Business to Business Marketing

European establishment surveys remain largely conducted via CATI surveys even though more and more mixed-mode approaches become feasible as well. The basis of all B2B studies which are probability based remains an accurate sampling frame representing the business population within a country and additionally provides contact options (either mail, phone or email). While there are several commercial databases available with high coverage levels, the issue remains non-coverage of specific industries or freelancers, lack of in-depth contact options (eg. phone number missing) and lastly lack of essential parameters to identify sizes or specific industries. This is partly due to wrong categorization or conversion of local industry codes to NACE Rev.2 codes.

During the last decade , the internet has become the largest source for B2B information, however in an unstructured format. This vast resource of unstructured data (Big Data) B2B data can be found from a company’s website, open business directories or social media profiles together with information such as employee size, growth rates, relevant industries and contact details. This paper analyzes current ways that have been implemented to overcome issues in European establishment studies with regards to coverage, accuracy but also different contact modes and further suggests a roadmap for an EU-wide business establishment sampling frame and also attempts to evaluate the limitations of Big Data with regard to coverage-error and bias.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to comprehensively explore marketing issues for foreign industrial companies of large, small and medium size entering emerging markets (EMs), particularly transition economies in Eastern Europe. The vast majority of current studies about emerging markets focus only on defining suitable strategies related to large consumer goods corporations.

Design/methodology/approach
The research adopted a multiple case study approach. Five Italian companies belonging to different business-to-business industries that have entered emerging countries in Eastern Europe were selected for investigation.

Findings
Empirical analysis uncovered recurring issues related to: institutional factors causing market uncertainty and instability; difficulties in building a sales network; a need for product adaptation to guarantee satisfactory performance; choices related to communication, branding and trade fairs; and considerations about competition and first mover advantage. Results can be interpreted as an extension of the analysis of institutional voids by Khanna and Palepu (1997).

Research limitations/implications
The study is based on the analysis of five case studies of companies operating in specific emerging markets, namely in Eastern Europe Countries (EEc) Further research based on different samples and different emerging countries is needed before generalizing results.

Practical implications
The study shows that the main institutional void affecting business-to-business companies entering emerging markets (EEc) is the lack of locally developed sales and after-sales networks. This institutional void slows the entry process of business-to-business companies in EMs. Given these constraints, from the perspective of business-to-business SMEs, it may be fruitful to pursue niche positioning in EMs.

Originality/value
The study analyzes emerging markets opportunities and entry strategies from the business-to-business marketing perspective, uncovering the most critical issues.

Negli ultimi anni il brand è entrato a pieno titolo tra gli strumenti di marketing dell'impresa operante nei mercati business-to-business. Tuttavia ad oggi poco si sa sulle strategie con le quali l'impresa dovrebbe gestire il brand in tali mercati. Si tratta di decisioni molto complesse che devono tenere conto delle peculiarità del business-to-business, non potendo semplicemente mutuare logiche e strumenti dal branding nei mercati business-to-consumer.Il presente lavoro si propone di fare luce su questo tema cercando di chiarire come l'impresa dovrebbe definire e gestire il proprio mix di strategie di BtoB branding in funzione delle specificità dei mercati (tipi di clienti e di supply chain) in cui opera. L'analisi è arricchita dallo studio in profondità di alcuni casi di imprese con una consolidata esperienza nelle attività di BtoB branding in Italia.

In this paper we analyze the evolution of the role of the sales manager and of the sales force in a relational perspective of value creation in business-to-business contexts, included in the sale of prescription drugs, in Italy. The empirical research and the strategic implications are to highlight the importance of the customer-supplier relationship in business to business context and the role of the sales force in managing long-lasting relationships with customers. The work ends with the study of a task force model for easier market access by pharmaceutical companies and an expected value proposition through the sharing of knowledge and the creation of partnerships.

https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-12-2018-0410

Purpose Establishing thought leadership by disseminating relevant digital content through social media has become one of the main priorities for marketers in business-to-business (B2B) settings. However, academic research has only recently started to address this phenomenon. In particular, researchers have not yet examined whether and how thought leadership positively influences a firm's relationship with its customers. This paper proposes and tests a model to explain how a firm's thought leadership improves its customer relationship performance. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional research design was applied using covariance-based structural equation modeling to estimate the suggested model. Data were collected from a sample of 160 firms in different industries that create and share content on social media. Findings Thought leadership on social media positively influences brand performance and, in turn, customer relationship performance in B2B settings. Moreover, establishing thought leadership on social media results from specific thought leadership capabilities and is supported by social media capabilities. Research limitations/implications This study advances knowledge on social media thought leadership in B2B settings by proposing and testing a model that combines available insights from three distinct but interrelated B2B

Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to report empirical research that examined the impact of conflict in two different buyer-seller situations, an ongoing relationship and a choice situation where the buyer had to choose between two or more alternative suppliers. Conflict was defined as social conflict and has two distinct types, affective and cognitive. Methodology/Approach. The methodology used was two mail surveys to a random sample of purchasing association members who had buying responsibilities in their firms. In one survey respondents were asked to self-select a current buyer-seller relationship they had for a period of at least one year and to indicate the degree of perceived conflict they had with the key supplier representative as well as the amount of relationship loyalty they perceived they had with that supplier. The second survey randomly assigned respondents to evaluate either a supplier whom they gave business to in a choice situation or one they did not, thus establishing as the dependent variable the actual choice of whom they gave business to. Findings. The findings are clear for affective types of conflict. When affective conflict is perceived as higher the chance of getting an order in a choice situation as well as the magnitude of the relationship loyalty perception is negatively related. Cognitive conflict is not as clear. In choice situations conflict was negatively related to choice, whereas in on going relationships there was no impact. There was no indication of cognitive conflict having a positive relationship. Originality/Value/Contribution of the paper. This study is the first to examine perceptions of conflict with a significant other in a buyer-seller relationship to try to determine how those perceptions might relate to either buyer choice or loyalty. While the findings support the expected relationship between affective conflict and outcomes, the findings with regards to cognitive conflict suggest that this may be more complex then originally thought and further points out the difficulty in managing conflict across organizational boundaries.

The infusion of data-driven services in manufacturing provides new opportunities for long-term competitive advantage; however, it also poses new challenges and entails tradeoffs among strategic options. Digital servitization changes intra-firm processes and customer relationships as well as overall ecosystem dynamics. Drawing on an extensive study of ABB Marine & Ports, a market-leading systems integrator, the concept of digital servitization is examined by analyzing its key characteristics, including opportunities and challenges for manufacturers. The resource integration patterns that connect actors and the dual role of technology in both increasing resource integration complexity and in facilitating the coordination of complexity are discussed. Advancing digital servitization requires fostering service-centricity and executing strategic change initiatives for both the internal organization and the broader ecosystem. Firms must undertake three interlinked changes: (1) digital, (2) organizational, and (3) ecosystem transformations. In addition to contributing to the service literature, these findings provide actionable insights for managers.

Purpose: This paper aims to examine salesperson skills, including listening, communication, and adaptive selling, that can enable value co-creation with customers and increase sales performance, while taking into consideration the contingent role of salesperson relationship-enhancing activities. Methodology: Survey and objective sales performance data were collected from 201 B2B salespeople in the industrial goods industry. The hypotheses were tested using PLS-SEM. Findings: The results show adaptive selling, listening, and communication of salespeople positively impact the behaviors of salespeople to co-create value with customers. The results show that when salespeople co-create value with customers, they will have a positive effect on sales performance. Results show how value co-creation mediates the effects of listening and adaptive selling on sales performance. Research Implications: Salespeople need to effectively listen to their customers to provide needed solutions by jointly working with them to co-create value. Similarly, a salesperson's communication and adaptive selling skills have collective impacts that positively contribute to the value co-creation process. Results supplement previous findings in the literature by showing value co-creation holds a positive effect on sales performance at the micro salesperson level. The results offer additional support to the ongoing dialog on the role of a salesperson as a value co-creator. Practical Implications: This study has identified several variables that engender successful cocreation by salespeople in B2B sales contexts. Findings demonstrate that salespeople who can adapt their selling approach, are good listeners, and can effectively communicate with customers can engender the value co-creation process with customers. The findings serve as a base to create professional guidelines about the skills and capabilities salespeople need to successfully execute a value co-creation process. Originality/Value: The study adds to the literature on value co-creation by highlighting three factors that can enhance the value co-creation process at the level of salespeople leading to better sales outcomes. This research adds the existing literature on the role of value co-creation in sales by empirically examining the relationship between value co-creation and sales performance at the salesperson level.

Regarding the increasingly important paradigm of open innovation, it is recognized that valuable innovation-related knowledge is distributed ever more widely to various actors outside the company borders, such as users, customers, and communities. Various types of novel collaborative web tools and approaches, such as social media, can enable and significantly increase the use of distributed knowledge both within and outside company borders.

It is a common assumption that it is much more difficult to utilize social media in business-to-business (B2B) innovation and the customer interface because of the significant differences in B2B markets, B2B products, and product development, for example. Despite the growing number of company experiments and academic studies, social media are still new to many businesses. The opportunities and benefits of social media are not well understood in business, especially in B2B context. Despite the recent increasing interest in the use of social media in B2B marketing, it has received little attention from the innovation perspective.

The general purpose of this thesis is to study and help to understand the use of social media in B2B companies’ innovation. The thesis focuses on the innovation process, customer interface and the related perspective of the creation and sharing of customer knowledge. The main objectives of the dissertation are to understand the challenges, new opportunities, use and benefits, as well as, functions and roles of social media in B2B innovation. The choice of carrying out the dissertation as an article thesis has offered the researcher the opportunity to study from multiple perspectives a phenomenon that has been little researched or understood. The thesis combines quantitative and qualitative research. Quantitative research approach was used to determine the current use and perceived potential of social media tools in innovation, as well as to identify challenges of social media use in B2B company innovation. Qualitative research was used to gain a deep understanding of the challenges and benefits, and roles and functions of social media in B2B innovation.

The thesis contributes to the increasing understanding on the rather little understood topic of social media and its potential in B2B companies’ innovation. Based on the research, new understanding was gained on the challenges that B2B companies face in using social media in innovation, on the new possibilities and benefits that social media provide for innovation, as well as on the applications and the roles of social media in B2B innovation.

In addition, models and theories were developed for enhancing social media use: based on the qualitative research, for example, a Social Customer Learning model was built, which aims to help researchers and managers to identify and evaluate different social media approaches in business-to-business customer interface and innovation; modifications and improvements were proposed for media richness theory and channel expansion theory for the better consideration of the social media and the innovation contexts.

Now that relationship marketing is gaining acceptance as a valuable tool for business-to-business firms, it is time to devise and enact more systematic relationship marketing processes. In this article, a comprehensive model for effective relationship marketing
is-discussed. It includes inputs (understanding customer expectations, building service partnerships, empowering employees, and total quality management), outputs (customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, product quality, and profitability), and
assessment (customer feedback and integration). The model is then applied to one industry: automated immunochemistry testing products.

Recently, along with the emergence of food scandals, food supply chains have to face with ever-increasing pressure from compliance with food quality and safety regulations and standards. This paper aims to explore critical factors of compliance risk in food supply chain with an illustrated case in Vietnamese seafood industry. To this end, this study takes advantage of both primary and secondary data sources through a comprehensive literature research of industrial and scientific papers, combined with expert interview. Findings showed that there are three main critical factor groups influencing on compliance risk including challenges originating from Vietnamese food supply chain itself, characteristics of regulation and standards, and business environment. Furthermore, author proposed enablers to eliminate compliance risks to food supply chain managers as well as recommendations to government and other influencers and supporters.

Purpose
In the past decades, a growing body of studies has assessed the importance of brands in business-to-business (B2B) markets. However, until date, a comprehensive understanding of B2B branding strategies is lacking. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to select and manage B2B branding strategies.

Design/methodology/approach
This study’s arguments are developed in line with MacInnis’s (2011) guidelines on conceptual contributions in marketing.

Findings
As a result of the arguments of this study, a framework is developed to identify the relationships between the types of B2B contexts and effective B2B branding strategies.

Research limitations/implications
Despite deriving from an extensive analysis of the literature, the framework requires future empirical validation. Moreover, the relationship linking a supplier to its customer is unique, and hence, each supplier should carefully select a branding strategy depending on the specific situation.

Practical implications
The suggested framework provides actionable insights to inform managers’ decisions about the most effective B2B strategy for their firm, based on the relational complexity (number of customers, intensity of co-production and co-creation, and dyadic vs multiple-actor view).

Originality/value
This is the first study to provide a comprehensive model of B2B branding strategies. Therefore, it contributes to both advance theoretical knowledge and managerial practice.

Purpose
Previous research has shown that business-to-business (B2B) brand image has positive effects on customer loyalty. However, the results have been inconsistent because they have highlighted that B2B brand image has either direct or mediated effects on loyalty. Drawing on the framework of service transition, this study develops and tests a model that reconciles previous findings. This model suggests that goods-related and service-related B2B brand images coexist in customers’ perceptions and impact customer loyalty in different ways.

Design/methodology/approach
A model was developed and estimated using covariance-based structural equation modeling. The data used in the analysis were collected through a survey in the Italian healthcare industry, focusing on the relationship between hearing aid manufacturers and audiologists.

Findings
Both goods-related and service-related B2B brand images have positive effects on loyalty. However, while the effects of goods-related image on loyalty are fully mediated by satisfaction, service-related image has both direct and mediated effects on loyalty.

Research limitations/implications
This study reconciles previous work arguing that B2B brand image has either direct or mediated effects on loyalty by focusing on the transition from a goods-oriented logic for branding to service branding. In particular, the analysis focuses on the role of the brand in the co-creation process, suggesting that a service-related brand image reflects the value unfolding over time through co-created experiences. However, additional research needs to be conducted in other industries before the results can be generalized.

Practical implications
The findings provide managers with insights for the co-creation of their B2B brand images. In particular, the results urge managers to integrate the traditional goods-oriented approach to branding with service branding, showing that enriching B2B brand image with service-related aspects will have a direct and positive effect on loyalty. However, brand image cannot be created or changed unilaterally by the firm as it is determined by the customer based on co-creation experiences.

Originality/value
This is the first study to explicitly and separately consider the effects of goods-related and service-related aspects of B2B brand image on loyalty. It also one of the first studies to apply service logic to B2B branding issues.

This research aims to describe a digital marketing strategy elaborated to be deployed in the Marcheluzzo Srl Company located in Italy. In addition, it intends to give a wide range of information to the company about its customers, target, competitors, market, digital marketing strategy, and potential recommendations. It is also important to highlight that this strategy is focused on the Brazilian market. Most of the information collected for the situational analysis and many other components for this research were gathered through the author`s perception during his internship in the company. The methodology includes secondary data collected through field observation in the company, documents provided by the organization and internet sources. Finally, the proposal digital marketing strategy was validated through a prediction model using machine-learning system via Python and its tools. The result of the prediction model was addressed and analyzed based on linear regression and correlation matrix methods confirming the efficacy of the proposal strategy, consequently the reliability of the prediction model. Note: Journal of Marketing Management, June 2020, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 55-72, ISSN: 2333-6099(Online), Copyright © The Author(s), All Rights Reserved, Published by American Research Institute for Policy Development.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications for the sales function of the infusion of services by formerly product-based firms. In particular, it aims at identifying the changes that need to be made at the sales-function level if the services are to be successfully sold. Design/methodology/approach – This research is an exploratory qualitative case study. Data were collected by focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with relevant managers in three large multinational companies based in Northern Europe, which were pursuing service-led growth. Findings – The effects of service infusion processes on the sales function could be seen with respect to the three parts of the analytical framework: organization, roles, and competences. The results illustrate the need for a changed perspective with respect to all three parts, if a product-based firm is to be successful in the infusing of associated services into its portfolio of offerings. Analysis of the result...

Partea I-a.Caracterizarea organizaţiei şi a pieţei pe care este ea prezentă
1.Prezentarea organizaţiei alese. Resursele, identificabile, de care dispune organizaţia.
2.Definirea domeniului de activitate al organizaţiei.
3.Caracterizarea succintă a concurenţei şi a clienţilor. Inclusiv a principalelor dimensiuni ale pieţei pe care acţionează aceasta.
4.Analiza pieței pe care își desfășoară activitatea organizația aleasă.
Partea a II-a.Procesul de achiziţie pentru 5 produse.
1.Identificarea principalelor produselor de care organizaţia are nevoie în activitatea sa și clasificarea acestora în grupe.
2. Structura centrului de achiziţie,nominal, pentru fiecare produs selectat în parte.
3.Stabilirea cantităţii, calităţii şi a termenelor de livrare pentru produsele alese.
4.Definirea caracteristicilor produselor care urmează să fie achiziţionate pentru satisfacerea nevoilor identificate.
5.Identificarea furnizorilor susceptibili de a răspunde cerinţelor întreprinderii.
Furnizori
6. Analiza şi alegerea furnizorului de la care se poate cumpăra produsul și motivarea alegerii.

This thesis seeks to create a web platform that is going to enable a sales channel between companies, to enhance the competitively of the micro, small and medium sized companies (MSMEs), in comparison to large companies. This way, the companies who use Cúmulo`s services will have the chance to reduce production costs, generating a provisions market
effect tending to clusters.
Nowadays, considering globalization and the economic capacity of large transnational companies, the market of the MSMEs has been reduced, and the ability to compete against the large transnational companies is decreasing over time, large companies can achieve a better investment on their sales and marketing strategies, therefore they become well-known in the market in a short period of time. Whereas the MSMEs don’t have the investment in the market capabilities compared to the big companies, the
motivation of building this system, Cúmulo, is to compensate for that inequality.
Considering that Cúmulo’s demand is rigid, that the size of the market is given by known facts, and the social end of Cúmulo is to help small business to grow, a table of prices has been determined that benefits the lesser sized companies, stimulating the demand of this segment and making the joining of bigger companies to the cluster less likely.
Finally the design of the system is presented and it explains each one of their relationships through the use of case diagrams that are set out to give life to this digital cluster system for MSMEs.

Este trabalho apresenta um amplo estudo, conceitual e empírico, da competição em
mercados de serviços no contexto B2B, conduzindo à caracterização de diversos
modelos de competição. A adoção de modelos de competição é elemento
fundamental para o desempenho superior sustentável das organizações atuantes
em mercados complexos.

Attracted by the large, growing domestic economy in China, many U.S. companies have decided to enter China providing products and services in the business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) markets. Combined with traditional marketing channels, Internet marketing is rapidly evolving and becoming a critical strategic element in the marketing department’s tool chest. While much is written about B2C markets and consumer preferences, little of the literature addresses the B2B Chinese customers’ attitudes toward the disparate array of traditional and Internet marketing approaches. Even less addresses Chinese B2B purchasing agents’ receptivity to Western companies soliciting them as new customers. This research compares Chinese B2B purchasing attitudes toward traditional and Internet based marketing solicitations with implications for both academic research and business practitioners. Utilizing an empirical survey of Chinese B2B businesses in Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing, and other areas of Jiangsu province, it measures the receptivity and perceptions of marketing channels for solicitations. It finds that individuals’ Internet use for business is pervasive throughout Chinese administrative and management groups regardless of age, education, or job title; however, those who can first be contacted through either traditional or Internet marketing channels are more receptive to additional solicitations through the same channel. Additionally, individuals with prior experience buying from U.S. firms are more receptive to new U.S. solicitations. Finally, the research ranks preference results based on whether prior relationships exist.
Keywords: B2B marketing, digital marketing, Internet marketing, China, China marketing, business to business marketing, B2B customers, Chinese customers 

The company that the researcher chose is 3M. The product that will be marketed is 3M Library Detection System Model 3500. The target business market is 20 Universities and Colleges in Malaysia around Kuala Lumpur area.
The researcher will use two methodology to conduct the research which is qualitative and quantitative data methodology.
A marketing plan will be developed base on 3M SWOT analysis. In addition, four strategies for the product will be included which are product strategy, pricing strategy, promotional strategy and distribution strategy.
There are two vital objectives to achieve in this research:
1. To examine the awareness of customers towards existing products.
2. To explicit the best solutions to retain the customers to maximize profit.

Abstract: This paper elaborate general review of Electronic Data Interchange, including of technological infrastructure, how EDI works in an organization, barriers and benefit of EDI, as business partners from different part of the world are collaborating, will explain how EDI contributes in the maintaining of their strong relationship and gaining of Competitive global market.

Keywords: E-commerce, Electronic Data Interchange, Business To Business.

The International Journal of Managing Value and Supply Chains ( IJMVSC ) is a quarterly open access peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles that contribute new results in all areas of value and supply chain management. The journal provides a platform to disseminate new ideas and new research, advance theories, and propagate best practices in the management of value and supply chain management, looking across both product and service-based businesses. This will include works based in service management, logistics and distribution, operations management, process management, flow control, and customer service. The journal offers a forum in which academics, consultants, and practitioners in a variety of fields can exchange ideas to further research and improve practices in all areas of business. The International Journal of Managing Value and Supply Chains ( IJMVSC ) seek to establish new collaborations, new best practices, and new theories in the management of both product and service-based organizations around the world.