Sedan 1970-talet har västvärlden gått mot ett mer renodlat tjänstesamhälle, tjänstesektorns ökande konkurrens har lett till framväxten av tjänstedesign. Tjänstedesign-branschen är en växande bransch och syftet med tjänstedesign är att förbättra och utveckla alla kundupplevelser i tjänsteföretag. Byråer inom tjänstedesign-branschen arbetar mot andra företag och relationen, business-to-business, är ofta mer komplex än relationen mellan företag och konsument. Att behålla befintliga kunder är i längden en ekonomisk fördel framför valet att inleda nya kundrelationer, därav undersöks det i denna studie hur inleds samt vilka faktorer är viktiga för att skapa hållbara kundrelationer inom tjänstedesign-branschen? Studien utgår från en kvalitativ ansats där intervjuer med tjänstedesignbyråerna Daytona, Usify, Äventyret och Expedition Mondial har lett till ett resultat som beskriver att den inledande relationen med kunder sker på deras initiativ genom personliga rekommendationer som spridits via word-of-mouth. Det är ofta kunden som kontaktar företagen och inleder relationen. Resultatet visar att samtliga företag skapar projektteam där kunden alltid är involverad, att löften och kundens förväntningar på den levererade tjänsten uppfylls, att personliga relationer mellan kunden och medarbetare skapas genom att ha en nära kontakt. Studiens slutsats har identifierat att i inledningsfasen av en kundrelation är det kunden som tar initiativet och kontaktar företaget på grund av rekommendationer. Fem faktorer som har identifierats som viktiga för att inleda samt skapa hållbara kundrelationer är: kunden tar initiativet till inledande kontakt, hög tjänstekvalitet, ett nära samarbete med kunden, involverade kunder samt vikten av en personlig relation till kunden. / The Western world has since 1970's changed towards a society focused on services, the competition between companies in the service sector has led to the emerge of Service design. Service design is a growing industry and the purpose with service design is to improve and develop customer experiences in service companies. Agencies within service design industry work towards other companies and the relationship, business-to-business, are more complex than the relationship business-to-customer. It's an economical benefit to keep existing customers rather than starting new customer relationships, that's why this study examines how customer relations begins and what factors are important for creating sustainable customer relations in the service design industry? The study is based on a qualitative approach where interviews with service design agencies Daytona, Usify, Äventyret and Expedition Mondial have led to a result describing that the initial relationship with customers takes place on their initiative through personal recommendations spread through word-of-mouth. It is often the customer who contacts the companies and initiates the relationship. The result shows that all companies create project teams where the customer is always involved, that the promises and customer expectations of the delivered service are met, that personal relationship between the customer and employees are created through close contact. The conclusion of the study is that we have identified that in the initial phase of a customer relationship, it is the customer who takes the initiative and contacts the company due to recommendations. Five factors has been identified as important for creating sustainable customer relations: The customer takes the initial contact, high quality of service, close collaboration with the customer, involved customerand the importance of a personal relationship with the customer.

Problemformulering: Vilka fördelar finns det för B2B-fokuserat företag med att marknadsföra sitt varumärke på sociala medier? Hur använder B2B- fokuserat företag sociala medier för att stärka sitt varumärkesvärde? Vilka sociala mediekanaler är lämpliga för ett B2B-fokuserat företag? Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur B2B-fokuserade företag använder sig av sociala medier för att stärka sitt varumärkesvärde. Metod: Uppsatsförfattarna har använt sig av en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med sju semistrukturerade intervjuer för insamling av empiri. Slutsatser: Slutsatsen av undersökningen visade att det finns tydliga fördelar i användningen av sociala medier som ett marknadsföringsverktyg inom B2B-företag. Till exempel framhävning av varumärket och långvariga relationer mellan varumärkeskännedom och varumärkeslojalitet. Värdesättningen av marknadsföringen i de olika företagen vi intervjuade baserades inte på företagets storlek. Små, medelstora och stora företag använder sig av marknadsföring i olika grader. / Problem formulation: What are the benefits for B2B-focused companies of marketing their brand on social media? How do B2B-focused companies use social media to strengthen their brand value? Which social media channels are suitable for a B2B-focused business? Purpose: The purpose of this essay is to study how B2B-focused companies use social media to strengthen their brand equity. Method: The essay authors have used a qualitative research method with seven semi-structured interviews to gather empirical data. Conclusions: The study's conclusion showed that there are clear advantages to the use of social media as a marketing tool in B2B companies. For example, brand highlighting and long-standing relationships between brand awareness and brand loyalty. The marketing valuation in the different companies we interviewed was not based on the company's size. Small, medium and large companies use marketing to varying degrees.

With the introduction of a fourth industrial revolution, new technologies are changing the behaviour of buyers in all markets. Coupled with an acceleration caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, manufacturers are now more than ever facing a pressure to digitally transform. These digital transformations entail not only the implementation of new technologies, but also require change in every part of the organisation. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the role that digital transformation and technological advancements has on B2B sales. Moreover, the thesis aims at creating recommendations for managers to strategically address these transformations as well as providing empirical data on digital transformation. To achieve the purpose and aim of the thesis, an exploratory single case study was performed on one of Europe’s largest paper manufacturers. The case study includes a semi-systematic literature review of 108 research articles, as well as 12 interviews with various employees from the case organisation. The findings of the case study were three-fold. Firstly, combining the areas covered by literature with the findings from the case study, a proposed framework for how technology affects the entire B2B sales organisation is created. This framework consists of the four dimensions: technology, value chain, business model and internal aspects. Secondly, based on the current level of digitalisation in the case company, 15 specific measures for improving the level of digitalisation and enabling digital transformation are presented. Lastly, the study revealed that the challenges an organisation faces when aiming at achieving a digital transformation are not only related to the organisation’s current level of digitalisation but also reliant on it’s customers, product sell and the market in which it operates. / Med introduktionen av en fjärde industriell revolution förändrar nya teknologier beteendet av köpare på alla marknader. Med en ökad acceleration av digitalisering kopplat till covid-19 pandemin står tillverkare inför ett större tryck än någonsin att digitalisera. De digitala transformationerna innebär inte bara nya teknologier utan kräver också förändring i hela organisationen. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka rollen digital transformation och teknologisk utveckling har för en B2B försäljningsorganisation. Dessutom syftar uppsatsen till att skapa rekommendationer för ansvariga för att strategiskt hantera dessa transformationer samt förse empirisk data på digitala transformationer. För att uppfylla syftet och målet med uppsatsen utförs en explorativ fallstudie på en av Europas största papperstillverkare. Fallstudien inkluderas en semi-systematisk litteraturstudie bestående av 108 forskningsartiklar, samt 12 intervjuer med anställda inom organisationen i fallstudien. Resultatet av fallstudien var trefaldigt. För det första, genom att kombinera litteraturen med insikterna från fallstudien skapades ett föreslaget ramverk för hur teknologi påverkar en hel B2B försäljningsorganisation. Ramverket består av fyra dimensioner: teknologi, värdekedja, affärsmodell ,och interna aspekter. För det andra, baserat på den nuvarande nivån av digitalisering i organisationen i fallstudien presenteras 15 specifika medel för att förbättra nivån av digitalisering och göra digital transformation möjligt. Till sist, visar studien på hur utmaningarna en organisation möter när de försöker digitaliseras är inte enbart relaterade till organisationens nuvarande nivå av digitalisering, utan beror också på organisationens kunder, produkter, och marknaden de har sin verksamhet i.

<p dir="ltr">The objective of this research was to evaluate the impact of salespeople’s characteristics on their sales process. A cluster analysis procedure was used to develop a segmentation of business-to-business salespeople. The segments were developed by seven variables that describe the percentage of time salespeople spend on specific selling activities: prospecting, building trust/ relationship, probing, presenting products/ services, handling objections, negotiating/ obtaining commitment, and service/ follow-up.  The result indicated the presence of three clusters: customer-focused, sales-focused, and balance segments.  Differences across these segments have essential implications on the choice of sales strategy. </p>

Published Article / The ability to increase turnover in a short time is determined by industry characteristics. These characteristics need to be taken into account during forecasting and planning. The correlation. which can be described among others by the Market Response Time (MRT) has an impact upon the whole marketing planning. MRT is defined as the time between increased marketing efforts (stimuli) and the time when the market starts to react in terms of increased purchasing (response). It is expected that different industries have different MRTs which influence the analyzed planning in different ways. Thus sales planning must be adapted to MRT, which will most probably increase planning efficiency.

The purpose of this thesis is to understand how implicit processes determine individual and organisational behaviour in the context of business to business (B2B) decision making. A broad literature review suggests that implicit cognition has a significantly more powerful influence than therefore assumed. The author calls for further research into the motivations driving professional behaviour in B2B situations as new study challenges the classical economic theory of the homo economicus, and focuses on the role of implicit motives as a possible driver. As a first objective, the study attempts to reveal a typical structure of implicit motives based on hierarchy and gender. The second objective is to delineate the interplay between the implicit motives and the decision making process in B2B. The third objective is to examine the consequences and implications for business to business marketing. The methodology is based on an interdisciplinary mixed method approach. To address the gaps in existing knowledge, an experiment and a survey (n=175) in different sectors were conducted. For the analysis, a variety of techniques such as operant motive tests, cluster- and multivariate analysis were employed to analyse the empirical response. Semi-structured qualitative in-depth interviews (n=8) were carried out to detect the consequences and the implications of the new findings for practice. The findings of the research indicate that marketing is much more a selective communication as assumed. The impact of marketing communication is not always consciously perceived by customers and the most part is implicit. In conclusion, there seems to be an interplay between implicit motives and the B2B decision making process. Hypotheses about the interplay of implicit motives and business to business decision making were confirmed in personal, management and group decision experiments. As a contribution to existing theory on the subject, it can be postulated that rational choice in B2B decision making may play a limited role. In addition marketing experts from various industry sectors emphasise the importance and the potential impacts for future B2B marketing. Experts stress the need to reveal the real motivational drivers in marketing communication.

The aim of this research is to investigate factors affecting active participation in Business-to-Business Online Business Communities (B2B OBCs). The primary objective of the study was to develop a framework to better understand the important factors affecting members’ active participation behaviour in B2B OBCs. To achieve the main goal of this research, an integrated framework was developed underpinned by three well known theories: Uses and Gratification (U&G), Social Exchange (SET), and Information Systems Success Model (ISSM). A mixed method approach (partially mixed sequential dominant status design) was employed to answer the research question and achieve the objectives of the study. Accordingly, this study was carried out in two phases. During the first phase an exploratory study was carried out to further explore the framework. For that purpose semi-structured interviews with twelve members of B2B OBCs were conducted. The collected data was analysed using thematic analysis utilising NVIVO and this assisted in discovering another important factor ‘service quality’, which reflected on the moderator’s role inside B2B OBCs. Subsequently, service quality was added to the model. The exploratory study is also helped to develop a new measure for active participation in the context of B2B OBCs as this study was unable to adapt the measure for the construct from prior studies due to the discrepancy in the literature. In the second phase of the study, a quantitative approach (online questionnaires) was employed to test the developed framework. Using non-probability convenience sampling technique, 521 useable online questionnaires were collected from 41 B2B OBCs on LinkedIn. The collected data was then analysed using a second generation approach (SEM) utilising AMOS. During the data analysis, two U&G constructs (functional need and hedonic need) were found to have a positive impact on active participation. Yet, the direct association between psychological need and active participation was not significant. Nevertheless, the construct found to have a positive and indirect relationship with active participation. In addition, two of the SET constructs (reciprocity and affective commitment) were also found to have a positive association with active participation. Trusting beliefs was found to have no direct impact on active participation. Further analysis revealed that the relationship between the two construct was indirect via affective commitment. Furthermore, three factors that were identified under ISSM, information quality, system quality, and service quality, were also found to be the antecedent of trusting beliefs but they did not have a direct impact on active participation. Information quality and service quality were also found to have an indirect and positive impact on affective commitment and active participation. The analysis also revealed that members from different industry types had different participation behaviour in B2B OBCs. The research outcomes made several contributions to the literature. These include a new measure for active participation and service quality. This provides a new validated instrument for B2B OBC researchers to adapt in the future. Further, an integrated model for factors affecting active participation in B2B OBCs was developed. This also provides a foundation for future studies in the field. The final results of this study demonstrate the appropriateness and robustness of the developed model, and further suggests that any attempt to investigate members participation behaviour in B2B OBCs will be incomplete unless all three theories (U&G, SET, and ISSM) are cosnidered. Moreover, this study helped to extend the existing knowledge on Online Community (OC) defintions, OC taxonomies, OC commitment, and OC trust. Finally, the findings of this study propose several guidelines to assist B2B OBC providers to build and maintain successful communities.

Companies are dependent on continuously provide the market with new products to keep its market position and profitability level. The companies examined in this thesis are two bigger Swedish enterprises that have a long history in a mature business-to-business context providing industrial goods to the market. This work examines how users are involved in the different innovation and product development activities. The problem is to understand how business-to-business companies co-operate with stakeholder and users, when in the product life cycle that is done, and who are the ones doing the actual innovation. The methodological approach for the work was deductive, building a theory including innovation, strategy and user theories that was empirically tested and followed by an analysis and conclusion of the found evidence. Key findings: Most if not all innovations in mature market are routine ones. There is lack of strategic focus due to micromanagement that shifts focus rapidly. Innovations are often found in the beginning and in the end of the product life cycle. Mature markets tend to utilize a more closed innovation model as opposite to an open model. Users are not heavily involved in the actual innovation process. Stickiness and tacit knowledge is quite big in large corporation event though there is said to be a strategic focus on the customers. Implications: More involvement of users, especially lead users, will lead to more innovations. Utilising strategic buckets of different sizes for spreading the resources on different innovation types (routine/disruptive/discontinuous) to become successful

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to study business clients’ technology acceptance of e-commerce within business-to-business in the work wear sector. In specific, develop and test a framework in order to analyze the antecedents of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use behind business clients’ behavioral intention to the usage of e-commerce. Problem: There is not sufficient research regarding industries and companies that are categorized as laggards (Del Aguila-Obra &amp; Padilla-Melendez, 2006), and furthermore regarding clients’ technology acceptance in a business-to-business context (Doherty &amp; Ellis-Chadwick, 2010). Actors within the work wear sector conduct their businesses in the most traditional way, with physical stores (Ekberg, Fraenkel, Gustavsson, Hamsten &amp; Hedin, 2014). The question is whether this traditional way remain due to skepticism among the business clients’ and their level of technology acceptance. Method: A proposed framework is developed by the authors, adapted from Technology Acceptance Model (Venkatesh &amp; Davis, 2000) and Diffusion of Innovation Theory (Rogers, 1983). This framework is tested through quantitative research, and more specific a questionnaire. Subsequently, the empirical data gathering is assembled, analyzed and concluded into a final proposed framework.  Findings: The final proposed framework incorporates antecedents from the proposed framework, but also new influences that are identified in the empirical findings as relevant. These influences are Age, Gender, Experience and Compliance. Further, the antecedents presented in the final proposed framework are the following: Subjective norm/Opinion leaders, Job relevance/Compatibility, Output quality, Result demonstrability/Observability and Trialability.

Thesis (MAcc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003.