Titel: Key Account Management process Nivå: C-uppsats inom ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Rafal Mahdi & Sofia Nilsson Handledare: Akmal Hyder & Zahra Ahmadi Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att jämföra hur en KAM-process kan skilja sig mellan stora och små företag inom B2B marknad. Datum: 2015-06-03 Metod: Studien bygger på en abduktiv ansats. Vi utför en multipelfallstudie med en kvalitativ forskningsdesign. Kvalitativa semi-strukturerade intervjuer genomförs och utformas med hjälp av en operationalisering som grundar sig i den vetenskapliga teorin. Intervjuerna har spelats in och noga transkriberats för att sedan lyfta fram den mest väsentliga informationen de bidrog till, i förhållande till studiens syfte. Informationen har analyserats och diskuterats för att därefter presentera en slutsats som besvarar studiens frågeställningar och syfte. Resultat & Slutsats: Studien visar att den presenterade KAM processen tillämpas av samtliga fallföretag i studien. Vi fann dock att det förekommer märkbara skillnader i hur fallföretagen arbetar för att identifiera och analysera nyckelkunder, uppnå engagemang, förtroende och tillfredställelse till sina nyckelkunder i den presenterade KAM processen. Förslag till vidare forskning: Vidare forskning kan göras utifrån de begränsningar som vi fann i denna studie. Den första begränsningen är antalet företag som deltog i studien och därmed kan vidare forskning utföra en liknande studie med fler fallföretag. Den andra begräsningen är att endast en teoretisk modell av KAM processen studeras i denna studie. Vidare forskning kan därmed utföra en studie där fler modeller av KAM processen jämförs. I vår KAM process har vi använt ett begränsat antal faktorer, denna begränsning skulle kunna överträffas genom att inkludera fler faktorer som är viktiga för att tillämpa och förstå KAM processen. Uppsatsens bidrag: Studien visar om samma KAM process kan tillämpas i både stora och små företag samt vilka eventuella skillnader som kan uppstå däremellan.

One of the main tasks of key account management (KAM) practice is the creation of customized value propositions for a business-to-business organization's most important customers, which often requires the support of multiple internal departments. Thus, making internal alignment central in KAM in order to exchange value and serve the key accounts (KA) long-term. This study will, therefore, explore internal alignment in KAM and aims to identify what contributes to internal alignment and how misalignment could emerge in KAM teams, in order to understand the significance of internal alignment and identify possible reasons for misalignment in KAM. The theory was framed by 7 elements of internal alignment including shared values, style, skills, staff, strategy, structure and systems. The empirical data was collected through qualitative semi-structured interviews with KA managers. The findings suggest that internal alignment is of importance in KAM and that the elements of internal alignment studied in the thesis are dependent on each other. Furthermore, it was found that misalignment is most commonly caused by personal disputes, however, all elements studied were found as contributing factors to misalignment. The findings led to the conclusion that internal alignment is not a target state, it is rather a measure of progress and that all aspects that do contribute to internal alignment also entail causes for misalignment.

Att skapa starka och långsiktiga relationer till sina kunder har för företag blivit en nödvändighet i den industriella marknadsföringen, där relationerna i sig själva kan ses som den viktigaste tillgången för verksamheten. Från området inom relationsmarknadsföring har Key Account Management vuxit fram och blivit ett populärt begrepp, där en koncentrerad mängd av företagets kunder prioriteras högre än övriga. Syftet med denna uppsats är att beskriva och konkretisera det potentiella värde, sett som mellanskillnaden mellan fördelar och nackdelar, som skapas för det säljande tjänsteföretaget i användningen av KAM. Uppsatsen utgår från en kvalitativ ansats där en komparativ studie har genomförts genom att undersöka företag som uttalat använder Key Account Management mot företag som ej använder KAM, samt kundföretag. För att få tillgång till empririn har sex stycken intervjuer med företag genomförts. Två som har KAM, två som inte har KAM. Dessutom har intervjuer utförts med kund till ett KAM-företag, samt en kund till ett företag som inte använder KAM. Genom att ha en stödjande organisation, fyra centrala delar i sitt KAM, kompetenta Key Account Managers, samt aktiva kunder är mjuka värden såsom förbättrad relation och kundförståelse givet. Dessa kan i sin tur leda till andra mjuka och hårda värden och därför ökad lönsamhet. KAM är däremot en investering som tar mycket resurser, samtidigt som flertalet potentiella nackdelar är tänkbara. Värdet har i denna studie identifierats som skillnaden mellan tänkbara fördelar och nackdelar, men detta skiljer sig åt från företag till företag vilket gör att det faktiska värdet varierar. / To build strong and long-lasting customer relationships has become a necessity in industrial marketing, whereat the relationships in itself can be viewed as the most important asset for the company. Key Account Management has its roots in relationship marketing and has grown in popularity the past decades. By selecting and focusing primarily on a few key customers, which the company deems to be the most important, Key Account Management is purposed to generate and locate value. The purpose of this paper is to describe and substantiate the potential value, seen as the difference between advantages and disadvantages, that Key Account Management may provide for the selling company. The study has a qualitative approach consisting of six interviews. Two companies with Key Account Management, two companies without KAM and two customer companies were interviewed in a comparative design. One of the customers had a relationship to one of the companies with KAM, whilst the other one did not. By having a supporting organization, four critical aspects to the companies KAM, a qualified Key Account Manager, and active customers, soft values as improved relationships and customer understanding are guaranteed. These can in turn enable access to other soft and hard values that leads to higher profit. KAM is however an investment which occupies a lot of resources, alongside with creating potential disadvantages. The value has in this study been identified as the difference between potential advantages and disadvantages, but these differ from company to company which in turn makes the actual value from KAM various.

The thesis compounds three views on the Key Account Management (KAM). Firstly, KAM is defined from a theoretical perspective. Secondly, a practical example of KAM is described within the international organization AIESEC; including feedback from a client. Finally, there are suggestions in order to improve KAM in terms of soft skills of Account Managers.

Title: Management of Key Account Relationships in SMEs: A Resource-Based View Authors: David Gedda & Simon JohanssonLevel: Master thesis, 30 hpKeywords: Relationship Marketing, Key Account, Key Account Management,Customer Relationship Management, SME, High-performing firms Background: Management of firms most valuable customers, the key accounts,are of great importance for firms in general. This is in particulartrue for SMEs which battles with notably constrained resources.The situation of SMEs poses careful consideration in how tomanage these relationships successfully. Research Question: What characterizes high-performing SMEs in terms of how theymanage their key account relationships? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop a better understanding of what characterises high-performing SMEs in terms of how theymanage the relationships with their key accounts. Method: A qualitative study with an abductive approach using a multiplecasestudy design was adopted. Semi-structured interviews wereconducted to collect primary data on eight Swedish SMEs in theB2B-context. Theoretical Framework: Theories about the resource-based view and relational capabilitiesare presented followed by theories about relationship marketingand its subsets KAM and CRM. The last part of the theory consistsof theories on relationship quality. Findings: In general, high-performing SMEs tend to have a more structuredapproach towards their management of their key accountrelationships. This is mainly shown through four characteristics:Clear categorization of key accounts, Senior responsibility for keyaccounts, Deep integration with key accounts and Systematicprocess towards their key accounts.

Esta tese de doutorado estuda a implantação e gestão do modelo de Gerência de Contas Especiais, em instituições financeiras no Brasil. O aumento da competitividade de mercado, fez com que os bancos tivessem que buscar novas formas de interação com seus clientes, como forma de garantir sua posição competitiva de mercado. A aplicação do modelo se inicia como uma forma diferenciada de atendimento de vendas aos principais clientes que são segmentados, em um primeiro momento, pelo volume de faturamento. A partir da evolução da implantação do modelo se identifica a necessidade de mudar o foco de vendas para o foco de marketing de relacionamento, o que exige a aplicação de instrumentos de gestão diferentes e uma mudança no foco da organização. Os instrumentos que devem ser desenvolvidos são : -a base de dados individual dos clientes, que além de transacional passa a ser gerencial e contemplar informações quantitativas e qualitativas dos clientes -o plano de negócios por cliente. O objetivo final é conseguir mudar o foco de obter resultados pelo volume de vendas de produtos aos clientes para o objetivo de obter rentabilidade no cliente pelo desenvolvimento do relacionamento. / This thesis studies the Key Account Management model implementation in financial institutions in Brazil. The growth of market competition, direct the banks to look for new forms of interaction with their clients, as a way to garantee the competitive position in the market. The model implementation starts as a different way of sales calls to major clients, that are segmented at the first moment, per turnover value. With the evolution of the implementation of this model, it is possible to identify the need to change the focus from sales to relationship marketing, what demands the application of different management tools and the change of organization focus. The tools to be developed are : -The database of individual clients, has to be focussed not only in transactional aspects but should also contemplate the quantitative and qualitative managerial data from each client. -The client Business Plan The final objective is to manage the change in focus, from products sales volume to clients to the objective to obtain rentability on the client by the relationship development with clients.

Bakgrund: Logiken bakom Key Account Management (KAM) bygger på att en liten andel av ett företags kunder står för den största delen av dess intäkter. Vid KAM väljer företag ut dessa strategiskt mest viktiga kunder, kallade nyckelkunder och tillägnar dessa mer resurser och uppmärksamhet jämfört med de ordinarie. Dock har litteraturen om KAM inte i någon större utsträckning berört vilket värde som skapas till följd av KAM eller hur detta värde kan mätas. Därav ligger examensarbetets huvudfokus inom detta forskningsområde inom detta område och fokus ligger framförallt på det säljande företagets perspektiv. Syfte: Syftet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka, analysera och beskriva vilket värde samt hur detta skapas för det säljande företaget genom användningen av KAM. Genomförande: En egen definition av KAM har skapats i detta examensarbete med hjälp av existerande litteratur inom området. Denna definition har sedan tillsammans med examensarbetets syfte legat till grund för den analysmodell som har tagits fram. Analysmodellen har använts för att underlätta empiriinsamlingen och analysen som leder fram till examensarbetets slutsatser. Empiriinsamlingen har skett genom intervjuer med respondenter från de tre fallföretagen Toyota Material Handling, Ericsson AB och Scania CV AB. Slutsats: Som fördelar av KAM har bland annat förbättrade relationer, nöjdare kunder, ökad absolut försäljning och ökad marknadsandel hittats. Potentiella problem och nackdelar med KAM som uppkommit i litteraturen och under intervjuerna är till exempel organisatorisk komplexitet, ökat beroende till nyckelkunderna, att det kräver mycket personal och att interna konflikter kan uppstå. Att mäta dessa typer av fördelar och nackdelar, visar både referensramen och empirin är något som inte görs helt enkelt och intuition och känsla är vanligt vid en utvärdering av det värde som skapas av KAM. Den sammanlagda uppfattningen är att bedömningen av KAM och dess lämplighet, görs på känsla vilket enligt författarna till examensarbetet är otillräckligt. / Background: The logic behind Key Account Management (KAM) lies in the fact that a small part of the customers represents the biggest part of a company’s revenues. Through the work with KAM, companies choose its strategically most important customers; its so called key accounts and dedicate these more resources than compared to others. However, the literature in KAM, have not enough raised the question, which value that is created through this way of working nor how this value can be measured. Therefore, the main focus of this study is within this field of study and it is pursued through the eyes of the selling company. Aim: The aim of this study is to explore, analyze and describe which value and how this is created for the selling company through the work with KAM and furthermore how this can be measured. Completion: Through the use of already existing literature, within the field, an own definition has been created. This definition has together with the aim set the framework for the model for analyses that has been created. The model has been used to facilitate the data collection and leads to the conclusions of this study. The empirical work of this study contains of interviews from three companies; Toyota Material Handling Sweden, Ericsson AB and Scania CV AB. Conclusion: Among others, benefit in terms of improved relationships, more satisfied customers, increased sales and increased market share have been seen. Potential problems have been seen in the literature as well as during the interviews in terms of for example an organizational complexity, increased dependence on the key accounts and internal conflicts that may arise.  Measuring these types of benefits and disadvantages is not done easily and intuition is commonly used assessing the value that is created through the work with KAM. The total judgment is that KAM and its appropriateness is made by a feeling which is not enough according to the authors.

Esta tese de doutorado estuda a implantação e gestão do modelo de Gerência de Contas Especiais, em instituições financeiras no Brasil. O aumento da competitividade de mercado, fez com que os bancos tivessem que buscar novas formas de interação com seus clientes, como forma de garantir sua posição competitiva de mercado. A aplicação do modelo se inicia como uma forma diferenciada de atendimento de vendas aos principais clientes que são segmentados, em um primeiro momento, pelo volume de faturamento. A partir da evolução da implantação do modelo se identifica a necessidade de mudar o foco de vendas para o foco de marketing de relacionamento, o que exige a aplicação de instrumentos de gestão diferentes e uma mudança no foco da organização. Os instrumentos que devem ser desenvolvidos são : -a base de dados individual dos clientes, que além de transacional passa a ser gerencial e contemplar informações quantitativas e qualitativas dos clientes -o plano de negócios por cliente. O objetivo final é conseguir mudar o foco de obter resultados pelo volume de vendas de produtos aos clientes para o objetivo de obter rentabilidade no cliente pelo desenvolvimento do relacionamento. / This thesis studies the Key Account Management model implementation in financial institutions in Brazil. The growth of market competition, direct the banks to look for new forms of interaction with their clients, as a way to garantee the competitive position in the market. The model implementation starts as a different way of sales calls to major clients, that are segmented at the first moment, per turnover value. With the evolution of the implementation of this model, it is possible to identify the need to change the focus from sales to relationship marketing, what demands the application of different management tools and the change of organization focus. The tools to be developed are : -The database of individual clients, has to be focussed not only in transactional aspects but should also contemplate the quantitative and qualitative managerial data from each client. -The client Business Plan The final objective is to manage the change in focus, from products sales volume to clients to the objective to obtain rentability on the client by the relationship development with clients.

Tidigare forskning har uppmärksammat en rad olika aspekter, delar och karaktärsdrag hos en Key Account Manager. En Key Account Manager är en nyckelspelare i jakten på att hantera och utveckla goda relationer till företagets kunder, och vars arbete kan vara en bidragande faktor till den egna organisationens framtidsutsikter. Trots detta, är studier gällande hur en Key Account Manager arbetar ännu begränsad. Uppsatsen syftar därmed till att undersöka hur arbetsprocessen ser ut för en Key Account Manager verksam inom industribolag. Med en kvalitativ metodansats, innehållandes åtta stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer identifierar studien att en Key Account Managers arbetsprocess inom ett industribolag består av fem stycken huvudsakliga aktiviteter som löper parallellt med varandra, vilka är Intern koordination och samordning, Externa möten och representation, Uppnå uppsatta KPI, Analyser och rapporter samt Interna möten, som noggrant har analyserats fram.

This thesis studies the adjustments and adaptations in the International Key Account Management (IKAM) strategies of Swedish Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in recent worldwide geopolitical tensions and crisis conditions towards their suppliers (Key Accounts). The tensions have sharply shifted the world economy, supply chains, and international business relations. Since SMEs form the majority of the Swedish economy, a large proportion of the focus of these SMEs is on international trade; hence, understanding the strategic responses to these challenges is essential.  The study will be conducted through a qualitative multiple-case method, featuring six business cases with different backgrounds who possess broad experience and knowledge in international trade and IKAM. The interviews will allow the research to further understand the challenges and adaptations that have been made when managing supplier relationships during crises outside of the theoretical. Through semi-structured interviews, the research will provide key factors that have affected the IKAM strategies, showcasing the importance of strategic flexibility, adaptability, and proactiveness when dealing with crisis management.  Key findings indicate that, over time, SMEs will need to become more strategically flexible, adaptable, and proactive when applying IKAM practices. Notable adjustments are the reshoring of production closer to Sweden, the diversification of the supplier base to reduce risks, and increasing preparedness for crises by giving more emphasis to communication and relationship management. The dynamic capabilities needed to assure organizational resilience are emphasized in the presented study. The conclusions developed are subject to the dynamic nature of IKAM practices vis-à-vis global uncertainties and, therefore, it provides actionable insights beneficial for Swedish SMEs to navigate future crises more effectively. As such, the current insights have added new dimensions not only to theoretical but also practical learning and have provided invaluable implications for increasing the resiliency and sustainability of SMEs in the international business environment.