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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.
The book is vital reading for students of business marketing, purchasing, business networks and relationship management. It is also a valuable resource for all managers operating in business networks, including those in marketing, purchasing, strategy, technical development and distribution.
| About the Authors | p. ix |
| Preface | p. xi |
| 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 |
| What are Business Relationshi... MORE | 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |