Guest editorial

Citation

Harriette Bettis-Outland, D. (2012), "Guest editorial", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 27 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/jbim.2012.08027eaa.001

Guest editorial

Article Type: Guest editorial From: Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Volume 27, Issue 5

The contribution by Grönroos and Helle, “Return on relationships: conceptual understanding and measurement of mutual gains from relational business engagements,” tests a model of mutual value creation and reciprocal return on relationships utilizing a case analysis approach. Grönroos and Helle offer a new definition of return on relationships that is based on mutual long term benefits and gains resulting from the establishment and maintenance of relational business engagement. The case study analyzes an industrial dyad characterized by a long term, continuous relationship. The paper provides an innovative perspective whereby the value of customer relationships is measured by the financial outcome of customer relationship development and assessment of the return on customer relationships.

“Key account management: the inside selling job,” is the subject of the paper by Speakman and Ryals. The authors discuss dual roles of key account managers, one being responsibilities to the sales organization and the other being responsibilities as an advocate for the customer. In contrast to the traditional perspective that views conflict as discrete, isolated events, Speakman and Ryals’ research incorporates psychology literature that investigates conflict as inherent to social interaction. Consequently, this paper proposes that conflict is not an isolated event, but one that changes constantly depending on the situation at hand. This research provides a significant practitioner contribution, particularly as it pertains to key account management training and conflict resolution.

Brock and Zhou’s paper, “Customer intimacy,” represents the first attempt to empirically measure and assess the concept of customer intimacy. Recognized in both academic and industry research, customer intimacy impacts relationship commitment, repurchase intentions, word-of-mouth, customer availability and information disclosure. Hence, customer intimacy is deemed a relevant indicator of strong customer ties and insight, particularly in a business-to-business context. This study will likely form the basis for continued research in the area of customer intimacy.

“Using trade show information to enhance company success: an empirical investigation,” is a paper by Bettis-Outland, Johnston and Wilson, empirically testing the assertion that both tangible and intangible benefits should be considered when determining the value of new trade show information to the firm. The study is grounded in the market orientation concept where the outcome variable is a measure of benefits provided by this new trade show information. Building on the model of the Return on Trade Show Information (RTSI), this research aims to address the common concern expressed by management of whether the cost of trade show participation is worth the perceived benefits. Prior to this research, the value of trade show participation was overwhelmingly determined by tangible benefits such as number of sales leads or the amount of sales generated. This paper takes a broader view by including intangible benefits such as better interdepartmental relations and shorter timeframe for the development of new products.

The contribution by Felzensztein, Gimmon, and Aqueveque, “Clusters or non-clustered industries? Where inter-firm marketing cooperation matters,” analyzes inter-firm relationships of organizations within three distinct industries located in Latin America. Of these three industries, one is described as a well-defined cluster whereas the other two industries were not considered clustered industries. The focus of this research compares inter-organizational behavior and firm relations relative to the achievement of marketing cooperation. Findings indicate strategies that enhance inter-firm marketing cooperation provides significant value, particularly for small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Dorai and Varshney’s conceptual paper, “A multistage behavioural and temporal analysis of customer perceived value in relationship marketing,” models how changes in customer expectations enable sellers to create value as exchanges mature into longer term relationships. The authors suggest that interactions and ongoing relationships are crucial for organizations to create satisfactory value propositions for customers in spite of evolving customer needs. This model explains how components of customer perceived value and episodal value are transformed into total relationship value; satisfaction, value added services, loyalty, commitment, trust and relationship quality are mediator variables in this model.

Guo and Ng contend that the measurement of relational behavior in a sales context is more often researched from a consequential perspective as opposed to a causal relationship. In their paper, “The antecedents of salespeople’s relational behaviors,” Guo and Ng look at the drivers of salespeople’s relational behaviors. These drivers include perceived reciprocity, liking of the customer, communal orientation and exchange orientation. Social exchange theory forms the theoretical basis for this study. Findings suggest that communal orientation, perceived reciprocity from the customer and liking of the customer positively impacts relational behaviors, while exchange orientation negatively impacts salespeople’s relational behaviors.

Dr Harriette Bettis-Outland