Business service market segmentation: The case of electrical and mechanical building maintenance services
Bill Merrilees, Rohan Bentley and Ross Cameron, University of Newcastle, Australia | This paper identifies market segments for a category of business services, namely building maintenance services. Hitherto there has been little research on business service segmentation. Data has been collected through written surveys and analysed by factor analysis and cluster analysis. Although only one type of business service is analysed, the method is applicable to other types. Four market segments were identified, with respective emphasis on customer focus, relationship-seeking, price sensitivity and high expectations. The study indicates the value of segmentation analysis as a planning tool for business services, which is the newest and fastest growing sector in business-to-business marketing. | East Vs. West: Strategic Marketing Management Meets the Asian Networks
George T. Haley, University of New Haven, USA and Chin Tiong Tan, Singapore Management University, Singapore | Strategic management in Asia is different. Decision-making differs from that taught in Western, and even Asian, schools of business. In the last decade, the influence of Japanese management systems on Western management practice has become evident. Though the Japanese economy is the world's second largest, and Japan's population substantial, neither compares with the combined economies and combined populations of non-Japanese Asia. The influence of the most aggressive elements of the non-Japanese Asian business communities, the Overseas Chinese and Overseas Indian Networks, cannot help to be felt on Western management practice. The authors explain why this difference in decision-making style exists, analyze the implications of the Asian decision-making style for managing in Asia, and discuss its implications for the future of strategic marketing management practice. |
The Impact of Religion and Reputation in the Organization of Indian Merchant Communities
Gopalkrishnan R. Iyer, Florida Atlantic University, USA | The complex interplay of religion, reputation and repeated transactions among trade and business communities that dominate the Indian intermediary markets are detailed in this paper. Using prior historical sociological and ethnographic accounts, the author highlights some unique aspects of Indian merchant communities and the common elements that these share with other business communities in Asia. The analysis lends credit to the notion that marketing theory can gain substantially from a focus on identity, family and other forms of kinship relations. Strategic implications drawn from the analysis show that while foreign consumer goods firms cannot afford to ignore the large and growing Indian market, their success will depend to a large extent on their understanding of the intricacies of the Indian merchant communities that dominate various marketing channels.
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Relationship Marketing in Japan: The Buyer-Supplier Relationships of Four Automakers
Jai-Beom Kim, Myongji University, Republic of Korea and Paul Michell, Leeds University Business School, UK | We examine the individual buyer-supplier relationships of four major Japanese automobile manufacturers. Building on the relationship marketing and the interorganizational trust literature, we relate their supplier management practices to the type of supplier organizations they use, the relative sales revenue, number of employees, and profitability of both buyers and suppliers, and the level of equity held by automakers in their supplier. Our major finding reveals that the major Japanese automakers have far more diversity than commonality in their supplier policies, and suggests that a comparison of major Japanese companies individually, not collectively, is a rich area of research into buyer-supplier relationships.
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Co-ordination of International Channel Relationships: Four Case Studies in the Food Industry in China
Hong Liu, and Yen Po Wang, Manchester Business School, UK | This paper examines the pattern of relationships between foreign manufacturing firms and local third-party distributors and the effective management and co-ordination of supplier-distributor relationships in China. Case studies of four foreign-funded food manufacturers in China have been conducted. Different distributorships and styles of relationship management have been identified in each firm. Major relational constructs examined include channel conflicts and relationships, power sources and relational outcomes. Nine propositions have been derived from the findings. Research and managerial implications have also been discussed.
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