Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Business relationship'

Lic.-avh. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2014

The relationship between organizations and their customers is a critical issue when establishing a long-term relationship. It is difficult for organizations to really manage and main-tain the relationship with their customers as some organizations fail to build up relationships.

The process of learning and adapting to other customers is costly and time intensive. This is an issue that needs to be taken into consideration. Another aspect that needs to be looked at is the way organizations can set up a plan to build a competitive advantage. With this, most organizations do tend to loose their customers due to the inability to use their resources well and also managing them effectively.

This paper examines the relationship between the supplier and the customer and the possibilities of managing and maintaining the customer relationship.

Qualitative analysis is used in this paper since it is the appropriate method to meet our purpose. There were two companies interviewed from the logistic industry and mechanical industry.

Finally, our result in this paper indicates that in order to maintain customers, it is vital for organizations to meet their needs. As a result, satisfaction and loyalty is the ultimate goal for organization to maintain their customers. This is the way of avoiding key and non-key customers from leaving and also strengthening the relationship.

Decision making with the help of graphs has been applied for a long time. Previous to the introduction of computerized solutions, graphs and complementary pictures were hand drawn. With the introduction of computers came the colored and dynamic “animations” called simulations which are used today. The focal company of this study, Ångpanneföreningen AB, has during an extensive period of time constructed simulations of complex systems which they have used in order to satisfy specific needs of their customers in different areas. Depending on the complexity of the product and the needs it is ought to fulfill, the exchange of it will have a direct impact on the interactions carried out between the buying and selling parties in various ways. A question that this thesis looked to answer was how the utilization of simulations affects Ångpanneföreningen AB’s relationship with its customers. The purpose of this study is to describe how the use of a simulation program may affect the relation between two parties in a business relationship. A case study approach based on focused and semi-structural interviews has been used for this study.The effects of the use of simulations on a business relationship, in terms of benefits perceived, depend on the purpose set for the software. This meaning that it depends on whether the results and benefits are of such kind that they are possible to measure. However, if measurable, then the awareness of perceived benefits contributes to a stronger relationship since trust is likely to follow from met expectations. The simulation software offered by ÅF has the characteristics of both a product and a service with a highly technological nature. When dealing with simulations holding such attributes, a high level of exchanges is likely to be involved. Furthermore, interdependencies between two parties in a business relationship tend to develop as both the exchanges due to, and the complexities of, the simulation are of a high level, meaning that exchanges are needed in both directions.

As the baby boom generation approaches and enters traditional retirement ages, the owners of small professional service firms are being inundated with advice concerning how to implement a business succession plan. While much of the advice may be valuable and sound, a significant portion of this advice appears to be derived from a one-size-fits-all approach that ignores, or fails to address, the needs, desires, and personal characteristics of the business owner. Small business succession planning advice often involves growing the business into a self-perpetuating organism. However, many small business owners may not want to do what is necessary to manage a business for optimum succession planning. The researcher used a quantitative research methodology to identify antecedents to business succession planning in small, relationship-dependent service businesses. The research combines concepts from the Theory of Planned Behavior and from the family business succession planning literature to identify potential owner characteristic and situational antecedents to business succession planning. The study focused on a sample population of owners of small financial-services businesses affiliated with one broker-dealer. Most of the sample population offers tax and accounting services in addition to their financial services. The population is in the business of planning for their customers but to a large extent neglect or choose not to plan for their own ultimate exit from the business. While business owners face many choices and obstacles in preparing their firms for their eventual exit, this study indicates that the decision to pursue business succession planning by the owners of small, relationship-dependent service businesses is overwhelmingly driven by the business owners’ perception of the availability of a qualified successor. Thus the decision to pursue business succession planning by this sample population is more likely to be a reaction to circumstances than a proactive choice driving the owners’ business decisions.

Introduction: Already in the 1970’s, internationalisation was noted as a striking trend in business. Since then, the speed of internationalisation has increased as infrastructure, communication, and IT have decreased space and time barriers for international trade. Today, companies must engage in international activities to survive in the competitive environment and researchers argue that firms’ international performance is determined by their ability to establish relationships.

Problem: In order to facilitate the search for business actors globally, Chamber Trade Business to Business AB offers a database in which companies can post business inquiries. Lately, the number of inquiries published in the database has decreased. Therefore, the question arose what other tools companies use instead when searching for business partners. This empirically driven problem is also matched by a theoretical need for more research about how firms establish international relationships.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to analyse how small Swedish B2B companies find downstream international partners.

Theoretical framework: In order to create a frame of reference for guidance in the collection and analysis of the empirical data, theory has been divided into three sections; Internationalisation theory, Business to Business relationships theory, and Means for international interaction.

Method: To fulfil the purpose of the thesis, a qualitative study with an inductive approach was undertaken. Secondary data in terms of literature and academic articles were scanned to create a theoretical framework and to facilitate the collection of primary data. Primary data was gathered from ten small Swedish firms in order to find out how their downstream international business relationships had been initiated.

Conclusion: Our thesis concludes that many Swedish sellers start out their internationalisation to countries with close distance by responding to unsolicited orders from foreign customers. Over time, their proactiveness increases and they primary use the following channels in order to find international partners: networks, trade fairs, trade- and industry organisations, and the Internet. Databases have several defaults for being a useful search tool, mainly their lack of precise search criteria and personal interaction. Further, when companies offer a high quality product, a reputation is created about the company. Consequently, foreign customers pull the company into new countries and the need for external search tools is low.

Networking is commonly used in many business clusters such as in San Diego, California. The strongcollaborative and networking culture spurs entrepreneurial activities and is crucial forentrepreneurial success in the region. Networking is a fascinating phenomenon much discussed inliterature. Sociologists have tried to map the patterns of networks and describe its existence andfunction in society. Relationship marketing theorists have taken to the discussion from a businessperspective and explained the relationships between the individuals in the business network. Thepurpose of this research is to analyze social networking and network organizations in San Diego inorder to investigate what entrepreneurs can gain from networking which can accelerate growth insmall businesses.

The empirical study consists of a qualitative case study in San Diego. Data has been collected throughsemi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs, business service providers, investor, networkorganizations representatives, consultants and well-experienced professionals with knowledge froma variety of organizations in different industries.

The theoretical study on networks, business networking, relationship marketing andentrepreneurship has led to the construction of the Entrepreneurial Relational Capital Model. Themodel is constructed on theories embraced in the thesis and is meant to work as a tool to evaluateentrepreneurs’ relational capital; or the entrepreneurs’ network of relationships and theirconstruction. The model has been used to analyze empirical data and the results show theimportance of evaluating business relationships for the entrepreneur to become more time efficientin networking, and to find the individual with the desired expertise. The research has shown thatentrepreneurs need to establish strong relationships to key individuals in the industry of their focus.The entrepreneurs’ social networking with key individuals accelerate the start-up process becausethe high level of trust in the relationship results in valuable referrals.

This thesis aims to increase the understanding for how customer satisfaction is created in business-to-business relationships in the copying machine and IT sector. A second objective is to contribute to the small, yet growing literature on the topic of satisfaction in business-tobusiness settings. In order to accomplish this, one company in the copying machine and IT sector has been used as a base and its customers have been the focus of the study. The results show that if the expectations the customers have of the product are met, the customers are likely to be satisfied. Furthermore, parts that have a high influence on customer satisfaction are technical support, the products’ quality, the product’s user-friendliness and availability of the staff. The part that contributed the most to customer satisfaction was how the staff treatedthe customers. The parts which contributed the least were selection of products, handling of invoices and delivery times.

Projects are often spoken of in the terms of rational systems. However, some researchers point out the relevance of viewing projects as sets of relationships. Little is published about what aspects of relationships that are important for the managing of projects. We have argued for the necessity of such research. With previous research, our case study and interviews we indentified communication, responsibility, cooperation, togetherness and trust as important relational aspects in projects.

The overall perceived success for projects in this case, was increased with the adoption of new agile methods. These new methods clearly favored communication and togetherness. We wish to present a perspective that will view projects as people and their relationships.

Projekt pratas ofta om i form av ett logiskt och rationellt system, men det är i sig ologiskt eftersom projektet i sådana termer inte existerar. Exempelvis kan projektet själv inte ha mål. Vid flera undersökningar har en majoritet angett relationer som den största framgångsfaktorn för projekt. Med hjälp av en fallstudie och tidigare forskning i ämnet anser vi att människor är det som kausalt skapar projekt och har därför intervjuat personer med olika roller med erfarenheter av arbete i projekt.

Vår sammanslagning av empiri och teori pekar på att relationer existerar bland annat genom kommunikation, ansvar, samarbete, gemenskap och tillit. Men i detta fall är relationerna ock-så hårt styrda av strukturer och otydlighet. Vi har argumenterat för att ledningen, i vårt fall både kan och bör arbeta aktivt för att skapa fungerande relationer i projekt där uppgiften kräver det.