Corporate reputation has become a source of competitive advantage whose underlying dimensions serve to influence companies‟ strategic direction, in order to maintain sustainable competitiveness. The purpose of this research is to determine the underlying dimensions of corporate reputation as perceived by buyers in the business-to-to business environment.Through critical review of literature on corporate reputation, the importance of building and maintaining a good reputation was highlighted by a myriad of resulting favourable consequences. Literature also revealed underlying dimensions of reputation which were complemented by the findings of the preliminary interviews with a selection of members of the sample to formulate a research instrument.Using stratified sampling of buyers in selected segments served by the steel industry, 169 questionnaire responses were gathered electronically via email and self administered. A factor analysis revealed five factors namely vision and quality of management, employment equity and social responsibility, superior quality of products and committed service, corporate appeal and safety and environment. These collaborated with the literature with the exception of two contributing elements omitted by literature, namely BEE and safety. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

A review of the literature reveals that companies‟ brands and their management have dominated the marketing of goods and services to consumers but the idea of measuring brand equity has been slow to take hold in business to business (B2B) marketing. On-going relationships between businesses and their industrial customers are receiving renewed interest in marketing and the building of strong customer relationships has been suggested as means of gaining a competitive advantage particularly for service businesses. The importance of benefits recieved through relationships indicates that customer value is not linked to the the product or service received, but is also derived from the benefits recieved from relationships with the organisation. The study seeks to determine the importance relationships have on the brand equity of organisations that operate in a B2B services environment. This is achieved by focusing on the drivers of brand equity in a B2B services environment, consisting of price, product quality, service quality and relationship benefits.The findings offer important insightas to the drivers of brand equity in the B2B services industry. The results indicate that the benefits a buying organisation receives from having a relationship with the organisation providing the service is significant to improving itsbrand equity . The other drivers that significantly influence the brand equity of the orgnsiations providing the service is the quality of the product or service it provides followed by the price.The research involved a two phase approach. Phase one involved face-to-face interviews with five Learning and development professionals from various industries in South Africa, namely Financial Services, Manufacturing, Telecommunications and Retail sectors. The data gathered from the interviews, together with the reviewed literature was used to develop an instrument that was used to measure the importance relationship benefits have on brand equity in the B2B services environment . One hundred and twenty one questionairres were processed. The data was subjected to inferential and multivariate statisical analysis.This research provides both an academic contribution to the relationship marketing field as well as a practical implication for marketing managers within B2B service organisations. The main contribution for academic purposes involves confirmation from hypothesised relationships. This research is of specific value to managers who are responsible for increasing brand equity within their organisations. With a more dedicated focus on improving the benefits the buying organisation receives from the organisation providing the service will allow managers to improve their brand equity. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This study aims to extend previous research studies investigating drivers of customer equity in a business-to-business environment. The study also aims to address the role of relationship benefits on customer equity in a business-tobusiness environment beyond psychological, functional and social benefits. Furthermore the study focuses on the importance of building relationships influencing customer equity in organisations operating in a business-to-business environment. The study is based on two phases. Phase one consisted of face-to-face interviews with experienced professional individuals from three different industries. These industries covered financial services, utility services and property development within a South African demographic. The data gathered from these interviews was combined with literature to understand the drivers of customer equity and the role that relationship benefits play on customer equity. Data was also gathered from a 146 questionnaires and statistically processed. Significant findings made in the study reflect the importance of customer equity within business-to-business environments. Further focusing on the importance for organisations to build long-term relationships with their customers. this will finally explain the significant impact that relationship benefits have on customer equity beyond psychological, functional and social benefits for organisations in business-to-business environments. The study recognises that the individual customers and the organisation on its own will both benefit from developed customer equity, highlighting the fact that not one driver of customer equity is exclusive to the next. Contributions made for academic purposes include hypothesised variable on customer equity, with the main aim on relationships. This study will be beneficial for various departments in organisations that interact with customers and want to improve their customer relations, specifically organisations operating in a business-to-business environment. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / zkgibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

Affärsrelationer har kommit att bli allt viktigare för företag de senaste åren, speciellt de som har som mål att bilda relationer med ett företag som kund. Affärsrelationen kan påverka många beståndsdelar inom parternas verksamhet. Frågan som studien undersöker är om och i så fall på vilket sätt affärsrelationer influerar företags prissättningsstrategi. När det handlar om prissättningsstrategier finns det i litteraturen tre generellt accepterade strategival: värdebaserad prissättning, konkurrensbaserad prissättning samt kostnadsbaserad prissättning. Det finns en konsensus i litteraturen om att den värdebaserade vägen är den som kommer att bringa mest nytta och framgång för den säljande parten. Trots detta är den negligerad och förbisedd i praktiken. Därför har författarna valt att undersöka hur och på vilket sätt affärsrelationer kan influera prissättningsstrategier i B2B-orienterade företagsrelationer. Studien består av 7 fallstudier av företag med B2B-relationer och hur de arbetar i sin dagliga verksamhet med affärsrelationer samt prissättningsstrategier. Utgångspunkten har varit att kunna fylla gapet vi identifierat i litteraturen med relevant empiri från praktiska fall. Syftet med studien är därmed att öka förståelsen för hur B2B-relationer influerar företags prissättningsstrategier. Semi-strukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med diverse beslutsfattare för dessa frågor i de utvalda företagen. Dessa har baserats på två huvudsakliga teoretiska grundområden: Substansen av relationen och värdebaserad prissättningsstrategi. Områdena har sedan flätats ihop för att hitta övergripande teman och få svar under intervjuprocessen. Empirin kom att både bekräfta litteraturens huvudsakliga teoribas, samt avvika från teoribasen vid tillfällen. Som litteraturen påvisade var majoriteten av de tillfrågade företagen benägna att inte applicera värdebaserad prissättningsstrategi. Svårigheten med att tillämpa en sådan strategi var att det var för svårt och kostsamt att definiera värdet på företagets produkter. På grund av detta var det mer effektivt för en majoritet av företagen att använda sig utav en konkurrensbaserad strategi där man förhåller sig till marknadens pris. Studiens resultat pekar på att affärsrelationer endast influerar företagets prissättning om deras strategi var av den värdebaserade naturen. I dessa fall var det köpande företaget även beredd att betala över marknadspris för det mervärde de ansåg att de fick ut ur affärsrelationen. I det andra fallen var marknaden den avgörande faktorn och bidrog till att affärsrelationers inverkan var av liten till ingen grad. Studien fann även belägg för att företag som arbetar med komplexa produkter är mer benägna att applicera en värdebaserad prissättningsstrategi, eftersom det säljande företaget är den enda parten som kan precisera värdet i de situationerna.

This study provides insights into understanding social media utilization in the B2B selling process. More specifically, this research details how the different functional blocks of social media are leveraged to benefit the various stages of the selling process. This study adopts a multiple case study design, including six cases from technology-related Canadian firms. Overall, findings show that the functional blocks of social media are mostly leveraged in the prospecting and preapproach stages of the selling process. Furthermore, the marketing strategy of the seller firm seems to influence which functional blocks are leveraged in the process. At last, findings also show that social media should be complemented by analytical tools and traditional media to optimize the selling process with higher lead quality and to facilitate trust-building with potential and existing customers

In the past few years, a topic that has caught much attention by academia is the rather new concept of ‘social media’. Today, it is expected by business-to-business organizations to involve social media in their marketing activities. However, the existing literature surrounding the concept has mainly focused on the business-toconsumer context, and there is a lack of research on the concept in a business-tobusiness context. This bachelor thesis aims to contribute to the theoretical landscape of social media in a business-to-business context as well as to study marketing managers’ work with social media in large international business-to-business organizations. The purpose of this thesis is to understand the reasons for large international business-tobusiness organizations to engage in social media for marketing purposes. In order to fulfill the purpose, two research questions were formulated as (i) What do marketing managers at large international business-to-business organizations experience that social media is effective for? and (ii) How do marketing managers at large international business-to-business organizations measure the effectiveness of social media? A qualitative method was chosen for the thesis, where seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with marketing managers from three large international business-tobusiness companies. The marketing managers contributed with their experiences which resulted in that the thesis concluded that social media is effective for; firstly, as a communications channel with customers, secondly, to create awareness as well as third and lastly, to support existing relationships as well as build new relationships. Further, the thesis also found that the interviewed marketing managers use the metrics; reach, likes, comments, cost per lead and impressions when measuring the social media effectiveness. However, uncertainties were expressed regarding the reliability of these metrics.

No / This chapter examines the role of business-to-business electronic reverse auctions (eRAs), one tool in the armoury of e-purchasing used by businesses including retailers. It tracks the development of this particular technology through the hype cycle and presents some propositions to maximise the use of eRAs as an effective e-purchasing tool. It also explains the damaging effect of the early negative perceptions and underlines the difficulty in overcoming them.

Yes / Privacy is an emerging issue for home-sharing platforms such as Airbnb. Home-sharing providers (business customers) are subject to both digital privacy risks (e.g., data breaches and unauthorized data access) and physical privacy risks (e.g., property damage and invasion of their personal space). Therefore, platforms need to strengthen their institutions of privacy management to protect the interests of providers and maintain their commitment. By applying the micro-level psychological aspect of institutional theory, our research investigates how providers decide their level of commitment to a platform by evaluating the institutions of the platform’s privacy management. Our survey recruited 380 Airbnb providers from the Prolific panel. Structural equation modeling analysis shows that both physical and digital privacy practices strengthen providers’ legitimacy judgment of the platform’s privacy management and subsequently increase their commitment to the platform. Our theoretical contribution lies in revealing the effects of physical and digital privacy practices on B2B relationships from an institutional perspective. Our research is among the first to provide an integrative framework illustrating providers’ psychological process of legitimacy judgement. It also has practical implications for sharing economy platforms to manage privacy. / The authors gratefully acknowledge the Seed Corn Funding from University of Bradford and the Research Productivity Support Scheme from Macquarie University.

Frågeställning: Hur kan sociala medier användas för att engagera B2B kunder till relationsskapande? Syfte: Syftet med examensarbetet är att analysera och tolka vad som engagerar B2B kunder till relationsskapande och hur sociala medier kan användas i detta sammanhang. Som delmål ämnar examensarbetet även att ge fallföretaget Leax Falun AB en inblick i ett nytänkande sätt att nå ut till kunder på, samt ge underlag för beslut om att förändra den befintliga marknadsföringsstrategin för att nå ut till kunder. Metod: Det här examensarbetet har en induktiv ansats med ett explorativt syfte och har utförts med kvalitativa forskningsmetoder. Datainsamling har skett genom personliga intervjuer. Insamlad empiriska data har analyserats genom en kvalitativ dataanalys. Resultat och slutsatser: Det har visat sig finnas fördelar med vissa av sociala mediers funktioner som B2B kunderna menar kan ge dem ökat värde i den informationssökande processen, när de letar nya leverantörer. Informationskommunikation på sociala medier, om det sker på rätt sätt, kan engagera B2B kunder på såväl ett rationellt som ett emotionellt plan. Teoretiskt och praktiskt bidrag: Teoretiskt bidrar det här examensarbetet till att fylla ett identifierat kunskapsglapp i teorin, detta genom en reviderad undersökningsmodell. Praktiskt bidrar det här examensarbetet till att ge samarbetsföretaget LEAX Falun AB rekommendationer till hur de kan förbättra sin användning av sociala medier i affärssyfte och på ett nytänkande sätt nå ut till kunder. / Research question: In what way can social media be used to engage business-to-business customers to relationship-building? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to analyze and interpret what engages customers to relationship-building, and how social media can be used in this context. I also intend to give the company LEAX Falun AB a glimpse of an innovative way to reach out to customers. Furthermore, I aim to provide a basis for the company’s decision making about changing the existing marketing strategy to reach out to customers. Method: This thesis has been conducted as a qualitative research with an exploratory purpose and an inductive approach. Data has been collected through interviews and analyzed through a qualitative data-analysis. Results and conclusions: I can conclude that there is potential in some of the features of social media that B2B customers believe, can give them increased value during the information seeking process, when they are searching for new suppliers. Informationcommunication on social media, if done properly, can engage B2B customers on both a rational to an emotional level. Theoretical and practical contributions: Theoretically, this thesis contributes to fill an identified knowledge gap, this by a revised research model. Practical contribution is given through this thesis by providing LEAX Falun AB with recommendations regarding how they can improve their use of social media for business purposes, and by showing them an innovative way to reach out to customers.

Business-to-Business (B2B) beskriver relationen mellan två företag där ett företag säljerprodukter eller tjänster till ett annat företag. I dagens konkurrenshårda marknad gäller det för ett företag att ständigt sträva efter att ligga ett steg före för att öka chansen att överleva. Dessutom kan dagens kunder söka och jämföra det de vill ha med bara ett klick på internet vilket leder till att företag förväntas att ständigt förbättra och utveckla sina produkter för att tillfredsställa sina kunder. Syftet med detta arbete är att ta reda på vad kunderna anser är viktigt vid val av leverantör och om miljöaspekten är avgörande för kunden vid val avleverantörer. En litteraturundersökning som kompletterades med en enkätundersökning genomfördes för att få svar på vilka av de fyra aspekter (kvalité, miljö, service, pris) är avgörande vid val av leverantör. Gruppen har använt sig av ett företag inom textil- och konfektionsbranschen som utgångspunkt för vilka företag enkäterna skulle skickas till. Undersökningen baseras främst på företag inom hotellbranschen i områdena Göteborg, Borås, Varberg och Falkenberg. Gruppen har använt sig av enkäter där deltagarna tillfrågades hur avgörande aspekterna kvalité, miljö, pris och service är vid val av leverantör av arbetskläder. Resultatet av litteraturstudien visar att kvalité och service är avgörande vid val av leverantör i ett B2B sammanhang och att pris inte är lika avgörande. Resultatet av enkätundersökning visar att samtliga hotell som deltog i undersökningen anser att det mest avgörande vid val avleverantör är kvalité och näst viktigast är miljö. Service och pris hamnade på en tredjerespektive fjärde plats i rangordning. / Business-to-Business (B2B) describes the relationship between two companies where one company sells products or services to another company. In today's highly competitive market, businesses are forced to continually improve and develop their products in order to satisfy their customers. In addition, today's customers can search and compare what they want just with just one click on the internet, which means that companies are expected to constantly improve and develop their products to survive in the highly competitive market. The purpose of this work is to find out what customers consider important in choosing a supplier and whether the environmental aspect is crucial for the customer in choosing suppliers. A literature study supplemented with a survey was conducted to find answer on which of the four aspects (quality, environment, service, price) is crucial in selecting a supplier. The group has used a company in the textile and clothing industry as the starting point for which companies the questionnaires were to be sent to. The survey is primarily based on companies in the hotel industry in the areas of Gothenburg, Borås, Varberg and Falkenberg. The group has used questionnaires where participants were asked how crucial aspects of quality, environment, price and service are when choosing a supplier of work clothes. The outcome of the literature study shows that quality and service are crucial in choosing a supplier in a B2Bcontext and that price is not as crucial. The results from the survey indicate that all hotels participated in the survey find that the most crucial in choosing a supplier is quality and the second most important is the environment. Service and award ended in a third and fourth place in ranking.