The purpose of this dissertation is to build and test a model that integrates the marketing, management, and psychological literature with respect to organizational climate variables and their direct and indirect impact on salesperson psychological and behavioral outcomes, as well as one that answers the overarching research question of how organizational climate variables impact salesperson psychological and behavioral work outcomes. Data were collected during the time period from April 2006 until May 2006. Three hundred survey invitations were sent via e-mail to salespeople at three organizations. The participating organizations included a privately owned publishing firm located in the southeastern United States, a large privately owned Internet recruiting firm located in the upper Midwest, and a publicly traded worldwide financial information reporting firm. In total, 251 responses were gathered yielding an overall response rate for the study of 83.6%. Generally, the results from this analysis confirm the research questions that climate variables such as perceived organizational support, ethical climate, and trust do positively impact salesperson psychological and behavioral outcomes. Managerial implications and directions for future research are also offered.

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.

Background: Critical conditions to become an attractive supplier of knowledge based IT-services in the B2B market are many. Besides the fact of supplying a service of high quality one must as a supplier communicate values which are understandable and desirable for a new buyer. Buying a knowledge based IT-service involves several risks; the consultant might not have sufficient knowledge or have difficulties understanding the corporate culture and collaborating with other staff within the client’s organization. Since services are intangible offers and it can be intricate to put right price level for something which can only be evaluated when the project is finished, puts severe strain on suppliers competing with other companies in the same market when looking for new clients. The question is whether a supplier’s corporate brand can play a decisive role for buyers when choosing between similar offers from numerous companies? Problem formulation & main purpose: To examine if a supplier’s corporate image has a significant impact on a company’s buying decision of knowledge based IT services. Method: Case study, interviews Conclusion:  A strong corporate image can reduce the notion of several risks and increases the feeling of security and confirmation of making the right decision when choosing a new supplier. Hence it is critical to deliver what the brand promise offers. A long buying process is time consuming and hence costly and naturally a shorter buying process is preferred. Buyers tend to listen to recommendations from other companies’ which already have experience from working with the supplier. Therefore it is important to continually work on relations with existing customers to retain a good image. A buyer can perceive a knowledge based IT-service as a low involvement offer but still fear the fact that it involves many risks. A supplier’s strong corporate image can decrease such thoughts.

This study is one of the first studies to fully address the relationship that business-to-business buyers have with both the selling firm and salesperson within an integrated model. Finding from this survey research support 14 of the 26 original hypotheses and the 2 additional linkages using structural equation modeling. This study finds that the relationship customers have with the selling firm is a stronger predictor of continuance than the relationship that the buyer has with the salesperson. While this relationship is stronger between the buyer and the selling firm, findings suggest that the salesperson can have a direct negative impact on the relationship if conflict is present. Overall, this study provides a framework for future research on the topic of business-to-business buyer-selling firm and buyer-salesperson relationships.

The goal of this research was to explore what the value drivers are in SAP Enterprise Mobility. On the basis of existing literature a model was created that predicts customer value in this particular industry. Furthermore, with this research it was tried to find out whether there is a connection between large firms and investment plans in enterprise mobility, as well as for what purpose companies want to invest in enterprise mobility. Because it is most interesting what brings value to decision makers regarding investing in SAP Enterprise Mobility, the target population consisted of IT decision makers. They were asked to complete a questionnaire which measures their attitude towards product quality, service quality, relationship quality, the fairness of the product price, the fairness of the service price, and the customer value in SAP Enterprise Mobility as a whole. During an intensive month of data collection 32 IT decision makers cooperated to execute this research.  The data suggests that quality of SAP products, such as the mobile applications and the mobile platform, is a value driver, as well as a fair price for consultancy services. Interestingly, despite the theoretical background the data does not indicate that the price of SAP products, the quality of the service that the consultancy provider delivers, and the quality of the relationship with the consultancy provider are significant value drivers. The data does confirm that large companies (with more than 1000 ERP users) have a stronger tendency to invest in enterprise mobility in 2014 than smaller companies. Moreover, there is a lot of variety in the purposes for investing in SAP Enterprise Mobility. This implies that SAP Enterprise Mobility is a very versatile concept and is used for many different and individual purposes.

Abstract Title: Brand Building – Differences between how business-to-business companies and business-to-consumer companies build their brands. Authors: Louise Lönnqvist and Sofia Stierna Supervisor: Svante Andersson Level: Master thesis, Independent project in business administration (30 credits), Spring 2014 Keywords: Brand, Brand Building, Brand Equity, Business-to-business, Business-to- consumer. Research questions: Q1: How can the brand building process differ between business-to- business companies and business-to-consumer companies? Q2: How can brand equity differ between business-to-business companies and business-to-consumer companies? Purpose: The purpose with this study is to investigate the differences between how business- to-business and business-to-consumer companies build their brands. First the differences in the brand building process are going to be investigated. Furthermore, this leads to an investigation in how brand equity differs between business-to-business companies and business-to-consumer companies. Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework starts with an explanation about what a brand is and an explanation of the differences between business-to-business companies and business-to-consumer companies. Furthermore, relevant theories about the brand building process and brand equity are discussed. Methodology: A qualitative method and abductive approach were used in order to answer the research questions. Personal interviews were conducted with three business-to-business companies and three business-to-consumer companies in order to get a view over the brand building. Empirical data: The empirical findings from the six interviews based on the theory are presented. Analysis: The analysis is based on the theoretical framework together with the empirical data. Conclusion: We have come up with the conclusion that all companies have their own brand building process and it does not matter if it is a business-to-business company or a business- to-consumer company, no major difference have been found. It is not important exactly how the brand building process looks like and which stages that are included, the key is that companies work with brand building in some way, although more studies are required in order to confirm the results. Furthermore, the two brand equity factors external brand loyalty and perceived quality are more important for business-to-business companies and the business-to-consumer prefer a combination of all the factors.

This study was conducted to examine whether large publicly listed companies in Sweden have any demands regarding their customers’ codes of conduct as well as how business-to- business collaborations are affected by the presence of codes of conduct at the customer in this relationship. The business-to-business relationships were investigated in their three essential relationship-stages (pre-relationship stage, established/mature-relationship stage and ending-relationship stage) that are introduced in previous business-to-business research. Theories about contract theory and external accounting helped illustrate the complications surrounding codes of conduct in regard to customers. It was found that codes of conduct are important for companies’ business to-business relationships. However, the code of conduct is still not included in the contractual agreement with customers in most cases. The study was conducted through a survey and a content analysis in cooperation with KPMG and the Swedish law firm Delphi.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att identifiera samt analysera karaktärsdrag, trender och potentiell utveckling för mässan som verktyg för relationsbyggande B2B. Vi har i denna uppsats valt att göra en kvalitativ studie med en induktiv ansats med deduktiva inslag. Detta då vi ville få en djupare förståelse för ämnet snarare än att se till det bredare perspektivet. Insamlingen av empiriskt material skedde genom sex intervjuer med personer som arbetar med att marknadsföra sitt företag på mässor. Tre intervjuer genomfördes personligen, två via videokonferens och en via telefon. Genom analysarbetet har vi identifierat att mässan har stor betydelse för relationsbyggande mellan företag. Detta speciellt då den fungerar som ett verktyg som underlättar för företag att underhålla befintliga relationer samt skapa nya. Vi har även identifierat en trend som indikerar på att företag mer specifikt väljer ut vilka mässor de ska närvara vid, där en definierad målgrupp värderas högt för att företagens budskap ska nå fram. Vi har kommit fram till att virtuella mässor bör fungera som ett komplement snarare än ersätta den traditionella mässan eftersom det personliga mötet är av stor vikt inom B2B. Generationsskiften på arbetsmarknaden bidrar till att andra förhållningssätt till teknologi kommer att råda. Detta gör att företag måste förstå vikten av de förändringar som sker och agera därefter.

The global marketplace has become highly integrated, and global competition is increasingly intense and dynamic. To be successful in this competitive and hostile environment, international firms must be able to foster and maintain successful cross-border inter-firm relationships. At the same time, service exports have remarkably emerged as a crucial component of international trade, underpinning the future growth and prosperity of national economies worldwide. Yet scholars and business practitioners alike have recognised the significant paucity of research on the performance of service exporters. Similarly, despite the recent growth in research interests in international relationship marketing, theoretical development in this area has failed to keep pace with the increase in both volume and magnitude of inter-organisational transactions across national borders. This study addressed the key research question of “What are the key factors driving the export performance of service firms?”, based on an integrated theoretical foundation comprising the resource-based view of the firm, transaction cost economics, and the relational exchange theory. The study took into account the potential role of: (1) organisational characteristics, (2) market characteristics, and (3) the governance mechanisms deployed by service firms in their management of cross-border relationships with their business clients. A multi-method research design was utilised for this research, including two main studies. An exploratory study was first conducted, involving 10 in-depth interviews with service exporters in South Australia. Drawing from the outcomes of the exploratory study and a review of the international services marketing and international relationship marketing literature, the researcher proposed a conceptual framework and a set of testable hypotheses. These hypotheses were then tested in the second research phase, in which the researcher conducted a self-administered mail survey, utilising both postal and online means. An effective response rate of 32.77%, or 254 usable responses, allowed the researcher to further analyse the data using the principles of structural equation modelling in AMOS. Thereby, the researcher identified 17 pairs of significant relationships between the variables. The research findings show that the performance of an export venture of a service firm is directly influenced by the size of the firm, their export experience, their managerial commitment, and the performance of the relationship with a major overseas client. Such relationship performance is determined by both contractual-based governance, including contractual complexity and contractual explicitness, and relational-based governance, a higher-order factor incorporating relationship trust, relationship commitment, information exchange, relationship flexibility and relationship harmony. In turn, these governance mechanisms are determined by various organisational and market characteristics. Whilst firm size, resource commitment, and assistance programs by home government influence the level of contractual complexity, contractual explicitness is determined by management commitment, competitive intensity, and the favourability of host government policies. Furthermore, relational-based governance is driven by the export experience of the firms, their managerial commitment, and the favourability of host government policies. The study contributes to advancing the scant international services marketing literature and draws further research attention to the international relationship marketing paradigm. With regards to international business practice, the study provides service exporters with an understanding on the potential role of organisational characteristics and market characteristics in their exporting success. Finally, a successful management of cross-border relationship management and governance mechanisms will also lead them to superior export performance. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1379910 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Business School, 2010

Building and maintaining business relationships is becoming increasingly important as organisations seek to improve their competitive advantage by entering long-term relationships with strategic business partners. It is suggested that the quality of the relationship determines the likelihood of maintaining an ongoing relationship between buyers and sellers. Research in the area of business-to-business relationship quality is still in its infancy with limited agreement of the dimensions of relationship quality or even the definition of relationship quality in a business-to-business context. The aim of this Interpretivist study, set in the financial services industry in Australia, was to develop an understanding of what participants in a dyadic business relationship perceive to be the attributes of a high quality relationship. Methodologically the research took a case study approach to the collection of primary data through the use of open-ended depth interviews. Epistemologically the research derived categories and concepts from the social actors engaged in the mutually constructed social reality of the business relationship dyad. This formed the basis for understanding the quality concept by describing relationship-based activities and meanings. The findings indicate that some dimensions of relationship quality are identified dyadically whereas other dimensions are buyer or seller specific. Some dimensions of relationship quality suggested by the literature emerged from the data generated for this study, while others were previously unidentified, including good product, reciprocity, face-to-face contact, problem resolution, efficiency of service, staff consistency, business support and hierarchy of contacts. The findings suggest four implications for professional practice: the need for face-to-face contact; the importance of establishing a hierarchy of contacts across the business relationship; the suggestion that relationship quality is a continuum rather than a destination; and the suggestion that problem resolution may be a catalyst for relationship strength.