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)