Stefan Wengler 2008 AGI-Information Management Consultants May be used for personal purporses only or by libraries associated to dandelon.com network. Key Account Management in Business-fo-Business Markets An Assessment of Its Economic Value I r With a foreword by Prof. Dr. Michael Kleinaltenkamp Deutscher Universitats-Verlag
"The economic value of key account management" IX Introduction, 1 1.1 Key account management - a seemingly evolutionary phenomenon 1 1.2 The efficiency of key account management 4 1.3 Objective and structure of the thesis 8 State-of-the-art of key account management in academia and science 12 2.1 Relationship marketing and the concept of key account management 12 2.1.1 From a transactional towards a relational understanding of marketing 13 2.1.1.1 The transactional marketing perspective : 14 2.1.1.2 The relational marketing perspective 16 2.1.1.3 Relationship marketing as relationship buying and relationship selling 17 2.1.2 Key account management in the context of relationship marketing.19 2.1.2.1 Key account management as a part of relationship marketing 19 2.1.2.2 Key account management as a focused relationshipmarketing-program : 21 2.1.2.3 Developments and evolution in the conception of key account management 23 2.2 The conception of key account management 25 2.2.1 Definition of a key account management concept 25 2.2.2 Objectives of key account management 28 2.2.3 Dimensions of key account management ;... 35 2.2.3.1 The strategic dimension of key'account management 35 2.2.3.2 The functional dimension of key account management 38 2.2.3.3 The organizational dimension of key account management '. 42 2.2.4 Integrating the customer by applying key account management 47 2.3 Research and empirical evidence on key account management...;... 49 2.3.1 Conceptionalization of key account management... 50 2.3.1.1 National account management and key account management 51 2.3.1;2 Global and euro key account management 53 2.3.2 Key account managers and key account.management teams 54 2.3.2.1 Individual key account manager 54 2.3.2.2 Key account management teams 56 2.3.3 Empirical research on key account management 59 2.3.4 The key account management conception and its performance deficits 63
3 Key account management controlling. 66 3.1 Defining the task and objectives of key account management control ling.. 6 7 3.1.1 Tasks and objectives of marketing controlling...67 3.1.2 Key account management controlling 68 3.2 Tools in key account management controlling 71 3.2.1 Unidimensipnal criteria 71 3.2.2 Multidimensional criteria 81 3.3 Requirements of an implementation decision model 85 3.4 The theoretical foundation of the decision model 87 3.4.1 A systematization of organization theory approaches.' 87 3.4.2 A comparison of relevant modern organization theory approaches..93 4 Analyzing key account management from the perspective of transaction cost economics 98 4.1 The fundamentals of transaction cost economics 99 4.1.1 Transaction cost economics in economic theory 100 4.1.1.1 Differences between transaction cost economics and orthodox microeconomic theory 100 4.1.1.2 Transaction cost economics and the new institutional economics 102 4.1.2 Core assumptions in transaction cost economics 103 4.1.2.1 Methodological individualism ; 103 4.1.2.2 Human factors 104 4.1.2.3 Environmental factors 107 4.1.3 Characteristics of transactions 108 4.1.3.1 Asset specificity......108 4.1.3.2 Uncertainty 110 4.1.3.3 Frequency Ill 4.1.4 Transaction costs 112 4.2 Applying the framework of transaction cost economics 114 4.2.1 Organizational failure framework... 114 4.2.2 The governance structure in transaction cost economics 118 4.3 Bilateral governance and the relevance of the marketing organization 122 4.3.l x The fundamental transformation 123 4.3.2 Institutions in relational exchange 125 4.3.2.1 Private ordering 125 4.3.2.2 Credible commitment and relational norms 126 4.3.3 Long-term business relationships in transaction cost economics... 127 4.3.4 The neglect of the internal organization in bilateral governance... 131 4.3.5 The marketing organization in transaction cost economics 133
XI_ 5 Challenging the organization:, the implementation of key account management...135 5.1 The relevance of implementing key account management in marketing. management 136 5.1.1 The continuum of exchange relationships in bilateral governance.137 5.1.2 Market orientation and the marketing organization 140 5.1.3 Implementing key account management as an organizational consequence of relationship marketing 142 5.2 The implementation of key account management as a strategic marketing management decision :...1,43 5.3 The (institutional) environment in transaction cost economics 147 5.3.1 The relevance of the environment in marketing management research 148 5.3.2 The transaction's embeddedness in the institutional environment.. 150 5.4 Institutional and organizational change in transaction cost economics 153 5.4.1 Institutions and institutional change in transaction cost economics 154 5.4.2 The (marketing) organization as a bundle of institutions 156 5.4.3 Intraorganizational change in transaction cost economics 158 5.5 The necessity of a comparative institutional analysis as a sound basis for deciding on the appropriate key account management program 163 6 Determining the economic value of key account management in business relationships 166 6.1 Design alternatives of the key account management programs.166 6.2 Defining the transaction cost relevant determinants 174 6.2.1 Asset specificity 176 6.2.2 Uncertainty 179 6.2.2.1 Primary uncertainty 180 6.2.2.2 Secondary uncertainty 181 6.2.2.3 Behavioral uncertainty 194 6.2.3 Frequency 196 6.3 The decision model 199 6.3.1 Structure of the decision model 200 6.3.2 A comparative analysis of key account management alternatives..201 7 Management implications 218 7.1 Implementing key account management 218 7.1.1 Assessment of the costs and benefits of the key account management decision alternatives 220 7.1.2 The relevance of key account management modes 229
XII 7.2 Application of the decision model 237 7.2.1 The value of a preliminary efficiency assessment of key account management 238 7.2.2 The need for advanced key account management controlling 242 7.3 Assumptions and limitations of the decision model.' 244 7.3.1 The assumptions of the decision model 244 7.3.2 The limitations ofthe decision model 246 8 Conclusion 250 9 Bibliography 254