Managing business relationships / David Ford ...

Förbättrade beskrivningar från Syndetics:

No company is an island in the world of business. Each company is locked into a complex network of relationships with its customers, suppliers and other counterparts. What happens in these relationships is critical to the success of any business. Managing a company's relationships and its position in the network is a central, but often misunderstood aspect of business.

This new edition of Managing Business Relationships aims to help managers and students understand the reality of business networks and how to manage in them. It has been entirely rewritten to include the latest thinking and research from the IMP (Industrial Marketing and Purchasing) Group and includes new chapters on Intermediation in Business Networks, the Economics of Business Relationships and the Practice of Business Networking.

Features:

* Provides a structured way to understand business networks and their meaning for the practicing manager.

* Offers a complete analysis of management in different relationships including those with customers, suppliers, distributors and development counterparts.

* Presents a practical analysis of the problems and choices that managers face in developing and changing their relationships and a guide to the critical skills of business networking.

Innehållsförteckning levererad av Syndetics

• About the Authors (p. ix)
• Preface (p. xi)
• Chapter 1 The Importance of Business Relationships (p. 1)
• The reality of business relationships (p. 1)
• Markets, marketing and purchasing management (p. 6)
• The substance of business relationships (p. 10)
• Managing business relationships for customers and suppliers (p. 10)
• References (p. 12)
• Chapter 2 What are Business Relationships All About? (p. 14)
• Introduction (p. 14)
• Interaction and relationships (p. 15)
• Time and the business relationship (p. 17)
• The substance of a relationship (p. 18)
• The first facet of a relationship: the relationship as a device (p. 21)
• The second facet of relationships: relationships as assets (p. 29)
• The third facet of relationships: relationships as problems (p. 38)
• Conclusions (p. 40)
• References (p. 41)
• Chapter 3 Relationships with Customers (p. 42)
• Introduction: the complexity of customer relationships (p. 42)
• The characteristics of customer relationships (p. 45)
• Managing continuing customer relationships (p. 51)
• Developing customer relationships (p. 53)
• Managing a relationship with a single customer (p. 56)
• Managing a portfolio of customer relationships (p. 64)
• Conclusions: managing relationships with customers (p. 69)
• Chapter 4 Relationships with Suppliers (p. 73)
• The significance of suppliers (p. 73)
• What suppliers can do for a company (p. 75)
• Key features of supplier relationships (p. 78)
• Managing the supplier base: a networking issue (p. 86)
• Managerial issues in networking with suppliers (p. 90)
• Conclusions: making the most of supplier relationships (p. 96)
• References (p. 97)
• Chapter 5 The Economics of Business Relationships (p. 99)
• Introduction: the economic problems of business relationships (p. 99)
• The idea of relationship value (p. 102)
• The elements of relationship value (p. 103)
• Costs of business relationships (p. 105)
• Benefits from business relationships (p. 109)
• Analysing relationship benefits (p. 112)
• Relationship value and price (p. 113)
• Pricing approaches in business relationships (p. 117)
• Conclusion (p. 124)
• References (p. 125)
• Chapter 6 Intermediation in Business Relationships (p. 126)
• Introduction (p. 126)
• The role of intermediation (p. 127)
• Intermediation from a network perspective (p. 129)
• Intermediation and distribution (p. 132)
• Intermediation from the perspective of the end-user (p. 134)
• Intermediation from the perspective of the supplier (p. 139)
• Conclusions (p. 151)
• References (p. 153)
• Chapter 7 Technology and Business Networks (p. 155)
• Introduction (p. 155)
• The range of technologies (p. 157)
• Assessing the potential value of technology in business networks (p. 160)
• A network view of technological development (p. 162)
• Embedded and technological development (p. 165)
• Relationships and technological development (p. 168)
• Creating economic value from technology (p. 174)
• Conclusions (p. 176)
• References (p. 177)
• Chapter 8 Managing in Networks (p. 178)
• Introduction: managing business relationships in the network economy (p. 178)
• What is a network? (p. 182)
• Managerial questions about operating in networks (p. 184)
• Analysing network choices (p. 193)
• Conclusions: strategy in networks (p. 205)
• References (p. 206)
• Chapter 9 Developing the Practice of Business Networking (p. 209)
• Introduction (p. 209)
• The process of business networking (p. 211)
• Implementing networking (p. 217)
• Conclusions: networking and the management of business relationships (p. 226)
• References (p. 228)
• Index (p. 229)