Många service-företag börjar att i, allt högre grad, mäta kundlojalitet som ett mått på lönsamhet. Samtidigt kommer rapporter om att kundnöjdheten minskar inom många branscher. Ett sätt att öka kundernas lojalitet är genom service recovery, då företag aktivt jobbar med att ta emot och hitta klagomål för att kunna åtgärda dem. Detta eftersom att de på så sätt kan omvända missnöjda kunder till lojala sådana. För att kunna utföra service recovery måste dock klagomålen först och främst komma företagen till känna, vilket har visat sig vara ett problem. Dessutom är den mesta forskningen kring service recovery och klagomål idag inriktade mot Business-to-Consumer-företag. Studiens övergripande syfte är därför att identifiera vilka dimensioner som Business-to-Business-företag anser vara betydelsefulla för att uppmuntra kunder till att klaga. Vidare kommer studien att bidra med en jämförelse mellan branscher som på olika sätt arbetar med relationer. Slutligen ämnar vi att ge rekommendationer till hur företagen bör jobba med uppmuntran till klagomål. För att uppfylla syftet har studien en deduktiv ansats där teorierna ligger som grund för de semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuerna med nio respondenter från rådgivnings- och IT-lösningsbranschen. I denna studie finner vi tre dimensioner som alla de intervjuade företagen tycker är viktiga i deras arbete med klagomålshantering; relationer, snabbhet och återkoppling. Relationerna till kunden har en stor vikt till hur företagen jobbar i allmänhet och så även i klagomålshanteringen. Många respondenter beskriver att det främst är genom dessa relationer som de både uppmuntrat till, och tar emot, klagomål. Snabbhet innebär att snabbt behandla klagomålsärenden som ett sätt att visa tacksamhet gentemot kunden och att visa att deras åsikter har betydelse för företaget. Återkoppling syftar till att företagen tycker att det är viktigt att höra av sig till kunden både under och efter behandlingen av klagomålet för att informera dem om vad som händer med ärendet och hur det ska åtgärdas. Vidare visar studien på att företagen generellt särskiljer klagomål från felanmälningar. Detta sker i varierande skala, vissa behandlar dem olika, genom en direkt kategorisering, medan vissa enbart uttrycker skillnader i hur de pratar om dem. De flesta företagen visar på ett service recovery-tänk i och med att de ser fördelarna i att ta emot kundernas åsikter och vissa beskriver att de sett positiva effekter av ett bra hanterande genom en ökad lojalitet hos kunderna.

Aim: SMT Wire has noticed that their sales of ESP wire are very low in China compared to India. SMT Wire now wonders how they can increase their market share in China. Method: Personal interviews, telephone interviews and interactive conversations. Result & Conclusions: SMT Wire should work each tier in the supply chain to gain more orders and increase their market share. It is important to have local representation and work close to the customers so that the customers can feel trust for Sandvik and Sandvik’s employees. The market for spiral discharge electrode material is good in China (the annual consumption is about cccc tonnes) and the market will probably be more and more mature for Sandvik’s high quality materials in a couple of years. Suggestions for future research: Is it possible to have a more long-term price on the products on the Asia market? How can Sandvik keep its Chinese personnel? How can the Chinese personnel be trained to make contacting new companies easier for them? How can a foreign company create a guanxi-based selling with a high personnel turnover? Contribution of the thesis: A strategy that can be adapted for stainless steel wire companies that want to increase their market share in China.

Traditionally, customers of the airline and travel agent service industries only interacted with the agents at the travel office. The internet travel services have taken off rapidly. This industry is becoming very large for the suppliers, employees, sales and final users and this is going to be the main method for travel services. Corporate partners working together can cover the production disadvantages. My travel and airline research focuses on the co-opetition relationship. Airline websites and travel websites working together can develop a strength in online transactions. Developing a strategy together results in a huge economic effect. My research methods use my travel service company, Comfort Travel Services (Cola Tours), as an example. I spoke to a variety of Taiwanese airline managers to find out how we can work together. Through analysis we can plan production and plan sales and hope to make a bright future. The conclusions from my research are as follows: 1.Airlines rely on travel agencies for more than 90% of its business. This is a big example of corporate partners working together. 2.Travel services should diversify its internet services to more easily satisfy the customers¡¦ needs. 3.Travel agent websites serve the purpose of promoting and strengthening the skills of the agents which increases the volume of business 4.Electronic commerce relationships can be used for prosperous growth. 5.Airlines B2B can help travel agents in smoothing the flow of travel business and business standardization. 6.Direct flights to China bring a new business opportunity and further co-opetition relationships should be explored. 7.Market changes, combined with useful and positive planning, personal development and positive cycles achieve resource sharing and creates bilateral development of each brand.

In recent years, many companies face extreme competition in this business. They also recognize one thing that it is very important for them to manage and maintain the existing customers. Companies should think how to make their customers satisfied, and make the customers like to keep long-term relationship with them. It is the so called ¡§relationship marketing¡¨. The purpose of this study is to discuss what factors will affect the degree of relationship orientation of a company in the B2B setting. Through the case study of the S company and its major customer and supplier, we have found that social and structure bonds let the S company keep relationships with its major customer and supplier in ten years. Environmental uncertainty and dependence among companies are the two reasons that make the S company high relationship-orientated. Finally, relationship marketing brings customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and financial performance for the S company, but no negative effect is found in this case study.

<p>Strategisk roll av informationssystem har börjat diskuteras i allt större utsträckning i och med uppkomsten av den Internetbaserade elektroniska handeln mellan företag, Business-to-Business (B2B). För att kunna uppskatta den strategiska betydelsen av införandet av ett sådant system krävs att företagen begrundar sin allmänna affärsstrategi utifrån informationssystemets potential. Befintliga ramverk för informationssysystemsutveckling innehåller riktlinjer för kartläggning av de strategiska förändringarna men räcker inte till för att enskilt utvärdera B2B:s strategiska bidrag. En sammanställning av flera befintliga ramverk har resulterat i ett nytt ramverk som mer enhetligt kan analysera företagens allmänna affärsstrategi med avseende på B2B. I sin tillämpning har ramverket uppvisat förmågan att väcka en diskussion kring de potentiella förändringarna i företagens strategiska läge utifrån deras informationssystems utvecklingsmöjligheter.</p>

<p>Companies have started to concentrate more on customer relationship, meaning more attention on customer contact, instead of concentrating on the product. Those thoughts have further developed into that companies continuously create and add value for their customers, to keep them loyal and satisfied. Value can be created in different ways, and the companies need to understand the value factors that are considered most important among their customers. For the same reason IKEA commissioned this thesis; to know how to deliver greater customer value. Therefore the purpose of this thesis is to evaluate and rank the factors that perceive customer value for IKEA’s business customers in the kitchen market.</p><p>With a quantitative approach in mind a market research is accomplished to find opportunities and solve problems of the existing strategy. Data was collected with help from a survey, in accordance with the method chapter. Further was the survey analyzed and interpreted with help from the theory in the frame of reference. The conclusions are presented in the end of the thesis.</p><p>The theories within the subject of customer value show that price, performance and personalization are the main factors that contribute to perceived customer value. Good customer value can be achieved when price, performance and personalization are in harmony and exceeds customer expectations. When companies only present parts of the triad, maximization of perceived customer value cannot be reached.</p><p>The empirical data, received through market research and personal communication with A. Larsson at IKEA, was analyzed with assistance of the theories. Through market research the factors that perceive customer value are identified, evaluated and ranked. The findings have made it possible to test if the model of price, performance and personalization is ac-curate in accordance to the reality.</p><p>The findings show, in ranked order, that price, quality and distribution activities are the main variables creating customer value in the business-to-business relationship in the kitchen market. The authors found that price and performance are the main drivers behind perceived customer value. Personalization is also considered contributing to customer value, but works more as a motivation factor that is strengthening the business relationship.</p><p>This guides us to the question; what’s in it for you? It is of high importance to understand that customers and groups of customers perceive value in different ways. This leads to that IKEA needs to consider what factors that are in there for you, as a business customer, and how those variables can be improved for a better business relationship.</p>

Zugl.: Köln, Univ., Diss., 2009

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Bern, 2003 entitled: Rätz. / Text partly in German, partly in Englis.

Abstract Effective and Quality Technical Support in Business to Business Partnerships with focus on the High-Tech (Semiconductor Industry) Products Fred Kishwahili Byabagye, MSE The University of Texas at Austin, 2011 Supervisor: Kyle Lewis Co-Supervisor: Tony Ambler My choice of this thesis topic is very much in line with my passionate desire to contribute and share my experience in the area of Business to Business (B2B) technical support while continuing to explore the constantly evolving challenges involved when a corporation that makes semiconductor products (Original Semiconductor Manufacturer) has to provide effective and efficient quality technical support to another corporation (Original Equipment Manufacturer) that uses the semiconductor product in designing a final product. For example, how does an Original Semiconductor manufacture (OSM) such as AMD or Intel provide effective technical support to an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) such as HP or Dell? This partnership has to be well managed to ensure continuous technical support from new product conception through the sustaining phase of the product. This area of business to business technical support is not well understood because of company Intellectual Property (IP) issues and propriety information involved. This type of activity happens under Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), behind “firewalls” and varies from corporation to corporation. Most people have had experience with or have heard stories about customer service issues between an individual consumer customer and a corporation selling a product (such as buying a PC/Laptop from Dell or HP). This thesis will not explore this area since it is very familiar and well understood. First, by drawing on my observations spanning 16 years working in different customer facing areas for AMD and noting the changes that have taken place in the way B2B technical support has evolved, I will constantly point out scenarios that continuously come up in an effort to deliver quality and effective customer technical support. Second, there is a lot of literature available that explores how the semiconductor industry has changed from companies being component sellers to “solutions providers”. Historically, technical support used to be considered as only necessary after a product had gone into production. However, that model has changed in the current environment of more complex products such as Microprocessors (CPU), System-on-a-Chip (SoC), and Accelerated Processing units (APU). For B2B customer technical support to be effective and high quality, it has to meet and exceed the customers’ expectations throughout the product life-cycle. / text

Business-to-business (B2B) marketing practitioners are increasingly relying on branding strategies though academic researchers have been slow to study branding in organizational contexts. By integrating existing conceptual models and research findings, this study examines the noteworthy differences between the B2B and the consumer market contexts and the implications of those differences on the formulation of B2B brand strategies. We introduce a conceptual model that suggests the conditions that are likely to increase or decrease organizations’ propensity to select branded products versus lesser-known or generic products when selecting suppliers, otherwise referred to as brand sensitivity. The proposed model is grounded in risk theory and posits that buying center, purchase situation, and product/relationship variables influence an organization’s brand sensitivity. Finally, we present the findings and implications of the multi-method research approach that was utilized to test the model of the determinants of brand sensitivity in organizational buying contexts. Results suggest that the level of intangibility is the key determinant of brand sensitivity in such settings.