Digitalisering är fenomenet som ständigt växer sig starkare, inte minst i affärsvärlden inom marknadsstrategin business-to-business. Allt fler B2B företag digitaliseras och transaktionshandeln förflyttar sig till nätet, vilket medför nya utmaningar. Digitaliseringen förenklar och minskar administrationen, ökar tillgängligheten samt effektiviserar försäljningsprocessen. B2B-kunder har dock mycket specifika behov och krav som leder till allt större och komplexare processflöden samt komplexare orderscenarier som t.ex. prislistorna och volymorderläggningen. Digitalisering medför nya perspektiv som leder till flera olika prestandan som inte enbart kan utvärderas ur ett ekonomiskt perspektiv utan behöver flera ytterligare perspektiv i utvärderingen så att organisationen innehar bättre insikt i det nuvarande tillståndet i förhållande till de strategiska målen. Finansiella nyckeltal ger alltför lite information med med hjälp utav icke-finansiella nyckeltal kan företaget förutse framtida värden, förbättringsarbeten och effektvinster. En kvalitativ fallstudie utfördes med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer med tre B2B företag med syfte att undersöka hur B2B företag mäter prestationer av sina strategiska initiativ vid arbete med e-handeln. Därmed låg fokuset på att finna en koppling mellan användandet av nyckeltal i förhållande till de strategiska initiativ som företagen förhåller sig till. Företagens årsredovisningar och hemsidor var även ytterligare källor för datainsamling. Resultatet visade att de följande tre företagen alla använder nyckeltal vid det finansiella perspektivet för utvärdering av e-handeln och en del nyckeltal i kundperspektivet. Däremot återfanns ingen användning av nyckeltal vid lärande - och tillväxtperspektivet samt det interna perspektivet. En tydlig brist vid ledningssystemet, i att kommunicera ut bland annat mål till organisationen, var ytterligare något som återfanns ivarje företag. / Digitization is the phenomenon that is constantly growing stronger, not least in the business world in the market strategy business-to-business. More and more B2B companies are being digitized and transactions are moving to the network, which presents new challenges. Digitization simplifies and reduces administration, increases accessibility and streamlines the sales process. B2B customers, however, have very specific needs and requirements that lead to increasingly larger and more complex process flows as well as more complex order scenarios such as the price lists and the volume order. Digitization entails new perspectives that lead to several different performances that cannot be evaluated solely from an economic perspective, but require several additional perspectives in the evaluation so that the organization possesses better insight into the current state in relation to the strategic objectives. Financial key figures provide too little information, but with the help of non- financial key figures, the company can predict future values, improvement work and effect gains. A qualitative case study was conducted with the help of semi-structured interviews with three B2B companies with the purpose of investigating how B2B companies measure the performance of their strategic initiatives when working with e-commerce. Thus, the focus was on finding a connection between the use of key figures in relation to the strategic initiatives that the companies relate to. The companies' annual reports and websites were also additional sources for data collection. The result showed that the following three companies all use key figures for the financial perspective for evaluating e-commerce and some key figures in the customer perspective. However, there was no use of key figures in the learning and growth perspective as well as the internal perspective. A clear shortcoming in the management system, in communicating, among other things, goals to the organization, was another thing that was found in each company.

Social media is a fast growing platform when it comes to marketing. It is, however, used to a greater extent by business-to-consumer (B2C) companies than by business-to-business (B2B) companies. Because of this there has been considerably less research done concerning marketing on social media for B2B, compared to B2C.  This study explores why social media marketing is less common in B2B than B2C. This was done by conducting eleven one-on-one interviews with people who work at different B2B companies, and who have influence over their respective company’s marketing process. To analyse and evaluate the findings of this study the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used. By identifying the external variables that deter B2B companies from using social media the perceived usefulness and ease of use were analysed in order to explore what affects the difference in social media acceptance for marketing between B2B and B2C companies.  The findings of this study show that the perceived ease of use is the dominant factor that deters B2B companies from using social media for marketing purposes. This is however not the reason for the difference between B2B and B2C. The difference can instead be explained by a more negative perception of the usefulness of marketing on social media. This negative perception is a result of the characteristics of social media, the industry the company is operating within, as well as the company’s products and customers. / Sociala medier är en snabbt växande plattform när det kommer till marknadsföring. Det används dock i större utsträckning av business-to-consumer (B2C) företag än av business-to-business (B2B) företag. På grund av detta har det gjorts betydligt mindre forskning gällande marknadsföring på sociala medier för B2B än vad som har gjorts för B2C. Denna studie utforskar varför marknadsföring på sociala medier är mindre vanligt i B2B än B2C. Detta har gjorts genom att genomföra 11 intervjuer, öga-mot-öga, med personer som arbetar på olika B2B-företag och som har inflytande över sitt respektive företags marknadsföringsprocess. För att analysera och utvärdera resultaten från denna studie användes Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), en modell som mäter acceptansen av olika tekniska plattformar. Genom att identifiera de externa variabler som hindrar B2B-företag från att använda sociala medier analyserades användbarheten och användarvänligheten, som den uppfattas av dem intervjuade, för att undersöka vad som påverkar skillnaden i sociala media acceptans i marknadsföringssyfte mellan B2C- och B2B-företag.  Resultaten av denna studie visar att den upplevda användarvänligheten är den dominerande faktorn som hindrar B2B-företag från att använda sociala medier för marknadsföringssyften. Detta är dock inte orsaken till skillnaden mellan B2B och B2C. Skillnaden kan istället förklaras av en negativare uppfattning av användbarheten av marknadsföring på sociala medier. Denna negativa uppfattning är ett resultat av egenskaperna hos sociala medier, den bransch som företaget är verksam inom, samt företagets produkter och kunder.

As companies are expected to take major responsibility towards their stakeholders, there are also some risks involved. Cancel culture is a new societal phenomenon that is taking an increasing part in our everyday lives. The aim of the study is to understand whether and how Swedish companies' crisis communication, and above all preventive crisis management, is affected by a business partner's crisis, in the era of cancel culture. Based on the aim, the following questions have been formulated:  "How did the company Paolo's retailers act in its crisis communication to protect and improve its reputation in connection with the crisis?"  "How did Paolo's retailers communicate the decision to distance themselves from the company externally on social media?"  To support the results of the study, Situational crisis communication theory has been applied, this is further supplemented with the crisis communication aspect preventive crisis management, as well as the phenomenon of cancel culture. The methods used are data collection of text and image, qualitative interview method, semiotic image analysis and qualitative content analysis. These have been used to collect and analyze relevant material to further answer the research questions. The results of the study clearly show that a crisis in the era of cancel culture is often difficult to stop - no matter how prepared you are. Of course, you can reduce the consequences by setting up a clear crisis plan, but depending on how transparent and accommodating you are, the consequences can be reduced. It is often said that it is not a crisis that defines the company, but how to handle it, which fits in well with this situation.  As cancel culture is still a new and unexplored field, we hope with this study to contribute to new research. Future research hopes to serve as a guide for how companies can handle cancel culture without the consequences being devastating.

This research aims to facilitate sales personnel and companies in understanding the interrelation of personal branding within sales and how it should be utilized effectively. Thus, the thesis explores how sales personnel develop and communicate their personal brand, and additionally how personal branding relates to social selling in a B2B context. Using a qualitative approach, the researchers conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with nine participants to achieve meaningful insights about the topic. The research utilizes a deductive approach and a form of directed analysis where the findings are closely related to the conceptual framework (Figure 1). It was found that authenticity is a major aspect when communicating a personal brand. This is since supporting other salespeople, offering expertise, and creating relationships were essential. Furthermore, findings regarding the development of a personal brand indicated changes in professional and personal life as prominent factors. The discoveries reported that processes such as self-reflection and idea-batching, in which values are at the core of evolving the personal brand, can be beneficial. Moreover, the study identifies how personal branding relates to social selling in a B2B context. The researchers found that personal branding can form the base for successful social selling in terms of the connection between the two concepts. It was indicated that social selling would function as a Pull-strategy when incorporating a strong personal brand. In summary, this thesis offers insightful information on the essential function of personal branding for sales personnel and businesses in the B2B context, elucidating the development and communication of a personal brand and its relationship with social selling.

Purpose: This study aims to advance the organizational buying literature, by examining buyer burnout and its consequences. Specifically, the sequencing of multi-faceted organizational buyer burnout is established and the impact of each dimension on job satisfaction, job performance, affective organizational commitment and turnover intentions is accessed. The current research is accomplished through the development and examination of competing models and hypothesis testing. Design/methodology/approach: A sample of 125 business-to-business buyers were surveyed using established scale items. The study examines a series of competing models and outcomes of the facets of burnout through the use of covariance-based structural equation modeling. In addition, indirect, direct and total effects were examined. Findings: First, this study supports that researchers should examine burnout, as a multi-faceted construct within the organizational buyer context, using the Lewin and Sager model. Second, findings strongly indicate that gaps exist in the current boundary spanner research, given that the majority of this research stream only examines a single aspect, emotional exhaustion, of burnout and fails to account for the impact of both the personal accomplishment and depersonalization facets of burnout. Further, the impact of personal accomplishment is highlighted, given its total effects on examined outcomes. Originality/value: This study extends the Lewin and Sager model beyond a sales context and finds that each facet of burnout impacts the outcome variables to varying degrees. The total impact of personal accomplishment is highlighted, given that researchers often omit this facet from their investigations.

Social media is a fast growing platform when it comes to marketing. It is, however, used to a greater extent by business-to-consumer (B2C) companies than by business-to-business (B2B) companies. Because of this there has been considerably less research done concerning marketing on social media for B2B, compared to B2C.  This study explores why social media marketing is less common in B2B than B2C. This was done by conducting eleven one-on-one interviews with people who work at different B2B companies, and who have influence over their respective company’s marketing process. To analyse and evaluate the findings of this study the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used. By identifying the external variables that deter B2B companies from using social media the perceived usefulness and ease of use were analysed in order to explore what affects the difference in social media acceptance for marketing between B2B and B2C companies.  The findings of this study show that the perceived ease of use is the dominant factor that deters B2B companies from using social media for marketing purposes. This is however not the reason for the difference between B2B and B2C. The difference can instead be explained by a more negative perception of the usefulness of marketing on social media. This negative perception is a result of the characteristics of social media, the industry the company is operating within, as well as the company’s products and customers. / Sociala medier är en snabbt växande plattform när det kommer till marknadsföring. Det används dock i större utsträckning av business-to-consumer (B2C) företag än av business-to-business (B2B) företag. På grund av detta har det gjorts betydligt mindre forskning gällande marknadsföring på sociala medier för B2B än vad som har gjorts för B2C. Denna studie utforskar varför marknadsföring på sociala medier är mindre vanligt i B2B än B2C. Detta har gjorts genom att genomföra 11 intervjuer, öga-mot-öga, med personer som arbetar på olika B2B-företag och som har inflytande över sitt respektive företags marknadsföringsprocess. För att analysera och utvärdera resultaten från denna studie användes Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), en modell som mäter acceptansen av olika tekniska plattformar. Genom att identifiera de externa variabler som hindrar B2B-företag från att använda sociala medier analyserades användbarheten och användarvänligheten, som den uppfattas av dem intervjuade, för att undersöka vad som påverkar skillnaden i sociala media acceptans i marknadsföringssyfte mellan B2C- och B2B-företag.  Resultaten av denna studie visar att den upplevda användarvänligheten är den dominerande faktorn som hindrar B2B-företag från att använda sociala medier för marknadsföringssyften. Detta är dock inte orsaken till skillnaden mellan B2B och B2C. Skillnaden kan istället förklaras av en negativare uppfattning av användbarheten av marknadsföring på sociala medier. Denna negativa uppfattning är ett resultat av egenskaperna hos sociala medier, den bransch som företaget är verksam inom, samt företagets produkter och kunder.

This study provides an understanding on how Relationship Quality is conceptualised in business-to-business marketing relationships. It investigates the relationships of Jordanian Banks with their small and medium sized enterprise (SMEs) customers in terms of Commitment, Satisfaction, Trust, Communication, Transparency, Understanding, and Cooperation. It examines the antecedents and outcomes of the quality of corporate customer relationships by developing a conceptual model which empirically tests this relationship. This research builds and validates a research model based on the literature survey and uses a mixed methods approach. Qualitative data were gathered through in-depth interviews to achieve the goal of refining the initial research model. The second stage is a quantitative empirical study that uses a questionnaire and tests the empirical model generated in the first stage. This integration of methods provides a more complete view of this emerging area of marketing theory. Using Structural Equation Modelling; research findings support the use of a secondorder relationship quality construct consisting of Trust, Commitment, and Satisfaction as a direct outcome of a relationship and is named ¿Attitudinal Loyalty¿. Antecedents including; Transparency, Communication, Understanding and Cooperation were found to have a positive impact on relational outcome in a business-to-business context in Jordan. The importance of Transparency emerged as one of the most significant determinants of Relationship Quality, which is considered to be a new finding and not common among previous studies. Communication appears to make the biggest contribution overall and have direct and indirect relationships with other variables. It is therefore a major source of success in a business relationship. This research has several implications for the theory and practice. An important issue is the affects on change management. It requires the establishment of business communications to strengthen existing relationships and to form new ones. This implies developing an interactive approach with other parties. This study gives the banking industry an insight for developing their marketing strategy. It also provides a tool to assess the portfolio of relationships, which helps in targeting specific customers. Furthermore, Transparency in the flow of information imposes cultural change. Studying the Jordanian market can help to provide an insight into an emerging economy. Several qualitative findings showed that the relationship between banks and their small and medium enterprises is interesting. All this enriches and adds to the originality of this work and contributes to existing theory by investigating how relationships between partners can be enhanced. / Al-Balqa ' Applied University

Defining and measuring the quality of customer service has been a major challenge for business-to-business marketers. This research addresses the question whether an established instrument for consumer markets (SERVQUAL) can be used for understanding the role of customer service in the European nylon intermediates industry. To accomplish this objective, an in-depth literature review is accomplished followed by several expert panels adopting the instrument slightly. Based on a survey sample of 110 industry members collected with the ¿drop and collect technique¿ the appropriateness of the tool to verify the anticipated structure is examined using reliability tests as well as exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The findings suggest that even though various criteria for reliability and validity are met, the five-dimensional structure of the instrument cannot be recovered. The research questions the usefulness of the instrument for the European nylon intermediates industry despite it being originally anticipated to be applicable. However, the research emphasises that the instrument is a useful indicator for understanding the role of customer service based on individual items rather than on the instrument¿s dimensionality. It is demonstrated how the implementation in the nylon intermediates industry enables an organization to develop a greater awareness of customer service quality and how an enterprise gains an initial instrument to comprehend and improve this element of the offering. The thesis concludes by linking the results of the research with the discussion on service-dominant logic.

In this doctoral study I conceptualise shared values in order to explore a management problem from my work place environment. I observe that business-to-business (B2B) relationships between project managers and self-employed consulting engineers terminate; project managers switching to other vendors and self-employed consulting engineers losing their contract. The findings from the doctoral study show major influence of the shared values in managing project based professional relationships. Specifically, the elements of B2B professional relationships “commitment” and “trust” embedded in relationship performance show managerial implications. Furthermore, the literature review revealed a lack of qualitative knowledge in the research domain of B2B relationships. Hence, the findings from the doctoral study fill this gap and contribute to the academic knowledge by providing practise based qualitative evidence.This doctoral study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, building on previous research articles, six elements of B2B professional relationships were refined and tested through qualitative interviews in order to explore their relevance in the B2B professional relationship between the project managers and self-employed consulting engineers. As a result from the first phase, a conceptual model of shared values was developed. In the second phase, the conceptual model of the shared values developed from the first phase was explored and validated through the experience of the project managers and self-employed consulting engineers.

This thesis aims to explore what and how Swedish micro firms use digital media towards relationship initiation in a Business-to-Business (B2B) context. Digital media has been increasingly studied in marketing over time, but it has been predominated by Business-to- Customer (B2C) context, while the Business-to-Business context lacks attention, micro B2B firms even less in particular. Moreover, previous studies show that micro B2B firms lack knowledge of how to leverage digital media and thus they have not fully exploited the benefits in relationship marketing. Therefore, this thesis anticipates gaining a better understanding of the phenomenon of digital media use by micro B2B firms towards customer relationships and focuses on the initiation stage due to its importance in the relationship marketing process as well as the limited knowledge in existing literature.  This thesis employs a qualitative and multi-case study approach to explore the focal phenomenon. Four micro companies which have less than 10 employees from the life science industryparticipate in the empirical study. The data comes from semi-structured interviews and observation of their websites and social media accounts. Each firm has conducted two interviews. The data analysis follows the Gioia methodology, including within case and across cases analysis, as well as the theory elaboration study.  This study shows that Swedish micro B2B firms rely on their own websites, email, and social media mainly LinkedIn to communicate with potential customers, hence fostering relationship initiation. These digital media have been used to trigger the interest of potential customers, establish credibility by knowledge sharing, and create value. The findings contribute to the literature by extending the knowledge of what and how digital media is used by micro B2B firms towards relationship initiation. They are in line with extant literature showing that digital media enables companies to attract customers, engage their participation, and meet as well as provide services online. In addition, they confirm that digital media can enhance their trustworthiness due to increased communication and interaction. Furthermore, the findings identify the processive process of the case firms and their potential customers from unfamiliarity to relationship initiation, which illustrates three levels of interactivity in sequence: message-based level, knowledge-based level, and participant-based level. The progress of interactivity indicates the development of the trust of potential customers.  This thesis sheds light on what digital media micro B2B firms use and how to use towards relationship initiation with unfamiliar potential customers. Also, it provides insights into how micro B2B firms could establish and increase their trustworthiness in the market. Additionally, this thesis extends the managerial implications to the society and other stakeholders.