B2B Context Research Articles

Complex Customer Loyalty Measurement at Closed-Loop Quality Management in B2B Area—Czech Example

The main objective of this article is to present our proposal of complex customer loyalty measurement within external feedback loops as a response of Industry 4.0 concept in the area of advanced quality management for business-to-business (B2B) relationships, as customer loyalty and organisational sustainability are two critical factors for long-term success. To reach the goal, deep literature analysis, special field research, interviews with specialists, and development of a new model of closed-loop quality management systems, which are created for Quality 4.0 environment, were used. A new term, complex customer loyalty, is introduced, and twelve basic steps of its measurement are briefly explained, including a set of loyalty indicators, all regarding specific characteristics of B2B context. Special research confirmed that only about 15% of Czech organisations use some systematic approach to customer loyalty measurement within B2B area. In the majority of Czech B2B organisations, closed-loop quality management systems are mostly in early phases of their development. However, there is no doubt that complex customer loyalty measurement will be an important part of these systems. The proposals presented in this article are mostly universal and should be applied not only to Czech companies.

Executives with customer experience and firm performance in the B2B context

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the presence of an executive with customer experience (ECE) in a supplier firm’s top management team (TMT). The role of ECE presence remains understudied in the marketing literature. This study attempts to examine the relationship between ECE presence and firm performance.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws on the resource-based view of the firm and adopts a panel firm fixed effects estimator to test the proposed hypotheses. The empirical analysis uses a sample of 1,974 firm-year observations with 489 unique supplier firms. Selection-induced endogeneity is mitigated through the Heckman procedure.FindingsECE presence improves firm performance. Additionally, firms benefit less from ECE presence if a board member with customer experience (BCE) is also present, if a chief executive officer commands a higher pay slice (compared to other executives), and if a TMT is more functionally diversified. However, ECE presence is particularly beneficial if the overall economy is in contraction. Comparing the functional positions held by ECEs reveals that ECE in the marketing function (as a chief marketing officer) offers the largest benefit to an average supplier firm. ECE presence is also associated with other firm outcomes (e.g. bankruptcy odds, innovation and customer orientation).Research limitations/implicationsThis study makes four contributions to the literature. First, this research contributes to existing studies that investigate marketing expertise in the upper corporate pyramid. Second, the study contributes to the burgeoning body of work across business disciplines that attempt to understand the impact of CxOs on firm performance. Third, the study contributes to the vast literature on customer orientation indirectly. Finally, this paper contributes to the broader literature studying the influence of board and TMT characteristics.Practical implicationsThe findings are of particular importance to business-to-business firms. This paper shows that suppliers can benefit significantly from managers with customer experience. Four contingency factors moderate the relationship between ECE presence and firm performance. Among the various functional positions held by an ECE, the findings suggest that hiring an ECE for the marketing functional area is the most beneficial. ECE stands out as a better option for a company than BCE to improve firm performance. ECE presence is also associated with bankruptcy odds, innovation and customer orientation.Originality/valueThis paper provides the first empirical evidence regarding how ECE affects firm performance and also extends prior research on the value of human capital in TMT.

Computation of sales performance score and key cross-functional factors: a performance dynamics in IT/ITES

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to identify the cross-functional factors and their impact after exploratory factor analysis (EFA), especially in B2B context and constructing a model to interpret and quantify the influences (sales performance score) specifically to the IT/ITES companies.Design/methodology/approachGetting answer for a corporate that where its current stand in the industry is important for the strategy making, especially for the sales team. Few academic researches charted direction toward cross-functional sales factors, but getting answer whether we can quantify that sales performance and identify what is the numeric benchmark value, is difficult. For the companies to understand the need to focus on which cross-functional factors and when, is also difficult.FindingsAfter 1,079+ literature study, concluded with the 25 antecedents strongly used in previous studies and 8 more on after focused group study, pilot study and discussion with the industry leaders, 35 questions addressing 33 indicators collected in 10 months duration from 310 sales professionals, 90+ IT companies. Three samples were removed as outliers using “Mahalanobis Distance Test” for multivariate analysis, dropped two variables by “Missing value Not at Random” (MNAR). Final 15 determinants of cross-functional sales performance indicators forming four best factors with very high reliability after EFA to form a future formative model and sales performance score.Research limitations/implications(1) In this study no moderator and mediator effect are analyzed. (2) This study is the precursor to the final model construction. (3) Business down due to recession, global pandemic, terrorism, earthquake, war etc. are not considered during this analysis and study. Only the cross-functional reasons for natural business down have been considered and analyzed. (4) Exact “Sales Performance Score (SPS)” should be calculated after model forming, adjusting and confirmatory factor analysis.Practical implications(1) The major implication of this study would be for IT/ITES companies. It will be very easy for them to quantify the sales performance and measure that scientifically. (2) There will be a way to measure, predict and take measurable actions in case sales performance of the company downfalls. (3) Also the impact will be known to the top management of the company well in advance so that they can make the proper strategy. This will be very useful in current situation when measuring business outcome and make strategy well in advance is of any company's utmost priority.Originality/valueFocusing on these identified factors companies can improve its sales performance. The authors contribute in creating a statistical model and computing a sales performance score, based on the final factor loading values, would be unique and unprecedented to measure the current industry performance by quantifying its standard or benchmark value for better strategic support toward the achievement of targets.

Revisiting the quality-value-satisfaction-loyalty chain for corporate customers in the travel agency sector

Most traditional travel agencies offer their services to corporate clients, although literature focuses on end customers. This paper addresses this research gap, but also aims at bridging the gap between B2C and B2B literature. Specifically, the authors revisit the Quality-Value-Satisfaction-Loyalty chain, a well-established postulate from the B2C literature in tourism, but adding Trust and Commitment as mediating variables between Satisfaction and Loyalty to adapt the chain to the B2B context. Using PLS-SEM, the analysis of data confirmed the Service Quality - Customer Value - Customer Satisfaction - Trust/Commitment - Customer Loyalty chain for corporate customers.

Triggering sustainability communication in a B2B context: combining action research and sensemaking

PurposeThe paper explores processes associated with the adoption of corporate sustainability communication in a B2B context. It employs a combined action research and sensemaking approach to document moments that precede the initiation of external sustainability communication.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is the outcome of an action research project, where we examine the case of one industrial company that was silent on its multiple sustainability-related practices, but recently decided to become more transparent to the outside world. A processual approach to sensemaking is adopted to show how organisational and non-organisational members actively participated in meaning co-construction.FindingsCorporate silence can be disrupted by triggering events that cause moments of sudden realisation for organisational members, eventually leading to the initiation of sensemaking processes inside the organisation. Once this occurs, the possibility of externally communicating sustainability appears a feasible and strategic approach to pursue. We document how different actors are involved in meaning co-construction and how the entire process of sensemaking unfolds.Practical implicationsA sensemaking approach sheds light on the complexity of sustainability communication, where multiple actors are involved. This is a useful approach to consider in order to couple sustainability with other organisational practices. Moreover, sensemaking opens a window of opportunity for various societal actors' interventions to shape the role and content of sustainability communication.Originality/valueThe paper offers an original, theoretically informed methodological contribution to the literature on sustainability communication by coupling a sensemaking approach with action research. The approach is employed to examine the role of internal organisational actors in sustainability reporting processes, an area that has received scant attention.

Omnichannel Management in a B2B context: Concept, research agenda and bibliometric review

Omnichannel Management in a B2B context: Concept, research agenda and bibliometric review

Social Media Adoption, Usage And Impact In Business-To-Business (B2B) Context: A State-Of-The-Art Literature Review

Social media plays an important part in the digital transformation of businesses. This research provides a comprehensive analysis of the use of social media by business-to-business (B2B) companies. The current study focuses on the number of aspects of social media such as the effect of social media, social media tools, social media use, adoption of social media use and its barriers, social media strategies, and measuring the effectiveness of use of social media. This research provides a valuable synthesis of the relevant literature on social media in B2B context by analysing, performing weight analysis and discussing the key findings from existing research on social media. The findings of this study can be used as an informative framework on social media for both, academic and practitioners.

Controversy and doxa: sustainable food policy and the English vegetable sector?

PurposeThe authors explore the market agora and the shaping of markets as controversies over the meaning and practices related to sustainability evolved. This study aims to explore what happened in a market-oriented policy regime, which aimed to address sustainability in farming and food, to assess the impact of the policy on the vegetable sector in England and to consider whether the market-oriented policy regime created a more sustainable food system for Britain.Design/methodology/approachThe authors examined policy documents – agenda setting reports, policy frameworks and operational plans – and conducted interviews with experts – including policymakers, agronomists and the growers themselves, from across this heterogeneous production sector.FindingsThe authors found that while controversy over the meaning of sustainability impacted on the evolution of food policy and grower business practices, market conceptualisations remained in a doxic mode – naturalised and beyond dispute throughout the market agora.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a study of a single sub-sector of the fruit and vegetable sector in a single European country and over a particular period of time. It presents a detailed, authentic representation of that sub-sector in context and diverse information sources were used to gain a variety of perspectives. However, it is acknowledged that this is a limited, qualitative study involving relatively few key informant interviews.Social implicationsThe authors’ explanation suggests that market doxa limited how policymakers and market agora understood the economic challenges and the solutions that could be deployed for English vegetable growers, a sector so pivotal for sustainability. The authors propose that ideas from industrial marketing can be used to reignite controversy, challenge market doxa, and in doing so create space for progress in creating sustainable markets.Originality/valueThe authors deploy an approach advocated by Blanchet and Depeyre (2016) and use controversy to explore the evolution of policy for sustainability and market shaping in the English vegetable sector agora. In doing so the authors create a novel explanation of why policy, which aimed to usher in a sustainable market, fell short of its aims and contribute to an under-researched area examining policy for sustainability in a B2B context.

Introducing sharing-focused business models in the B2B context: comparing interaction and environmental sustainability for selling, renting and sharing on industrial markets

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the sales-, rental- and sharing-focused business models for industrial markets by analysing interactions and environmental sustainability efforts within them.Design/methodology/approachCase studies are conducted at two world-leading manufacturing firms of complex industrial products. The analysis compares how interaction takes place in sales-, rental- and sharing-focused business models in industrial markets for high-technology products in connection with environmental sustainability outcomes.FindingsThe findings show the need for different interaction patterns in sales-, rental- and sharing-focused business models at firm, relationship and network levels. The implementation of sharing-focussed business models requires new interactions with actors within firms, between firms and key collaborators and in networks. The firms in our study have made a wide range of efforts to improve the environmental sustainability of their products. Sharing-focused business models have the potential to be environmentally sustainable if products can be shared among customers. However, under-usage of products and the increased need to transport them may reduce environmental sustainability.Originality/valueThis study reveals that although manufacturing firms and customers are willing to implement sharing-focused business models, there are obstacles to achieving the expected environmental sustainability associated with this business model. These are due to the high-technology nature and level of customisation of the associated firms’ products and services, which make it difficult to share resources across firms without advanced adaptations to products such as re-programming. This study contributes to the sharing-focused business model literature for the business-to-business context, by pointing to the pivotal role partnerships with new actors and closer collaboration with existing actors in supply chains can play in enabling sharing-focused business models in the future.

Does corporate social responsibility matter even in the B2B market?: Effect of B2B CSR on customer trust

This study attempts to understand how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) positively influences the quality of business relationship in the business-to-business market. The purpose of this article is to suggest the CSR model in the B2B context. First, this study discerns two dimensions of firms' CSR activities based on the previous studies in B2B area - Business CSR and Altruistic CSR. Furthermore, we tried to investigate the CSR activities affecting the result of the development of business relationships (economic and non-economic factors) and customer trust as a relationship performance in the B2B market. Managerial implications and limitation of the study were also discussed.

JOINT B2B RECOVERY MANAGEMENT: THE ROLE OF LOCUS OF FAILURE

The benefits of the co-creation of failure recovery are well recognized in the literature. So far, however, there has been little discussion about the collaborative process of joint recovery management and the role played by the locus of failure in this process in the Business-toBusiness context. Drawing on service-dominant logic and service logic, this paper attempts to explore the main sources/locus of failure and their roles in the level of supplier and customer collaboration during the failure recovery activities. Through the qualitative interviews with suppliers and customers firms based in Iran, the authors identify the main locus of failure and analyze the level of collaboration in recovery activities between the supplier and customer firms. The result reveals there are four main sources of failure (supplier-induced error, customerinduced error, an environmental factor, and unknown causation of failure) and two recovery management perspectives (reactive vs. proactive) in the B2B context. Our findings indicate that the level of joint recovery changes depending on the source of the failure in the business environment. Particularly, the level of joint recovery can be shown on a spectrum where the minimum level of collaboration is possible when the error is caused by the supplier and the maximum level of joint recovery happens when the root cause of failure is difficult to identify.

Transitioning to Platform-based Services and Business Models in a B2B Environment

Given the considerable success of companies such as Apple, Amazon or Airbnb, the term platform is on everyone’s lips today. Accordingly, platforms have long since also found their way into service science. However, mastering the transition from established product-sales-based offerings to platform-based services and business models comes with a multitude of challenges. In a B2B context, incumbent companies need to carefully evaluate how they can benefit from the establishment of platforms, especially in light of the effects on their existing business models and ties to other actors. Hence, we invited scholars with different backgrounds to provide viewpoints on the opportunities and challenges of the transition to platform-based services and business models in a B2B environment. The individual commentaries provide various insights on how to conduct this transition and benefit from it successfully. To do so, they contrast different approaches for establishing and governing ecosystems around platforms, discuss B2B-specific pitfalls and opportunities of platform business models, uncover the supporting role of platforms for smart service development, and stress the importance of platform and ecosystem thinking as a necessary mindset.

An investigation of sales managers’ aggressiveness in B2B sales leadership: The sequential mediation model of emotional exhaustion and adaptive selling

The aim of this research is to investigate the influence of sales managers’ aggressiveness on ethical sales leadership and salesperson performance in B2B context, taking into consideration the sequential mediation of emotional labor and adaptive selling behavior. Sales managers spend most of their time in solving salesforce-related issues, while empirical studies have largely neglected such factors that can have negative consequences on salesforce-related tasks. In order to overcome this gap in the literature, we draw from conservation of resources (COR) theory to introduce and establish an advanced theoretical paradigm. The authors tested the model through 336 responses from B2B salesperson-manager dyads. The findings of the study reveal that sales managers’ aggressiveness has a negative association with ethical sales leadership. Also, sales managers’ aggressiveness is positively related to emotional exhaustion and negatively related to salesperson performance. Consequently, we found significant serial mediation of ethical sales leadership and adaptive selling behavior between the relationship of sales managers’ aggressiveness and salesperson performance. In last, manager decisiveness is playing as a significant moderator in the study. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are also discussed.

Antecedents of Word-of-mouth towards professional B2B service

This research was conducted to investigate the antecedents directly and positively affecting organization’s word-of-mouth towards professional service, primarily in the context of B2B professional general insurance services in Vietnam. The empirical results of this research indicated that five out of seven factors, namely interpersonal skills, premium, technical skills, reputation and risk coverage had both significantly positive direct and indirect effects on organization’s word-of-mouth with the mediation role of organization’s perceived service quality. Based on the empirical results, it is suggested that insurers should improve organization’s perceived service quality, and thereby enhance their word-of-mouth behavior.

Value Co-Creation and Satisfaction in B2B Context: A Triadic Study in the Furniture Industry

Research on Value co-Creation (VcC) has been more extensive in B2C (business-to-consumer) than in B2B (business-to-business) and mainly for service contexts, under dyadic approaches (supplier–client). Moreover, research has paid little attention to the impacts of VcC on Satisfaction in its duality: Social and Economic Satisfaction. As a novelty, this study examines VcC in B2B industrial relationships in the triad of supplier–manufacturer–client. A model proposes VcC as an antecedent of manufacturer’s Economic Satisfaction, with the mediating role of Social Satisfaction. The model is empirically contrasted for a sample of 77 firms from an industrial panel—the Spanish Furniture Market Observatory. The triadic approach is depicted with bi-directional relationships of the manufacturer with its main supplier and main client). Results evidence that VcC and Economic Satisfaction are greater in the manufacturer–main client relationship. Moreover, the manufacturer’s Satisfaction relies on its social dimension, which has a key role to produce Economic Satisfaction. Results also show asymmetry in the supply chain, different from those with the main supplier. Implications for managers invite to achieve a long-term VcC chain with all business partners, the focus being on manufacturer’s social dimension, so the triad supplier–manufacturer–client could be better aligned.

Securing sales with differently informed customers

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings Developments in digital technology means many customers enjoy wider access to information than previously. Poor reliability of certain sources risks potential clients having information gaps or in possession of knowledge that is inaccurate or misleading. Salespeople in B2B contexts must therefore determine the knowledge status of potential customers and accordingly adapt and use appropriate sales information tactics to make desired outcomes more attainable. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Barriers and Value Co-Destruction in a B2B Project Management Context: Agile Software Development Adoption and Rejection in Japanese Organizations

A new service concept meets some resistance from those who face it prior to adoption. If the resistance cannot be overcome, the new service will not be diffused. There have been many studies of business-to-consumer (B2C) contexts on adoption and rejection of product and service innovation. The question remains, what barriers should be overcome in the diffusion process of new services in the business-to-business (B2B) contexts? For example, if you implement a new service concept to your organization to create new value with your customers, what barriers does your organization need to overcome? Few studies to date have revealed the issue. To identify barriers for adoption, this study focuses on the diffusion process of the Agile software development method in Japanese organizations, which is still in progress, and attempts to approach the adoption barriers for service innovation in the B2B context to understand the barriers and leverage point for overcoming them. The Agile software development method is an innovation of software development. But there is a possibility that its diffusion will be stopped due to the resistance of project managers involved in a software development. This may lead service systems to value co-destruction as well.

Brand strategies of container shipping lines following mergers and acquisitions: carriers’ visual identity options

Brand strategy is a fundamental part of corporate strategy and constitutes a key condition for companies operating in international B2B contexts, enabling them to manage relations with customers, stakeholders and shareholders effectively. Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are drivers of change in both brand architecture and brand portfolio strategies pursued by B2B companies. This paper aims to investigate brand architecture and brand portfolio management strategies in the B2B domain by focusing on the branding decisions of container shipping lines in the context of M&As. A taxonomy of branding options available to B2B companies is presented and empirically applied to the container shipping industry, which has undergone several waves of M&A activities in recent decades. The brand strategies of some of the most M&A active players in the industry (i.e. Maersk Line, Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM) are examined, with a particular focus on corporate visual identity (i.e. the name and visual devices such as logo, typeface and colour) adopted after an M&A transaction. Our empirical dataset on M&As in container shipping includes the names of the acquirer and acquired company or merging entities, the geographical scale of the shipping networks of the acquirer and acquired, the type of transaction, the year of the the M&A’s formal completion, the adopted corporate visual identity after the M&A and the financials of the M&A transaction. Moreover, we propose a conceptualisation of the factors, drivers and impediments that shape ocean carriers’ attitude towards the different branding options and strategies. The results demonstrate two dominant strategies, for example the new entity adopts the visual identity and name of the acquirer (‘backing the stronger horse’), or the lead and target brands continue to exist independently after the M&A activity (‘business as usual’, often as part of a broader multi-brand strategy). These two strategies and the hybrid option of combining them represent 78% of the M&A cases. The remaining M&A cases strongly relied on hybrid strategies involving a change in the adopted strategy many months, or even years after the M&A. We show that the decisions of shipping lines regarding branding in an M&A context are influenced by a complex set of interacting drivers and factors which can differ from one case to another and can change over time. This paper contributes to extant literature by demonstrating a more comprehensive typology of possible brand strategies by providing an empirical analysis in a B2B environment and by presenting a novel conceptualisation of the factors affecting brand strategy in an M&A context.

Customer experience in the B2B area: The impact of age-related impressions

Services are dyadic experiences and many of these experiences require personal relationships for service provision. The co-acting parties' early impressions shape their unique expectations regarding, for example, appearance, behavior, and age. In a business-to-business (B2B) context, for example, younger employees might create a favorable impression in design-related tasks, while older employees might create a favorable impression in engineering tasks. The business partner subsequently contemplates the impression made by the individual's age (hereafter referred to as age impression) and ascribes certain competences to the individual.This paper emphasizes the role of the others' age impressions in a working context. More specifically, a qualitative study's results highlight the impact of age impressions on service expectations and perceptions. The results identify several dimensions of age impressions that allow for adapting service personnel to a B2B context. This paper fills a void in the age-related marketing literature because it focuses on the others' age impression rather than the individual's perception. The paper also contributes to recent customer experience (CX) literature, as it emphasizes the context factors' role in the service encounter. Furthermore, this paper is one of the rare CX studies in a B2B context and enriches research in the CX's adaptability in such contexts.

Managing customer reactions to brand deletion in B2B and B2C contexts

• Deleting weak brands facilitates channelizing scarce resources to strong brands. • B2B and B2C firms hesitate to delete brands as they fear facing customer resistance. • Understanding customer reactions to brand deletion ensures a smooth deletion process. • Involving and offering support to customers while deleting a brand is crucial. • Providing timely notifications and brand substitutes helps reduce customer churn.