Transcript AMs Theme 1
OKBIT22 Managing
International Relations
1. Introduction to the topic
Course topics
International business
Business to business
Network thinking
Relationship marketing
International business negotiations
Personal selling (in B-2-B)
What exactly does it mean, Managing
International Relations?
1. What are company’s relations?
2. What about INTERNATIONAL
relations?
3. How do we manage them?
1. What are company’s
relations/relationships?
Let’s consider the interest groups of a
company
1. Networks
Network thinking is based on the thought
that “No company is an island”
Each company has a network, big or small
For example, consider Ikea with its
thousands of suppliers, customers and
shops all over the world, designers etc.
1. What are company’s relations?
So companies develop ties with customers,
shareholders, subcontractors, partners,
suppliers, competitors etc.
Therefore companies have many relationships
to manage, according to Gummesson (1999)
there are 30
We are going to concentrate on CompanyCustomer relationships, even though this is not
the only important relationship that a company
has
2. What are international relations?
When we talk about INTERNATIONAL
relations, we assume that the company
has international operations of some kind
When we talk about companies going
international or doing international
business, there are different ways of doing
this
Not all international companies are global
players like Nokia
2. Internationalization
The company could, for example, embark
on
Export
Direct or indirect
Licenses
Joint ventures
Investments
2. International business & Business to
business
Internationalization has become more and
more popular also in Finland
International companies share many
problems that domestic companies lack
That is why we need to study
international business relations and how
to manage them
2. Why do we need to know about
INTERNATIONAL relations?
When it comes to international relations,
you need to deal with problems, which
arise from:
Cultural differences
Which affect differences in doing business
• Language
• Habits
• Etc.
A specific culture or culture in general?
3. How do we manage international
business relations?
Business negotiations!
Relationship marketing
Personal selling
(PR)
3. Relationship Marketing
B-2-B customers are different than B-2-C
customers
They require more time, money, effort
Mass marketing is for independent consumers, it
doesn’t work with B-2-B customers
There is no real relationship with a person
buying consumer goods and the company
selling them
But you need a relationship between a company
selling their product and the company buying it!!!
3. Difference between consumer and
business markets
Market structure
Buyer behaviour
Decision-making
Products
Channels
Promotion
Price
3. Business Negotiations
Negotiations are an essential part of business,
especially in B-2-B
The company should negotiate with customers,
suppliers, subcontractors, partners et.
Business agreements are never as simple as in
B-2-C
Complex, time-consuming, expensive
BUT we are talking about larger sums and bigger
contracts
3. Personal selling
An important part in business to business
marketing
Personal contact is needed for company
customers
Expensive, but is used, when the
customer is worth a lot
Introduction case
Read the case, discuss it in your groups
and try to find a solution to the problem
(with justification)