The Role of Value Change Management in Relationship Dissolution: Hygiene and Motivational Factors

Responding to client needs is a central tenet of marketing, and thought vital to relationship renewal in the business-to-business context. We explore this issue by examining whether supplier response to client requests for value change is sufficient motivation for client firms to renew relationships with advertising agencies. Based on 17 dyadic interviews we find that reacting to client initiated value change is a relationship hygiene factor that does not of itself encourage renewal as it fails to evolve the structure of the relationship over time, and leads to client perceptions of supplier complacency. Although firms must respond to customer requests for value change to avoid dissatisfaction developing in the relationship, they must also actively seek to improve the relationship through driving market actions. We identified these as supplier initiated value change (SIVC), contributing to the emerging literature on value change by identifying a more vital component of managing client relationships to avoid dissolution and enhance the prospects of renewal.     

Factors for Success in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems

The importance of effective customer relationships as a key to customer value and hence shareholder value is widely emphasised. In order to enhance these relationships, the application of IT to marketing through customer relationship management (CRM) software, e-commerce and other initiatives is growing rapidly. This study examines the factors that influence the successful deployment of CRM applications, with particular emphasis on those factors which are distinct from other areas of application. Using the analytic induction method, success factors were derived from five in-depth case studies. Resulting factors underemphasised in previous literature include: the need for project approval procedures which allow for uncertainty; the need to leverage models of best practice; the importance of prototyping new processes, not just IT; and the need to manage for the delivery of the intended benefits, rather than just implementing the original specification.     

The neglected need for strategic renewal in emerging markets: Lessons from Vietnam in transition

Research on strategy in emerging markets is based on overly static representations, paying insufficient attention to the impact of contextual change on the value of firms’ resources. This article examines how a sample of the most successful Vietnamese private companies during the first decade of their country's transition from central planning was affected by the shifting rules of the game in their business environment. I suggest the primary takeaway is that sustained superior performance in an environment with changing keys to success requires dedicated and ongoing strategic renewal. I also suggest the need for both scholars and managers to immerse themselves in emerging markets if they care to fully understand the granular ways in which these settings differ from more familiar advanced economies.     

论战略联盟形成过程中的关系资本管理

战略联盟的发展过程包括形成、运行和终结三个阶段,其中形成过程由于充满不确定性和模糊性而至关重要。对战略形成过程中联盟各方关系资本的有效管理,有利于联盟中资源、知识的共享、整合与创新,因此,本文认为应采取各种有效措施管理关系资本,以促进联盟的形成和发展。