gevestig is. Die doel was om data te versamel wat doelmatige bystand kan lewer vir die Suid-Afrikaanse besigheidsgemeenskap om hulle ’n pasgemaakte benadering tot interaksie met handelsondernemings met hulle Sjinese eweknieë te kan gee. Die vooruitsig was dat beter kennis van die Sjinese kultuur en hulle historiese tradisies ’n betekenisvolle instrument sal wees wat interkulturele verhoudings sal versterk. Dit kan dan aanleiding gee tot verbeterde besigheidsverhoudings en ’n beter begrip van hierdie misverstane asook gemarginaliseerde gemeenskap.

Abstract This research aims at developing theory about the dissolution process of business-to-business relationships in tailored software context. Although dissolving business relationships can be viewed as one of the essential themes of marketing, the existing research on dissolution does not provide us with a holistic picture of the dissolution as a process. This research builds an empirically-grounded model of the business relationship dissolution process. First, a theoretical, tentative model of the process of business relationship dissolution is built. Second, empirical knowledge is acquired from a case study of business relationship dissolution in a software context. The case study data has been collected from various sources, from both seller and buyer organisations as well as network actors, through interviews and also from other written and oral sources in order to ensure triangulation. Third, the findings of the case study are compared to the tentative process model and the model is adjusted accordingly, thus developing the empirically-grounded process model. The process model includes three elements: the nature of the relationship, the factors influencing its dissolution, and the dissolution process. It incorporates both the time dimension and the multiplicity of the actors (individuals, companies, other relationships) involved into the model. The nature of the relationship is classified (terminal, continuous, episodic) as are the influencing factors and events (predisposing, precipitating and attenuating). The dissolution process is modelled by using stages, which describe the different action and time periods of the process, and by using levels, which describe the different actors who bring the process about. Six stages are distinguished: the communication stage, consideration stage, disengagement stage, enabling stage, restoration stage, and sensemaking / aftermath stage. The concept of stage is used to divide the complex process into more comprehensible periods and to emphasise that in each stage, managers' actions differ. The dissolution process does not always proceed through all the stages, nor have the stages any particular order.