Assessing and strengthening internal alignment of new marketing units: An interpretative tool Original Research Article

Abstract Business-to-business (B2B) marketing is a complex field requiring companies to put in place organizational units that are able to handle multifaceted interaction processes at the customer interface. Moreover, B2B marketing is characterized by high levels of technological, institutional etc. change. As a consequence, and in order to adapt to new market conditions, companies create new organizational units to take over tasks such as key account management, category management or social media management. These new units are developed within the pre-existing organization. Typically, these new units also display a high degree of cross-functionality since their activities are interdependent with the activities of other units. Hence, the question of alignment is of major importance. In this conceptual paper, we provide a framework for both scholarly research and managerial application. It is based on the concept of frame alignment and offers a lens allowing analyzing internal aligning processes for new B2B marketing units.

[1]  Alfred Dupont Chandler,et al.  战略与结构 : 美国工商企业成长的若干篇章=strategy and structure : chapters in the history of the American industrial enterprise , 1962 .

[2]  Chima Adiele,et al.  Towards promoting interactivity in a B2B web community , 2011, Inf. Syst. Frontiers.

[3]  John Gattorna,et al.  Strategic supply chain alignment : best practice in supply chain management , 1998 .

[4]  P. Lawrence,et al.  Differentiation and Integration in Complex Organizations , 1967 .

[5]  Jeffrey Pfeffer,et al.  Power and Interdependence in Organizations: Understanding power in organizations , 1992 .

[6]  Mark J. Zbaracki,et al.  Pricing process as a capability: a resource-based perspective , 2003 .

[7]  H. Håkansson,et al.  Industrial Marketing as an Organizational Problem: A Case Study , 1979 .

[8]  B. Ivens,et al.  Relationship keyness: The underlying concept for different forms of key relationship management , 2009 .

[9]  Gabriele Troilo,et al.  Dispersion of influence between Marketing and Sales: Its effects on superior customer value and market performance , 2009 .

[10]  F. Webster.  A Perspective on the Evolution of Marketing Management , 2005 .

[11]  Bernard J. Jaworski,et al.  Market orientation: The construct, research propositions, and managerial implications. , 1990 .

[12]  Joseph P. Cannon,et al.  Key Accounts and Team Selling: A Review, Framework, and Research Agenda , 2005 .

[13]  W. Johnston,et al.  WHAT'S NEXT IN KEY ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT RESEARCH? BUILDING THE BRIDGE BETWEEN THE ACADEMIC LITERATURE AND THE PRACTITIONERS' PRIORITIES , 2010 .

[14]  R. A. Inman,et al.  Aligning marketing strategies throughout the supply chain to enhance performance , 2012 .

[15]  K. Storbacka.  Strategic account management programs: alignment of design elements and management practices , 2012 .

[16]  Rajiv Sabherwal,et al.  The Dynamics of Alignment: Insights from a Punctuated Equilibrium Model , 2001 .

[17]  Dirk Zupancic.  Towards an integrated framework of key account management , 2008 .

[18]  Stephan M. Liozu,et al.  Industrial product pricing: a value‐based approach , 2012 .

[19]  Henry Mintzberg,et al.  Structure in Fives: Designing Effective Organizations , 1983 .

[20]  Paolo Guenzi,et al.  The impact of strategic account managers' behaviors on relational outcomes: An empirical study , 2009 .

[21]  Dotun Adebanjo,et al.  Developmental approaches to B2B virtual communities , 2011 .

[22]  Christian Homburg,et al.  Intraorganizational determinants of key account management effectiveness , 2003 .

[23]  N. Michaelidou,et al.  Usage, barriers and measurement of social media marketing: An exploratory investigation of small and medium B2B brands , 2011 .

[24]  Izak Benbasat,et al.  Factors That Influence the Social Dimension of Alignment Between Business and Information Technology Objectives , 2000, MIS Q..

[25]  G. Day.  Closing the Marketing Capabilities Gap , 2011 .

[26]  Neil A. Morgan,et al.  A Configuration Theory Assessment of Marketing Organization Fit with Business Strategy and Its Relationship with Marketing Performance , 2003 .

[27]  Thomas W. Gruen,et al.  The use of category management practices to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage in the fast‐moving‐consumer‐goods industry , 2004 .

[28]  Christian Homburg,et al.  A Configurational Perspective on Key Account Management , 2002 .

[29]  Henry Mintzberg,et al.  The Structuring of Organizations , 1979 .

[30]  Jerry N. Luftman,et al.  Achieving and Sustaining Business-IT Alignment , 1999 .

[31]  Shankar Ganesan,et al.  The decline and dispersion of marketing competence , 2005 .

[32]  Roberto E. Montalvo.  Social Media Management , 2011, BIOINFORMATICS 2011.

[33]  Christian Homburg,et al.  The Thought Worlds of Marketing and Sales: Which Differences Make a Difference? , 2007 .

[34]  William D. Perreault,et al.  Is Retail Category Management Worth the Effort (and Does a Category Captain Help or Hinder)? , 2011 .

[35]  Alexander E. Ellinger.  Improving Marketing/Logistics Cross-Functional Collaboration in the Supply Chain , 2000 .

[36]  G. Hult,et al.  Marketing and organization theory: opportunities for synergy , 2011 .

[37]  Nigel F. Piercy,et al.  Strategic relationships between boundary-spanning functions: Aligning customer relationship management with supplier relationship management , 2009 .

[38]  Patricia J. Daugherty,et al.  Marketing/Logistics Integration and Firm Performance , 1999 .

[39]  The rise of the pricing function: origins and perspectives , 2010 .

[40]  Kevin Wilson,et al.  Processual issues in key account management: underpinning the customer‐facing organisation , 1999 .

[41]  Phanish Puranam,et al.  Integration Through Incentives Within Differentiated Organizations , 2008, Organ. Sci..

[42]  Ravi Kathuria,et al.  ORGANIZATIONAL ALIGNMENT AND PERFORMANCE: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE , 2007 .

[43]  Matthew S. Kraatz,et al.  Modeling the dynamics of strategic fit: a normative approach to strategic change , 2000 .

[44]  Daniela Corsaro,et al.  Alignment and Misalignment in Business Relationships , 2011 .

[45]  Christian Homburg,et al.  Fundamental changes in marketing organization: The movement toward a customer-focused organizational structure , 2000 .

[46]  John C. Henderson,et al.  Strategic Alignment: Leveraging Information Technology for Transforming Organizations , 1999, IBM Syst. J..

[47]  Ravi S. Achrol,et al.  Evolution of the Marketing Organization: New Forms for Turbulent Environments , 1991 .

[48]  Christian Homburg,et al.  Marketing's Influence within the Firm , 1999 .

[49]  James D. Thompson.  Organizations in Action , 1967 .

[50]  P. Lawrence,et al.  Organization and environment , 1967 .

[51]  D. Snow.  Framing and Social Movements , 2012 .

[52]  M. Porter.  What is strategy , 2000 .

[53]  D. Snow,et al.  Frame alignment processes, micromobilization, and movement participation. , 1986 .

[54]  Henry Mintzberg.  Musings on management. Ten ideas designed to rile everyone who cares about management. , 1996, Harvard business review.

[55]  Benson P. Shapiro,et al.  Support systems for national account management programs : promises made, promises kept , 1984 .

[56]  Henry Mintzberg,et al.  Managing the care of health and the cure of disease--Part II: Integration. , 2001, Health care management review.

[57]  Alain Pinsonneault,et al.  A Model of Organizational Integration, Implementation Effort, and Performance , 2005, Organ. Sci..

[58]  Charles C. Snow,et al.  Fit, failure, and the hall of fame : how companies succeed or fail , 1994 .

[59]  N. Venkatraman,et al.  Exploring the Concept of “Fit” in Strategic Management , 1984 .

[60]  M. Porter.  Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance , 1985 .

[61]  Arun Sharma,et al.  Why integrating purchasing with marketing is both inevitable and beneficial , 2009 .

[62]  Paolo Guenzi,et al.  Relational selling strategy and key account managers' relational behaviors: An exploratory study , 2007 .

[63]  Catherine Pardo,et al.  Key account management in the business‐to‐business field: a French overview , 1999 .

[64]  John C. Narver,et al.  The Effect of a Market Orientation on Business Profitability , 1990 .

[65]  G. Day.  The Capabilities of Market-Driven Organizations , 1994 .