GRA 6436 Managing Business-to-Business Relationships

APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2012/2013

GRA 6436 Managing Business-to-Business Relationships

Responsible for the course
Jon Bingen Sande

Department
Department of Marketing

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
6

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
Most firms have at least some involvement in business-to business (B2B) marketing. By some estimates, between half and two thirds of all transactions in a developed economy take place in B2B relationships and more than half of all employment in most countries is found in B2B markets. B2B sourcing of products and services typically represent more than fifty percent of a company’s total costs and more than ninety percent of e-commerce is B2B. Importantly, the structure of total value added to the economy has changed considerably over recent decades. For example, in most OECD countries the share of industry has fallen while services now account for well over sixty percent of total gross value added. Notably, the majority of service value added is B2B. Also, among what we typically consider as “industry value chains” (as introduced by Michael Porter), we see major changes. For example, what does it mean that more than sixty percent of Fortune 100 firms offer solutions rather than pre-developed goods and services? How can we understand value creation and claiming in such business-to-business relationships? How should managers develop marketing strategies for such companies? This course is designed to answer these and other strategic marketing questions.

Learning outcome
This course is designed to provide an introduction to the area of business-to-business relationships in marketing, with an emphasis on understanding the processes of value creation and value claiming in B2B-relationships. It will identify, review, evaluate and critique a variety of topics in the area. Considerable emphasis will also be placed on strategies for conducting empirical research on business-to-business marketing (e.g., as it relates to the thesis).

Upon completion of the course, students should be able to:

1.Describe the nature, structure, and distinguishing characteristics of B2B markets.
2.Show how marketing creates value for the B2B firm and its business customers.
3.Understand how value is created by identifying and solving problems.
4.Evaluate market opportunities and effectively segment a B2B market.
5. Show how firms involved in B2B relationships can design governance structures that give incentives to create value and ensure efficient ways of distributing the value created between the parties.
6.Design effective marketing strategies for new and existing B2B products and services.

While we will draw on a number of different streams of work, the course is organized around my idiosyncratic perspective of business-to-business relationships. This course is not intended to be a comprehensive review of the literature. I have purposely restricted the required readings in order to dig deeply into each. A list of recommended readings will be provided.

Prerequisites
See study plan. It is assumed that every student is familiar with the general principles of research design, measurement, and multivariate statistical analysis.

Compulsory reading

Other:
During the course there may be hand-outs and other material on additional topics relevant for the course and the examination.
Selected articles from e.g., Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Marketing Science, Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Management Science, American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, Journal of Law and Economics, Journal of Financial Economics, Bell Journal of Economics, Managerial and Decision Economics, as well as a selection of book chapters.


Recommended reading

Course outline
This course is divided into five sections.

In the first section we discuss how firms can better understand B2B customers and markets to deliver value.
In the second section we discuss how firms can create value through identifying and solving valuable problems through B2B-relationships.
In the third section we elaborate on how firms can sustain value creation over time through effective relationship management.
In the fourth section we discuss how firms can develop marketing strategies for value creation and value claiming.
In the fifth section we discuss different types of business markets, such as marketing of commodities, high-tech products, marketing towards the public sector etc.

A detailed schedule with dates will be distributed during the first meeting.

Computer-based tools
It's learning

Learning process and workload
A course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of 160-180 hours.

A set of required readings will be assigned for each meeting. Students are expected to thoroughly read and analyze all of the required readings prior to each meeting. My own style is to combine some lecture time with discussion time.

I will ask students to prepare discussion questions for specific readings. Depending on the number of course participants students may be asked to prepare discussion questions for more than one meeting. A copy of the questions should be distributed to each of the course participants prior to the meeting (TBD). The discussion leader(s) will have the responsibilities of leading the discussion and summarizing and synthesizing the readings with some brief closing remarks.

To a large extent, the value of this course will depend on the students' level of preparation and participation in the discussion. Course credit will be given based on quality of class participation, hand-in assignments, and a written exam (see Evaluation below). Sheer quantity of comments, with little depth or relevance to the focal issues, will not be rewarded (although presumably not punished).

If students have to miss class on a particular day, it is the students' responsibility to get notes from a classmate. Let me know as soon as possible if you have to miss a class.

During the semester, if students experience any problem(s) with the class or any of the classmates I expect the students to report any problem(s) that they are not able to resolve themselves to me as soon as possible.

In this course class attendance is not mandatory. However, unexcused absence will result in a lower participation grade.

Please note that it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/It's learning or text book.


Examination
The course grade will be determined on the following basis:
- 20% - Course participation, including written comments.
- 40% - Written assignments
- 40% - Written exam (3 hours)

Students will be required to complete four different assignments during the course. The assignments can be written as a group project, with groups consisting of no more than three members. The assignments may also be completed on an individual basis. The assignments will be posted on It’s learning 14 days before each deadline. Deadlines for handing in the assignments will be provided once the course has started. Each assignment should be no more than 3 pages long.

In addition to handing in one’s own assignment, each group has to hand in their comments (maximum 1 page) to another group’s assignment. The written comments on the assignments are due approx. 3 days after the assignments are submitted (TBD). The comments are confidential and will only be shared with the author. The objective of the comments is to be helpful to the author - not to be judgmental (i.e., this should not be a review listing pages of inadequacies.) Please follow the tradition of JCR’s first editor (Bob Ferber), who felt that the “outside” reviewers’ role is to see if the basic idea makes sense and whether it can be understood by an intelligent reader not in the author’s immediate circle of friends, co-authors, etc. The purpose of this is to improve the translation and dissemination of knowledge.

Specific information regarding student evaluation beyond the information given in the course description will be provided in class. This information may be relevant for requirements for class-participation, the assignments or the written exam.

This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam elements) and one final exam code. Each exam element will be graded using points on a scale (e.g. 0-100). The elements will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut-off points with reference to the letter grades on the course site in It’s learning.

Examination code(s)
GRA 64361 accounts for 100% of the final grade in the course GRA 6436.

Examination support materials
Support materials at written examinations are explained under exam information in our web-based student handbook. Please note use of calculator and dictionary. http://www.bi.no/studenthandbook.

Re-sit examination
It is only possible to retake an examination when the course is next taught.
The assessment in some courses is based on more than one exam code.
Where this is the case, you may retake only the assessed components of one of these exam codes.
Where this is not the case, all of the assessed components of the course must be retaken.
All retaken examinations will incur an additional fee.

Additional information
Honor Code
Academic honesty and trust are important to all of us as individuals, and represent values that are encouraged and promoted by the honor code system. This is a most significant university tradition. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the ideals of the honor code system, to which the faculty are also deeply committed.

Any violation of the honor code will be dealt with in accordance with BI’s procedures for cheating. These issues are a serious matter to everyone associated with the programs at BI and are at the heart of the honor code and academy integrity. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under the honor code, please ask.

Semesters

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