Key account management and value co-creation in multi-stakeholder ecosystems. A “market access” mix

Daniele Leone,Michele Simoni,Francesco Schiavone

doi:10.1108/jbim-05-2019-0256

Abstract

Purpose The present study aims to contribute to the growing stream of literature about the network perspective of value co-creation via key account management (KAM) by exploring how firms, in complex industrial markets, use key account strategies to create value, not only for buyers and sellers of industrial products/services but also, more widely, for larger ecosystems of stakeholders. The research question this paper seeks to address is how the KAM approach promotes value co-creation in multi-stakeholder ecosystem. Design/methodology/approach To answer this research question, this study uses a qualitative research approach based on data triangulation. This study focuses on the market access (MA) strategies implemented by a multinational UK-based pharmaceutical company within the Italian multi-stakeholder health-care ecosystem over several years. Findings The results show that KAM in complex networks acts as a catalyst for value creation, through multiple interactions with different actors and an ad hoc configuration of five strategic levers: product performance, economic impact, institutional relationships, commercial organization and communication. These levers are able to unlock the appropriate value drivers and form a specific “market access mix” implemented by the firm to both promote the adoption of the firm’s products and generate value for all market stakeholders. Originality/value The study offers an innovative and comprehensive evidence-based model for designing specific MA strategies aimed at co-creating value within multi-stakeholder ecosystems. The proposed MA mix outlines the fact that knowledge, relationships and innovation are not unique factors that can be leveraged by stakeholders to co-create value.

Highlights

For many years key account management (KAM) has been a central subject in the industrial marketing literature (Workman et al, 2003; Zupancic, 2008; Ryals and Davies, 2013)
The results of our study show value co-creation via market access (MA) is obtained via the use of five ad hoc “levers”: product performance; economic impact; institutional relationship; commercial organization; and communication which facilitate and promote the introduction, adoption and use of the product in the market and co-create value among the different stakeholders involved in the process
After various rounds of open coding, we identified aggregate dimensions moving from first-order descriptive terms to second-order themes that aggregated dimensions (Gioia et al, 2013)

Summary

Introduction

For many years key account management (KAM) has been a central subject in the industrial marketing literature (Workman et al, 2003; Zupancic, 2008; Ryals and Davies, 2013). 195), is one of the main competencies by which KAM teams create value for their own firm (Hakanen, 2014; Kumar et al, 2019) and achieve a network-oriented result. The network view of KAM, in which customers are conceptualized as nodes in a web of interlinked organizations, is becoming the dominant perspective in the industrial marketing literature (Kumar et al, 2019).

Results

Discussion

Conclusion