Předmětem diplomové práce je průzkum vztahů společnosti IN CAR centrum s.r.o. s jejími velkoobchodními odběrateli. Na základě shromážděných teoretických východisek a analýzy současného stavu společnosti je navržena strategie vedoucí ke zlepšení úrovně poskytovaných služeb a zkvalitnění spolupráce s partnery. Cílem diplomové práce je navrhnout marketingovou strategii pro velkoobchodní činnost, která povede ke zlepšení současné situace a celkovému ozdravení společnosti.

The digital revolution has led to a drastic transformation of electronics manufacturing industries globally. A growing number of companies are continually investing in digital technologies to remain competitive. Artificial Intelligence (AI), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Big data, Robotics, etc. and smart devices have been widely adopted to improve efficiency, connectivity, and productivity of businesses. To cope with increased competition and customer demands, electronics manufacturing companies have broadened their interest in service innovation. However, companies pursuing a servitization strategy often lack an established framework i.e. method and tools to design new services. Besides, research indicates that existing frameworks with the potential to support this development are not contextualized to the electronics manufacturing industry. This design study, therefore, evaluates and proposes how the Integrative PSS approach can be adapted to suit the electronics manufacturing context to support services. The findings suggest that some models used in this approach were found to be unfavorable in the development of services. In such cases, the study contributes by providing suggestions on what models to adapt and how in the integrative PSS approach to support electronic manufacturing companies in their servitization process. The artifact is an exaptation since a known solution is extended to solve a problem in a new context and of the type instantiation.

As the use of the internet increases, so does the use of social media channels. These channels have become a part of everyday life and are changing the way of communication and information exchange. Today, more and more business-to-business (B2B) companies are adopting social media marketing (SMM) to communicate with their customers. Although small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have also started adopting SMM to increase their brand awareness, the existing literature is very limited on this subject. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to identify and describe challenges SMEs face adopting social media marketing in order to increase their brand awareness. In order to achieve the purpose of this thesis a qualitative research method was selected and four semi-structured interviews with marketing directors and coordinators at three SMEs were conducted. The result of this thesis shows that SMEs face some common challenges like financial and human resources, lack of time and expertise in SMM, customer satisfaction, channel selection, global crisis and bad reviews. Further, this thesis found that SMEs also face some individual challenges like cultural issues, measuring brand awareness, language, influential content, communication issues, promotion costs and outsourcing.

One of the biggest responsibilities of today’s marketing managers is to use their financial and labour resources in the most efficient way. However, any kind of traditional marketing method which is designed and spread by the seller is both costly and less influential on customer’s buying behaviour. Word of Mouth, which can simply be explained as any marketing action that leads to earn customer recommendation, (Word of Mouth Marketing Association) helps organizations to burst their sales revenues while decreasing their marketing budgets. WOM is considered as more transparent, more credible and more relevant by customers. Besides, it is a cheaper way of advertisement for organizations due to its organic spread characteristic. Therefore, marketers should focus on creating strategic marketing actions that will keep WOM effect at the peak level. This research attempts to disprove the common belief that, WOM cannot be controlled by the seller itself. Especially, the effort will be put on Business to Business relationships, which are usually considered more unreactive to WOM communication. In order to achieve that, author will provide a four-step WOM analysis framework to its readers. First, transactions mapping will be utilised to see possible areas of WOM development. Afterwards, WOM actors of the market will be identified and customer decision cycle elements will be disclosed in order to understand the WOM potential of a particular market. Final step of the framework will be the calculation of Customer’s Total Value which is composed of their Lifetime and Referral Values. Research also includes an online survey, whose results are converted to numerical data in order to determine Customers´ Referral Value. In the final part, Telefónica Data/Capacity Services´ customers will be ranked according to their total values and a Customer Value Matrix will be created. Customers will be segmented into four main groups named as Champions, Affluents, Advocates and Misers; all of which have different buying and WOM characteristics. Ultimately, tailored WOM strategies will be advised in order to maximize each group’s total value.

Background: The business-to-business (B2B) industry stands for a significant portion of the environmental issue, yet the customer is still having price, quality, and service as major determinants for the choice of suppliers. The difficulty on how to evaluate environmental factors is hence increasingly demanding. One common and simple way for businesses to present their efforts towards sustainability is to certify their Environmental Management System with an ISO 14001 certification. Nonetheless, the question remains of the value of this premise in Sweden in our contemporary world. This study thereby investigates the value of working with environmentally sustainable business partners in the B2B market in Sweden. Purpose: This paper aims to explore the cost and benefits of working with environmentally sustainable business partners, using ISO 14001 as a reference point, within the Swedish B2B market.  Method: This study adheres to the interpretivist paradigm, with a qualitative approach. Nine semi-structured interviews with six B2B companies in Sweden were conducted and analysed via thematic analysis, using codes and emerging themes.  Conclusion: There are severe gaps in the ISO 14001 framework, and that one cannot trust it as much regarding the environment as intended or as much as firms do today. The real value for environmental sustainability is created when sustainable B2B firms start selecting suppliers based on their own sustainable values, not on time efficiency or costs. For a shared responsibility, firms have to evaluate suppliers based on actual and not perceived environmentally sustainable efforts.

Social media (SM) is an innovative strategy used to develop new forms of communication channels and platforms. This has led to a positive transformation in the marketing strategy for both small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises. There has been a lot of research conducted on the utilization of SM by Business-to-Consumer (B2C) marketing. However, the use of SM in Business-to-Business (B2B) marketing has not been explored as much in comparison to B2C marketing. The aim of this study is to understand the role of SM channels in B2B service-based SMEs, while also analyzing the challenges and opportunities incorporated by the integration of the SM platforms and the impact it has on B2B relationships. Our research builds on the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) related “Activities-Resources-Actors (ARA) Model” and the interconnection between the three layers to understand and analyze the utilization of SM.  This study takes a qualitative case study approach to answer the research question formulated in this study by conducting semi-structured interviews. The interviewees included five respondents: two from the focal company and three from their existing business networks. From the findings, three themes were formulated to understand and analyze the data collected: Adoption decision of SM channels in the case SME and the network firm, Collaboration process with the business customers, and Content co-creation. Based on the findings we conclude that SM is an emerging tool for SMEs to incorporate it in their marketing strategy. It can help the firm to improve the bonds between the actors within the organization as well as with their customers and networks. However, the successful utilization of SM in SMEs depends on the commitment of SMEs to incorporate SM tools effectively in their operations. This can be achieved by the “Hybrid approach” by integrating SM communication with the conventional modes of communication for B2B marketing.

Abstract  Title: Social Media Content to Build B2B Relationships – An Exploratory Study of Customers to SMEs on the Californian Business Market for Financial Services  Faculty: School of Business and Economics at Linnaeus University  Program: The Business Administration and Economics Programme  Course: 4FE63E – Degree Project in Marketing, The Business Administration and Economics Programme, 30 credits, spring 2017  Author: Emma Lickhammer  Mentor: Åsa Lindström  Examiner: Professor Bertil Hultén  Research question: How is social media content engaging for customers on the financial services business market while building relationships?  Purpose: This study aims to interpret how social media content is engaging for business-to-business customers on the SME, financial services market, in terms of relationship building. It also intends to assist Xennial BZ Solution with advice to a basis of decision-making while executing their relationship marketing strategy on social media.  Methods: This thesis has been conducted as a qualitative cross-sectional study with an exploratory purpose and an inductive approach. The data has been collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed through a qualitative data analysis.  Result and conclusions: I conclude that social media presence engages customers on the financial services business market in relationship building if right content is created on right platforms to right customers. It appeared in the result that customers use social media in the information-seeking process and in the interaction process and that successful integration and understanding of the platforms contribute to higher response rates, which promotes relationship building.  Delimitations: This study aims to focus on customers on the Californian market for financial services, which delimits the scope of this study. It is also delimited to only cover SMEs and might therefore not be relevant for larger organizations. This thesis is also delimited to just focus on selected social media platforms and might therefore not be applicable to all situations.  Theoretical and practical contributions: The theoretical contribution from this thesis fills the knowledge gap concerning how social media content engages customers on the financial iv  services business market to build relationships. The practical contribution is given by this thesis to provide Xennial BZ Solution with recommendations regarding how they should implement social media content in their relationship marketing strategy.  Key words: business-to-business, financial services, financial services marketing, SMEs, social media, social media marketing, content marketing, customer engagement.

This study aims to examine how a business-to-business (B2B) relationship is affected by a decrease in physical interactions between firm representatives. Previous studies have shown that external events can affect B2B relationships but not how these effects take shape. With the recent COVID-19 pandemic in mind, the need to investigate how reduced physical interactions affect B2B relationships becomes relevant. A qualitative method is used through a multiple case study where data is collected through semi-structured interviews with three firms within the Swedish vehicle financing industry. The study finds that a reduction in physical interaction between firm representatives affects the trust generated between the representatives themselves and the companies they represent. Digital interaction can only replace face-to-face communication for shorter periods of time to enable clear communication and trust in a B2B relationship. The study also finds that a company’s means of interaction leads to an adaptation in the framework of interaction in B2B relationships.

This thesis explores what motivates women in a leadership position, in a sales role and in the technology industry. The field lacks previous research on this specific subject. Using one need-based and one process-based work motivation theory, the study aims to identify and map motivational factors that are regarded by women. A holistic conceptualization of work motivation and prominent research is presented. Implications for motivation are researched with a theoretical approach that integrates Herzberg’s hygiene-motivator factor theory and Vroom’s expectancy theory. The study uses abductive reasoning with a qualitative research strategy. Empirical evidence is primarily gathered by semi-structured interviews. 10 women in tech sales working for Nordic branches of various companies were interviewed. Pattern matching and thematic analysis generated a number of aggregated themes consistent in having a contribution to motivation: the role and work tasks, inner motivation, the organization and lastly, the people and relationships. The study both conforms to and adds new layers to the theoretical framework, and further concludes a number of important motivational factors for the women. The result shows that both hygiene and motivator-factors have the potential to impact the rational process leading to motivation, thus the components in the expectancy theory.

As a result of the aging and growing population in Europe, the demand for healthcare services continues to rise. It is therefore important to streamline the healthcare sector to manage the growing demand. One way to do this is by implementing digital-health solutions. By either developing digital services and applications in-house or outsourcing this to an external business-to-business (B2B) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) healthtech company, the healthcare sector can adopt such digital-health solutions. The evolution of the healthcare sector has accelerated as numerous innovators have capitalized on opportunities in this area by establishing healthtech firms. Furthermore, previous research shows that there is a need for internationalization among healthtech firms for them to succeed in the long run. This study aims to identify the barriers arising when B2B SaaS healthtech firms expand organically from Sweden to other European markets. This is done by conducting a single case study at a leading Swedish healthtech firm providing a SaaS with a B2B business model. Interviews are conducted and analyzed qualitatively to explore the barriers perceived within the studied organization. Several expansion barriers specific for B2B SaaS healthtech firms are identified. Furthermore, the study shows a new perspective on barriers arising within this phenomenon. This includes barriers regarding laws, language, prioritization, market structures, competition, lack of information, and attaining the first customer. The findings identified from the case study can contribute to streamlining the healthcare sector by encouraging innovation. Moreover, this research can be usedto understand barriers experienced by many distinct companies within the industry. / Till följd av en åldrande och växande befolkning i Europa ökar efterfrågan på hälso- och sjukvården. Detta innebär att det är viktigt att effektivisera hälso- och sjukvårdssektorn för att kunna möta den ökade efterfrågan. Ett sätt att göra detta är genom att implementera digitala lösningar inom hälso och sjukvården. Genom att antingen utveckla digitala tjänster och applikationer inom organisationen, eller outsourca detta till ett externt business-to-business (B2B) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) healthtech bolag kan hälso- och sjukvårdssektorn införa dessa digitala tjänster. Utvecklingen av hälso- och sjukvårdssektorn har accelererat då flertalet innovatörer har kapitaliserat på möjligheter inom detta område genom att etablera healthtech bolag. Tidigare forskning visar även att det finns ett behov bland healthtech företag att internationaliseras för att de ska lyckas på lång sikt. Denna studie syftar till att identifiera barriärer som uppkommer då B2B SaaS healthtech företag expanderar organiskt från Sverige till andra Europeiska marknader. Detta görs genom en enskild fallstudie på ett av de ledande Svenska healthtech bolagen som tillhandahåller en SaaS lösning genom en B2B affärsmodell. Intervjuer är utförda och analyserade kvalitativt för att utforska de barriärer det studerade företaget uppfattat. Ett flertal expansionsbarriärer specifika för B2B SaaS healthtech bolag är identifierade. Studien visar även ett nytt perspektiv på barriärer som uppkommer inom detta fenomen. Detta inkluderar barriärer gällande lagar, språk, prioritering, marknadsstrukturer, konkurrens, brist på information och att erhålla den första kunden. De identifierade upptäckterna från fallstudien kan vidare bidramed effektivisering av hälso- och sjukvården genom att främja innovation. Vidare kan denna studie användas för att förstå barriärerna som upplevs av många olika bolag inom denna industri.