Developing and managing relations between marketing and other functions within the firm and with external organizations such as suppliers, distributors, government and business customers plays an important role in the identification, creation and delivery of value to customers. These networks of relations are the means by which key resources and competences are accessed and developed. The increased importance of relationship management is reflected in the growth of relationship marketing concepts and in the development of interaction and network approaches in business and international marketing. This course examines the nature and role of internal and external relations in developing and implementing marketing strategy, their impact on a firm's marketing performance and how they are managed. It includes consideration of issues such as relationship management and evaluation, relationship portfolios, economic and behavioural theories of relations, internal management upwards to CEOs and CFOs and sideways to production and sales, collaboration and partnering/alliance strategies, interaction and network approaches to marketing and their application to specific types of relationship and network contexts such as those involving suppliers, distributors, business customers, key accounts, technology partners and cross-functional relations.
Exclusion: MARK5956