International B2B Marketing

Fall 2018 [SA18]

Professor Olivier Furrer Office: E428 email: [email protected] Office Hours: by appointment only.

Assistant Melanie Boninsegni Office: E432 email: [email protected] Office Hours: by appointment only.

Moodle2 Key: B2BMKT18 Registration for the exam is required before October 12, 2018 12:00 am.

Business to Business Marketing is marketing products or services to other companies, government bodies, institutions, and other organizations (Dwyer and Tanner, 2009).

I. Course Objectives

This course provides students with solid experience in creating market-driven and market- driving strategies for the future success of a business to business firm. A focus is on discovering and developing a set of unique competencies for a B2B firm that, through strategic differentiation, leads to sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. Students are provided ample opportunity to develop and practice creative problem-solving and decision-making skills to simulate the requirements of today’s complex international B2B market environment.

The three key distinctive drivers in this B2B course are:

(1) A relationship marketing perspective (2) A strategic thinking focus (3) An international context

This course takes a marketing leadership/Chief Marketing Office (CMO) perspective in order to enhance your ability to use B2B marketing in an international context to maximize firm performance:

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 Fundamental concepts in B2B marketing development and execution are introduced. Key analytics that lead to the capability to select and execute successful market-driven and market-driving B2B strategies are applied to multiple industries and firms in an international context.  Students will learn how to decide which factors in the business landscape are most likely to affect a business, how you can gauge the level of impact of the factors, and what impact the factors are likely to have on a business’ future.  The role of creative decision making and innovation for B2B marketing development and execution is exemplified throughout the course. Simple knowledge of the trends that may impact a business is of limited use unless you can “break out of the box” as a marketing leader/CMO and engage in truly creative market analysis and decision making for the future.  Students will have opportunities to practice developing B2B marketing strategies and assess key implementation issues/challenges associated with them.

At the completion of this course, students should be able to:

 Use the key elements in developing B2B marketing strategy and planning a B2B marketing program.  Enhance problem-solving abilities in operational areas of B2B marketing by providing you with a set of analytical tools (i.e., frameworks, concepts, models, and techniques).  Present examples of how firms organize their B2B marketing efforts across a broad range of national settings to develop sales and/or share.  Present and defend recommendations, and critically examine others’ recommendations.

II. The Relationship of International B2B Marketing with other Courses

The course is primarily designed to address international B2B marketing issues, but the view of B2B marketing presented in the course is dynamic, and integrates element from strategic marketing, relationship marketing, and international strategy. While it recognizes that there are areas of distinction between B2B marketing, marketing management and relationship marketing, and between international B2B marketing and international strategy, it also recognizes that there are many important areas of overlap. Therefore, concepts and theories learn in other marketing and strategy courses are used and incorporated in the course.

III. Techniques for Learning International B2B Marketing

The greatest value from master education is seldom realized immediately upon graduation. Such value is realized over a lifetime, and comes not from having a “bag of tricks” but rather form developing analytical and executive skills. One of the most valuable abilities that you can develop and sharpen in a master course is the ability to think critically and strategically, and to speak and write in a logical and compelling manner.

Accordingly, this course will only partially rely on lectures and you will be responsible for a large portion of your own development. You are encouraged not only to attend classes but also to carefully prepare for each class and contribute actively to class discussion of the assignments for each session.

2 To accomplish these objectives, we will use a variety of learning techniques: lectures, reading articles, written reports, presentations, group work, and class discussion of case studies. Two of these are distinctive of the course: case analysis and group work.

The emphasis on case analysis and group work make it crucial that you prepare the assigned material for every class. If you fall behind, it will be very difficult to catch up. Class participation plays an integral part in the learning process and is a strong predictor of your grades on the assignments and exam.

IV. Course Requirements and Grading

General comment: Judgment versus Analysis. As a master course, International B2B Marketing draws on the various frameworks, concepts, and techniques discussed in your entire program and adds several of its own. Remember, however, that these are analytical tools while help in forming judgments about central problems and associated recommendations; they are not ends in themselves. For example, if you think the key issue in the case is market entry timing, and then you do a market segmentation analysis there would be a disconnection between theory and application. In any assignment, emphasize your judgments (usually by using headings or subheadings) and present data/information from the case, along with supporting analysis, in support of these judgments.

Your class assignments are shown in the syllabus attached, and while subject to change, this syllabus should guide your work planning for the course. There will be no announcements in class concerning assignments, except those infrequent ones that may alter those described in this syllabus. Check Moodle2 regularly (i.e., at least once a week) for news and supplementary material.

Your course grade is a function of the following requirements:

Case Study and Case Summaries (Group) 40% Final Written Examination (Individual) 60%

The grade obtained in the group work also counts for the summer session.

A. Case study – 40%

Strategic thinking and analysis is best learned through practice. The cases we will study are about real world situations; they are an opportunity to apply the concepts we discuss in class as well as further develop our ability to think about and analyze marketing strategy.

For some of you, this course is your first exposure to managerial problems presented as cases. Cases are unlike most writing. They are not research articles, news articles, or nonfiction books. They do not make an argument or reach a conclusion. That’s your job!

The case provides facts and figures—in essence, a stage—on which you can practice international B2B marketing decision making. You must sift through prose and interviews in order to decide what is the major issue facing management. You must identify alternative ways to address the issue. You must choose a course of action and defend it publicly in the classroom.

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Skimming the case while coming to class is useless. Read the case at least twice—once for facts and once for analysis. Use the questions stated in this syllabus to help you identify the main issue, and the facts to help you decide what to do. The exhibits and tables in the case often contain the most relevant information. Don’t ignore them! See if some data can be mustered to support your ideas.

The professor’s job is to encourage discussion and to present and develop key concepts. The professor does not, in general, directly criticize recommendations. That’s your job! Students must argue for their ideas, and sometimes that means arguing against other people’s ideas. Learning to do this seriously but politely is a valuable skill.

At its best, a good case discussion keeps students involved while adding to their real-life experiences vicariously.

Group Work

Discussing cases and preparing analyses in small groups outside of class helps to deepen your knowledge of marketing strategy. Thus, group work is essential to case preparation and text analysis. Developing effective group skills is a critical part of the learning process. I will divide the class into groups of approximately 6–7 students.

Your analyses should focus on identifying a central marketing strategic issue in the case and undertaking an analysis of that issue, including recommendations that follow from that analysis. You should take the role of a consultant firm being paid to analyze the strategic marketing problem of the company.

Here are some basic tips for successful project management with a group:

 Set milestones and “inch-pebbles.” Milestones indicate when major deliverables are due. Break them into inch-pebbles—shorter time periods attached to well-defined interim results—so trouble can be spotted early on.  Schedule resources evenly. Groups need to plan week-to-week assignments.  Communicate. When a particular analysis affects different parts of the paper, make sure everyone can retrieve and update the complete paper accordingly. Use e-mail and meeting minutes to communicate deadlines, to track changes, and to enforce accountability.

All of your work must be original. For this assignment, you should analyze the case you are given; this means you should not use material that is beyond the scope or time frame of the case. While you may supplement financial information provided in the case (for example, with financial statements from competitors, etc.), you should be careful that the data pertains to the same years covered by the case. Any external information used must be properly referenced. Failure to properly reference any external source constitutes plagiarism. To avoid any confusion over the originality of your work, your group should work alone, and should not utilize any analysis found on the web, performed for previous classes, or any other source.

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Case Study and Case Summary in Groups

For each case, one group will present an analysis of the case and write a report. In these sessions, one group will begin by making a 45-minute presentation giving an overview of their analysis and recommendations. After the presentation, the rest of the class will then have the opportunity to comment and ask questions on the presentation. The purpose is to generate a deeper discussion of the issues involved. One copy of the presentation slides should be handed out to the Professor at the beginning of the presentation. The presenting groups are also responsible to post before the session their presentation slides (PDF) on Moodle2. In addition to their presentation, the presenting group is responsible for a written analysis of the case. The final version of the written analysis (PDF) is due before December 28, 2018 12:00 am for all the groups on Moodle2.

Each group is also responsible to write a 1-page summary (lecture notes) for two other cases and actively participate in the discussion in class by asking questions and interacting with the presenting group. These case summaries should be posted on Moodle2 (PDF) before the beginning of the corresponding sessions.

Insuring team participation on projects and papers is primarily your responsibility as a group. This is an important part of the art of management! To facilitate this, at the end of the course, I will ask each group member to anonymously evaluate the amount and quality of the work of the other group members (below average, average, above average). Your score on group projects will be weighted by the evaluation your group gives you (plus or minus 0.5 point on your group mark).

B. Final Exam – 60%

At the end of the semester, a 90-minute final exam will be in English. The exam will focus on the application of the conceptual and theoretical material covered in the text analyses, cases, and lectures. Factual material from cases is not part of the exam.

Tips for the final exam:

 Write full sentences (no bullet points)  No graph without text explanation (only text parts will be corrected)  Write in a legible manner  Pay attention to spelling and grammar  Start with a small definition before comparing notions  Make connections between sessions

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V. GUIDELINES FOR GROUP PRESENTATION OF CASE ANALYSES

The objective of these assignments is to enhance your ability to:

 Develop a clear and direct presentation  Utilize visual aids to support the presentation  Think on your feet  Evaluate the adequacy of an argument, position or plan  Listen critically and pose worthwhile questions that facilitate constructive group problem-solving  Give and receive criticism in a socially acceptable manner

In preparing this assignment, the presenting group should adopt the role of a consulting firm hired by top management to perform a strategic analysis of the case corporation. The oral presentation should be approximately 45 minutes in length. The use of visual aids (overheads, charts, graphs) is recommended to enhance the clarity of your presentation. All members of a group are expected to participate in the presentation. Students should avoid merely reading out presentation material. In addition, the group will be evaluated on the cohesiveness and logic of the arguments presented. Presentations are professional; dress is business casual.

Evaluation criteria for case analysis:

1. Overview of the firm:  Identification of the marketing issue  Clear and precise formulation of the issue  Why is this issue critical?

2. Identification and analysis of options  Analysis of the problem critically (explain your reasoning)  Use of relevant theoretical approaches  Use of appropriate analytical tools (concise and effective graphs and tables)  Logic and coherence in the argumentation  Why is it the best solution?

3. Recommendations:  No contradictions between recommendations and analysis  Presentation of comprehensive and realistic conclusions derived from the analysis (answer the strategic issue)  Based on your analysis what should the firm have done or not done?

4. General:  Correct use of language  Clarity of the structure of the presentation  Use of appropriate analytical tools, sensitivity analysis  Choice and reasoning  Consideration of the feedbacks received during the class discussion  Ability to answer questions, think on feet

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The five biggest mistakes in case analysis:

1. Solving five problems poorly instead of one well. Typically cases will contain several marketing issues. Sometimes they are related; sometimes not. Pick one and focus. Explain how that solution may help or hurt other issues if possible. If you cannot do this, take confidence in solving only one problem.

2. Restating the facts of the case. For example, Bill Gates knows that the company received a big break by earning the contract with IBM for the operating system for the IBM PC. In a case analysis for Microsoft, you need not state this again. What should Microsoft do now?

3. Offering a process recommendation. You are a consultant, and consultants never recommend hiring other consultants. Saying “IBM needs to do a market study” is a waste of time. After all, that is what you, the consultant, are being paid to do. The case offers all information available—make a decision.

4. Using buzzwords to substitute for thinking. For example, saying “the firm needs to provide high quality to customers” is true but vacuous. In this industry, to these customers, what does “quality” mean? Reliability? Conformance to certain specifications? Craftsmanship? Aesthetic design? Other buzzwords that often prevent analysis include, , focus on the customer, value added. Note that these are powerful terms when defined in context and when linked to specific marketing activities to deliver those characteristics.

5. Failing to proofread. Please be certain your paper contains no spelling or grammatical errors. In particular, do not confuse: it’s with its; loose with lose; affect with effect; too with to.

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VI. GUIDELINES FOR THE WRITTEN CASE REPORT

The written case assignment will provide you with the opportunity to use your conceptual, analytic, and technical skills in applications to real-world strategic marketing situations. You should adopt the role of a management consulting firm which has been asked to examine the corporation in the case and provide: (a) judgments regarding the key marketing strategy issues and problems facing the company with supporting evidence and sound logic; (b) alternative courses of action open to the company and assessments of these; (c) specific recommendations with a supporting plan of action.

Evaluation Criteria:

 Central issues identified and communicated  Logical and coherent analysis  Effective use of facts and figures to support argument  Graphics and tables clear, concise, and effective  Recommendations follow from analysis

In evaluating your papers, the most important criteria I use, concerns the strength and logic of your argument. That is, does your analysis make sense? Do you marshal facts from the case to support your analysis? Do your recommendations follow from your analysis? Are you able to rule out certain options as being illogical and counterproductive? Fundamentally, you want to lead your reader through a chain of reasoning that drives them toward the same conclusions presented in your recommendations. Your paper will succeed if it accomplishes this task.

You are encouraged to use the various frameworks, concepts, and techniques discussed in the course or otherwise known to you. Remember, however, that these are analytical tools to help you in forming judgments about marketing strategy problems; they are not ends in themselves. Emphasize your judgments (usually by using headings and sub-headings) and present data and information from the case, along with supporting analysis, in support of these judgments. However, most importantly, AVOID MERELY REHASHING THE FACTS!

Finally, the effective use of graphics and quantitative analysis can often help you to communicate the point you are trying to get across to the reader. The key issue here is that graphics should help clarify the information you are trying to communicate. Furthermore, you should use the quantitative analysis as a vehicle for supporting a point, not as an end in itself.

There is a limit of 15 pages (police: Arial, font size: 12 pts, space: 1.5, format: PDF) for the main body of your paper. The purpose of this is to encourage you to prioritize the material you wish to include in the final document. Along with each report, you should provide a brief executive summary (1-page maximum) synthetizing the main issues (do not describe the company), your key results, and your managerial recommendations. You can include as many tables, charts, and graphics as you wish in the report. Though grading will focus primarily on the strength of analysis and strategic recommendations, writing form, grammar, punctuation and professional presentation will be evaluated. Please include page numbers in your report.

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VII. CLASS SESSIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

SESSION #1: 21.09.2018: Introduction to the International B2B Course

Read: Course syllabus; Wiersema, 2013 Read the article and identify the key future challenges in B2B marketing

Discussion Themes: The current state of B2B Marketing

SESSION #2: 28.09.2018: B2B Marketing is about Relationship Marketing

Read: Business Marketing, Ch. 1 and 2; Barry et al 2008; Cannon et al 2010 Read the articles and think about how culture influences B2B marketing relationships

Discussion Themes: B2B Marketing vs. B2C Marketing

SESSION #3: 05.10.2018: The Purchasing Function

Read: Business Marketing, Ch. 3; Sheth et al 2009 Read the articles and identify why it is important to integrate purchasing and marketing

Discussion Themes: The importance of purchasing

Application: Caterpillar in Latin America (Case 0) On November 24, 1904, Benjamin Holt tested the first track-type tractor. In April 1925, C.L Best Tractor Co. and the Holt Manufacturing Company merged to form Caterpillar Tractor Company. By the year 2000 Caterpillar manufactured more than 300 different models including engines and turbines in 88 manufacturing locations. 75 % of products were made in U.S, while 50 % sales were outside U.S. In 2006, total sales of Caterpillar products exceeded 41 billion dollars. Jose “Pepe” Brousset realized 5-year growth targets could not be met unless the organization moved from a product focus to an integrated customer focus. This leads to a strategy known as VISION 2020. Besides the goal of increasing revenues, the most important reason for the Vision 2020 objective to move into services.

SESSION #4: 12.10.2018: Organizational Buying Behavior

Read: Business Marketing, Ch. 4; Essien and Udo-Imeh 2013 Read the article and identify which factors influence organizational buyer behavior

Discussion Themes: The organizational buying process

SESSION #5: 19.10.2018: Market Opportunities

Read: Business Marketing, Ch. 5; NACE backgrounds; NOGA classification

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Discussion Themes: Finding opportunities, markets among current customers, market segmentation.

Application: Making stickK Stick: The Business of Behavioral Economics (Case 1) stickK.com, a website that uses behavioral economics to help users achieve their goals, must choose between a direct-to-consumer or business-to-business model. The case includes a discussion of how principles of behavioral economics can be used to influence behavior, and how an understanding of behavioral economics can inform managerial decisions about product adoption and diffusion.

Case questions: (1) How does stickK help consumers to accomplish their goals? Articulate the key features of stickK that facilitate goal attainment. (2) How does stickK make money? Does the company have a viable business model? (3) How might the business model differ with a B2B approach? (4) What do you see as stickK’ s primary barriers to success? (5) What would you recommend to Jordan Goldberg - to focus on the B2C model or build out the B2B model? Why?

SESSION #6: 26.10.2018: Marketing Strategy

Read: Business Marketing, Ch. 6; Doney et al 2007 Read the article and think of how trust influences B2B marketing relationships

Discussion themes: Why a strategy? Elements of a strategy.

Application: Emotiv Systems, Inc.: It's the Thoughts that Count (Case 2) Emotiv is getting ready to launch its innovative brain-computer interfacing (BCI) technology. The company has developed a special headset, called EPOC, and highly sophisticated that can translate a person's emotions, cognitive thoughts and facial expressions into digital outcomes. Emotiv wants the technology to be adopted by mainstream consumers and is leaning towards the video game market as its primary initial target. However, it needs to decide whether to continue efforts to convince one of the big three console makers (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii) to enable the EPOC on their platform or to settle for the PC gaming market. Alternatively, the company could have chosen a number of different markets to focus on (such as medical, military, market research). A host of additional marketing decisions (pricing, channels, bundling a demo game) need to be made. The case allows students to grapple with the issues of: selecting a target application for the launch of an innovation; determining the importance of having a big name partner for the launch by an unknown start- up; considering the wisdom of taking a B2C rather than B2B approach with a novel technology; using analogous products to forecast demand and sales for a new technology.

Case questions: (1) Should Emotiv keep trying to convince major console makers to endorse its technology as part of their platform or is just being PC enabled sufficient for the launch? (2) If Emotiv manages to convince one of the console makers in time for a fall 2008 debut, what marketing strategy would best facilitate rapid adoption? How about if EPOC is only PC enabled? (3) What kind of demand could materialize for the EPOC if it is console enables? How relevant is the Guitar Hero analogy in answering this question? (4) Do any of the non-gaming

10 applications for Emotiv’s technology seem like better alternatives to gaming? (5) What do you think about Le and Do’s long-term vision for BCI technology?

SESSION #7: 02.11.2018: Market Orientation

Read: Business Marketing, Ch. 7; Farrell and Oczkowski 1997 Read the article and identify why market orientation is important in B2B marketing

Discussion themes: How market orientation impacts performance

Application: Datavast Inc.: The Target Segment Decision (Case 3) Datavast Inc., a product designer and manufacturer based in China, had just launched its new private cloud storage product, the Data Security Box. The general manager of Datavast was faced with the dilemma of who to sell this product to. He determined that segmenting by size was the most effective method, as customers in different industries and regions did not have very different needs or buying characteristics. However, SMEs (companies with 200-500 computers) and large companies (companies with 1,000+ computers) exhibited vastly different needs and purchasing behavior. The general manager had limited resources, so he faced the decision of focusing on either SMEs or large companies. Although Datavast did not have any direct competitors at the time, its decision was complicated by the company's current state and capabilities, as well as the data storage industry in China. Also, the general manager was hoping to retire within five years and was unwilling to make additional capital investments in the company. Datavast was operating at a loss and his goal was to bring the company into profitability within the next year. A net loss also meant that the company could not afford to be burdened with large additional expenses. Lastly, private cloud storage was a new technology in China and the market needed to be familiarized with the concept.

Case questions: (1) Why did the first generation of the product fail? (2) How will we overcome the barriers to adoption with the new product? (3) What are the key implementation requirements? (4) Where will competitive reaction come from? (5) What might the competitive landscape look like in two years if private-cloud storage takes off? (6) How should Datavast prepare for this? (7) What are the most likely risks?

SESSION #8: 16.11.2018: Developing and Managing Products

Read: Business Marketing, Ch. 8; Hauser and Clausing 1988; Furrer 2010 Read the articles and determine how to develop new products in B2B settings, and identify why it is important to integrate tangible products and services

Discussion themes: What do customers want?

Application: EMC2: Delivering Customer Centricity (Case 4) This case introduces the concept of customer centricity and traces its development at EMC, the world's leading data storage hardware and information management Software Company. EMC's customers had historically relied on EMC salespeople to guide them through the complex, consultative buying process. However, with the rise of social media, prospective customers are getting more of the information they require earlier in the purchase process

11 online. Their physical interactions with EMC salespeople are decreasing, while their digital interactions are increasing. Given the changing business environment, BJ Jenkins, senior vice president of GM, faces significant challenges as he tries to maintain EMC's culture of customer centricity by 1) translating EMC's platinum service levels, designed to appeal to the world's largest companies, to small businesses and B2C customers, 2) understanding how the replacement of physical interaction with digital interaction in the consultative selling process affects EMC's business, 3) managing a VAR sales model that distances EMC from customers.

Case questions: (1) How important has customer-centricity been to EMC’s success over its first 30 years? How important s it to EMC going forward? (2) What are the critical aspects of EMC’s customer-centricity initiative? What evidence is there in the case that their customer centricity approach has been effective? (3) How do the key attributes of the customer base, customer-experience, customer needs and customer challenges affect the need for a culture of customer-centricity at EMC? How might customer-centricity differ between EMC’s traditional B2B environment and its new B2C environment? (4) How have EMC’s recent strategic moves supported its customer-centric approach? How have they made it harder for the company to practice customer-centricity? (5) How have the , social media, and Web 2.0 technologies changed the way B2B customers buy? (6) How is technology affecting EMC’s ability to execute customer-centricity? What are the benefits and risks of digital interactions with customers? Can “high-tech” replace “high-touch”? (7) Critique EMC’s methods for measuring and tracking customer satisfaction. How effective are these methods for understanding customer relationships? What risks do you see in their current methods?

SESSION #9: 23.11.2018: Business Marketing Channels

Read: Business Marketing, Ch. 9; Tjemkes and Furrer 2010; Furrer et al 2012; Tjemkes et al 2012 Read the articles and define how we can manage B2B relationships

Discussion themes: Partnerships for customer service

Application: HubSpot: Inbound Marketing and Web 2.0 (Case 5) This case follows the growth of HubSpot, an entrepreneurial venture which, in its quest for growth, faces significant challenges including: developing market segmentation and targeting strategies to decide which customer to serve and which to turn away, configuring pricing strategies to align with the value delivery stream customers experience, and determining whether inbound marketing programs can generate enough scale or whether traditional outbound marketing methods need to be employed to accelerate growth.

Case questions: (1) Do you agree with HubSpot that the “rules of marketing” have changed? If so, how? Is inbound marketing the answer? Why or why not? (2) Is HubSpot finding and serving the right set of customers? Given its position as a start-up company, should it widen its focus to serve any customer that comes its way? Or narrow their target, by focusing exclusively on either Owner Ollies or Marketer Marys? Or

12 by focusing exclusively on either B2B or B2C customers? (3) HubSpot has begun to differentiate its products as it has learned more about its customers. Should it do more? Should its pricing strategy change too? Does the software-as-a-service (SaaS) pricing model work for both Marketer Marys and Owner Ollies? Should HubSpot try to immediately capture more value for either of these customers? (4) Are Halligan and Shah being too stubborn by not doing any outbound marketing? Or should they continue to practice what they preach by focusing on inbound marketing alone? (5) Halligan and Shah want HubSpot to be to marketing, what salesforce.com is to sales. What would your plan of action be to make this happen? Why would you take these actions? What keeps you up at night about your plan?

SESSION #10: 30.11.2018: Creating Customer Dialogue

Read: Business Marketing, Ch. 10, 11 and 12; Duncan and Moriarty 1998; Lynch and De Chernatony 2004 Read the articles and determine the role of B2B communication in managing B2B relationships

Discussion themes: The customer relationship management process. Communicating via advertising, trade shows, and PR. The one-to-one media

Application: Bolster Electronics: Dealing with Dealer Demands (Case 6) This B2B case describes a common situation that arises when channel partners gain success and the perceived balance of power shifts from the supplier to the channel. The manager for Bolster Electronics, one of the largest suppliers in Canada of state-of-the-art industrial video equipment for harsh environments, must consider a request from Vickers Industrial Supplies, a regional dealer, to be upgraded from a dealership to a distributor. Vickers was generating a growing business volume for Bolster in an important market segment, the Canadian oil sands in northern Alberta. Approving Vickers' request will generate slimmer margins for the manufacturer, which may be made up with higher projected volume, if the projections are reasonable. The potential reaction of the company's national distributors is causing concern. Although Bolster sells to regional dealerships in the , its policy is to distribute its products in Canada through two national distributors, and it fears that increasing Vickers' role will alienate these distributors. Each alternative has benefits and risks.

Case questions: (1) As Rob Jackson, what decision would you make in response to Brian Vicker’s request? Why?

SESSION #11: 07.12.2018: Sales and Sales Management

Read: Business Marketing, Ch. 13; Zoltners et al 2016 Read the article and think of the influence of technology on B2B sales

Discussion themes: Sales strategies and customer relationships

Application: AnswerDash (Case 7) It is 2014 and AnswerDash, a startup backed by venture capital, has not seen the widespread

13 adoption of their online self-service customer support solution that they were expecting based on early success in helping clients save and generate substantial amounts of money. Dr. Jacob O. Wobbrock and Dr. Andrew J. Ko are revisiting their go to market strategy to determine how to build a viable business out of their groundbreaking technology. The case raises issues in entrepreneurship and B2B marketing such as analyzing economic value to the customer, designing optimal price metrics, aligning pricing with marketing strategy, customer life-time value, organizational selling, and influencing innovation adoption.

Case questions: (1) Assess AnswerDash’s current go-to-market approach, including customer selection, pricing, communication, and sales efforts. Which aspects do you like? Which ones don’t you like? (2) Calculate the economic value that the AnswerDash product delivers for an e- commerce vs. a Software as a Service customer. Separate between cost savings and revenue lift benefits (as a starting point, you can consider an organization with 100,000 monthly web visitors and $1,000,000 in monthly revenues). (3) What is your view on the three primary options AnswerDash is contemplating going forward? Which would you recommend the company pursue? (4) For the strategic option you support, develop a complete marketing strategy and plan, including which companies to target, how to position the value proposition, how to sell to an organization, and what pricing model/format to follow. (5) What would you consider success of your recommended marketing approach three years down the road? How many customers do you expect AnswerDash to have and what annual revenues/profits do you anticipate?

SESSION #12: 14.12.2018: Pricing and Negotiating for Value

Read: Business Marketing, Ch. 14; Nine Ways to Innovate with Your Pricing

Discussion themes: Issues in price management

Application: Boise Auto Canada Ltd.: The Lost Order at Northern Paper (Case 8) A senior account manager at Boise Automation Canada Ltd. was disappointed with the news that he had just lost the $1.2 million opportunity with Northern Paper Inc. (Northern), a paper mill in Rocky Falls, Ontario. The opportunity was to design, supply and install an automated control system for Northern's wood-chip handling system. With over 20 years’ experience selling automation systems in heavy industry, had he won the order, it would have easily put him over his target quota for 2011 and significantly boosted his incentive payout. Now, with less than 3 months before the end of the year, he was unlikely to meet his target for the year. The senior account manager wanted to understand what had gone wrong, and to learn from the experience, to avoid repeating it. What should he have done differently?

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Case questions: (1) What seems to be the strategy for Boise’s competitive positioning for its automation system? (2) What were Boise’s major strengths and weaknesses? (3) Why did Allison fail? What could have been done differently?

SESSION #13: 21.12.2018: Questions & Answers Exam Review

Application: Lafarge – Aget Heracles (Case 9) Lafarge – Aget Heracles is a company based in Athens, Greece and specializes in producing cement and other construction products. The company markets its products in the greater Mediterranean region and has plans to further expand operations into select Middle East countries. This involves capital investment for creating facilities in those new markets. Moreover, additional investment is contemplated for pursuing vertical integration through transport acquisition, as transport costs are a major cost component of overall operational costs.

Case questions: (1) How to evaluate the impact of a commodity on the market and on the behavior of the buyer and seller? (2) How to use customer management in an effort to differentiate the product offering and develop competitive strategy? (3) How to assess the impact of a price reduction on the profitability of the product? (4) How to evaluate an investment planned either for increasing production capacity or for advancing vertical integration?

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Case Session Date Theme Reading Case Summary Presentation 21.09.2018 C130 Introduction to the International B2B Session 1 Wiersema 2013 1:15-4:00pm Marketing Course Business Marketing, Ch. 1 and 2 28.09.2018 C130 B2B Marketing is about Relationship Session 2 Barry et al. 2008 1:15-4:00pm Marketing Cannon et al. 2010 05.10.2018 C130 Business Marketing, Ch. 3 Prof: Case 0 Session 3 The Purchasing Function 1:15-4:00pm Sheth et al. 2009 Caterpillar 12.10.2018 C130 Business Marketing, Ch. 4 Session 4 Organizational Buying Behavior 1:15-4:00pm Essien & Udo-Imeh 2013 19.10.2018 C130 Business Marketing, Ch. 5 Gr 1: Case 1 Session 5 Market Opportunities Gr 3 & 4: Case 1 1:15-4:00pm NACE & NOGA Making stickK 26.10.2018 C130 Business Marketing, Ch. 6 Gr 2: Case 2 Session 6 Marketing Strategy Gr 4 & 5: Case 2 1:15-4:00pm Doney et al. 2007 Emotiv Systems 02.11.2018 C130 Business Marketing, Ch. 7 Gr 3: Case 3 Session 7 Market Orientation Gr 5 & 6: Case 3 1:15-4:00pm Farrell & Oczkowski 1997 Datavast No class 09.11.2018 Business Marketing, Ch. 8 16.11.2018 C130 Gr 4: Case 4 Session 8 Developing and Managing Products Hauser & Clausing 1988 Gr 6 & 7: Case 4 1:15-4:00pm EMC2 Furrer 2010 23.11.2018 C130 Business Marketing, Ch. 9 Gr 5: Case 5 Session 9 Business Marketing Channels Gr 7 & 8: Case 5 1:15-4:00pm Tjemkes & Furrer 2010 HubSpot Business Marketing, Ch. 10, 11 and 12 30.11.2018 C130 B2B Communication: Creating Gr 6: Case 6 Session 10 Duncan and Moriarty 1998 Gr 1 & 8: Case 6 1:15-4:00pm Customer Dialogue Bolster Lynch & De Chernatony 2004 07.12.2018 C130 Business Marketing, Ch. 13 Gr 7: Case 7 Session 11 Sales and Sales Management Gr 1 & 2: Case 7 1:15-4:00pm Zoltner et al. 2016 AnswerDash 14.12.2018 C130 Business Marketing, Ch. 14 Gr 8: Case 8 Session 12 Pricing and Negotiating for Value Gr 2 & 3: Case 8 1:15-4:00pm Nine ways to innovate Boise 21.12.2018 C130 Gr 9: Case 9 Session 13 Questions & Answers Exam Review 1:15-4:00pm Lafarge

16 VIII. Bibliography of Texts and Cases

Main Textbook:

Dwyer, F. Robert and Tanner, John F., Jr. (2009), Business Marketing: Connecting Strategy, Relationships, and Learning, 4th edition, McGraw-Hill: Boston.

Supplementary Readings:

Hutt, Michael D. and Speh, Thomas W. (2013), Business Marketing Management b2b, 11th edition, South-Western, Cengage. Wright, Ray (2004), Business-to-Business Marketing: A Step-by-Step Guide, Prentice-Hall Financial Times: Harlow.

Important Articles (Available on Moodle):

1. Barry, J. M., Dion, P., and Johnson, W. (2008). A Cross-Cultural Examination of Relationship Strength in B2B Services. Journal of Services Marketing, 22(2), 114–135. 2. Cannon, J. P., Doney, P. M., Mullen, M. R., and Petersen, K. J. (2010). Building Long- Term Orientation in Buyer–Supplier Relationships: The Moderating Role of Culture. Journal of Operations Management, 28(6), 506–521. 3. Doney, P. M., Barry, J. M., and Abratt, R. (2007). Trust Determinant and Outcomes in Global B2B services. European Journal of Marketing, 41(9/10), 1096–116. 4. Duncan, T., & Moriarty, S. E. (1998). A Communication-Based Marketing Model for Managing Relationships. Journal of Marketing, 62(2), 1–13. 5. Essien, E. E., & Udo-Imeh, P. T. (2013). A Review of Organizational Buyer Behavior Models and Theories. Journal of Research in National Development. 11(1), 54–58. 6. Farrell, M. A., & Oczkowski, E. (1997). An Analysis of the MKTOR and MARKOR Measures of Market Orientation: an Australian Perspective. Marketing Bulletin-Department of Marketing Massey University, 8 (3), 30–40. 7. Furrer, O. (2010). A customer relationship typology of product services strategies. In Gallouj, F., & Djellal, F. (Eds.). The Handbook of Innovation and Services: A Multi- disciplinary Perspective (pp. 701–720). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd 8. Hauser, J. R., & Clausing, D. (1988). The House of Quality. Harvard Business Review. 66(3), 63–73. 9. Lynch, J., & De Chernatony, L. (2004). The Power of Emotion: Brand Communication in Business-to-Business markets. Journal of Brand Management, 11(5), 403–419. 10. Sheth, J. N., Sharma, A., and Iyer, G. R. (2009). Why Integrating Purchasing with Marketing is both Inevitable and Beneficial. Industrial Marketing Management. 38(8), 865–871. 11. Tjemkes, B., & Furrer, O. (2010). The Antecedents of Response Strategies in Strategic Alliances. Management Decision. 48(7), 1103–1133. 12. Wiersema, F. (2013), “The B2B Agenda: The Current State of B2B Marketing and a Look Ahead,” Industrial Marketing Management. 4(42), 470–488. 13. Zoltners, A. A., Sinha, PK., and Lorimer, S. E. (2016). How more Accessible Information is Forcing B2B Sales to Adapt. Harvard Business Review. 1(6), 2–5.

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Case Studies:

0. Catterpillar in Latin America 1. Making stickK Stick: The Business of Behavioral Economics 2. Emotiv Systems, Inc.: It’s the Thoughts that Count 3. Datavast Inc.: The Target Segment Decision 4. EMC2: Delivering Customer Centricity 5. HubSpot: Inbound Marketing and Web 2.0 6. Bolster Electronics: Dealing with Dealer Demands 7. AnswerDash 8. Boise Automation Canada Ltd.: The Lost Order at Northern Paper 9. Lafarge: Aget Heracles

I also reserve the right to hand out additional material.

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