According to Paltmier “The progress of the relationship marketing theory and practice can be examined from a number of effectual viewpoints, which is depicted by the existence of three primal schools of thought: The Nordic School, The Anglo-Australian approach (The Cranfield School) & The Industrial Marketing and Purchasing Group (IMP Group).”
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The Nordic School has prolifically envisaged for services marketing research since the early eighties and was distinguished by a shift in focal point from those ideas associated with traditional marketing concepts. These included (Egan, 2004, pp. 6-7): stressing the importance and relevance of services marketing and industrial marketing more than customers goods marketing; a continuing shift away from an emphasis on goods and services to an emphasis on customer value; the integration of the marketing department function with other organizational functions and with general management and less emphasis on quantitative research than qualitative research.
According to the Nordic School approach, managing services was at the center of relationship building and maintenance although also supported by other factors such as the building of networks, the establishment of strategic alliances, the development of customer database and the management of relationship-oriented marketing communications. The Nordic Schools identifies triplet of processes: the interaction process, the dialogue process and the value process.
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The IMP Group approach is referring to the B-B markets nuances, stressing the specificity of this sector and the necessity for new marketing and management tools development. In such markets transactions are not isolated, but occur as part of a continuing stream of interaction between organizations. The interaction between companies and many individuals between companies constitutes the relationships and the multiple relationships between buyers, suppliers and other firms aggregate into network (Palmer, Lindgreen, Vanhamme, 2005, pp. 320). Competitive advantage can be attained from an adequate selection process and management of networks partners.
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The Anglo-Australian approach is based on the work of Christopher, Payne and Ballantyne and emphasizes the integration of quality management, services marketing concepts and customer relationships economics. From this perspective, relationship marketing embodies the following elements (Christopher et. al., 2002, pp. 4): emphasizes a relationship, rather than a transactional, approach to marketing; understands the economic of customer retention and thus ensures the right amount of money and other resources are appropriately allocated between the two tasks of retaining and attracting customer.
It highlights the critical role of internal marketing in achieving external marketing success; extends the principles of relationship marketing to a range of diverse markets domains (customer markets, internal markets, supplier/alliance markets, recruitment markets, influence markets and referral markets); illustrates how the traditional marketing mix concept (the 4P’s: product, price, place and promotion) does not adequately capture all the key elements which must be addressed in building and sustaining relationships with markets; ensure that marketing is considered a cross-functional process.
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A simple analytical model of RM by Lindgreen
Transaction marketing is part of a larger idea called relationship marketing. It aims to build long-term mutually satisfying relations with key parties— customers, suppliers, distributors—in order to earn and retain their long-term preference and business. Effective marketers accomplish this by promising and delivering high-quality products and services at fair prices to the other parties over time. Relationship marketing builds strong economic, technical, and social ties among the parties. It cuts down on transaction costs and time. In the most successful cases, transactions move from being negotiated each time to being a matter of routine.
The ultimate outcome of relationship marketing is the building of a unique company asset called a marketing network. A marketing network consists of the company and its supporting stakeholders (customers, employees, suppliers, distributors, university scientists, community and others) with whom it has built mutually profitable business relationships. Increasingly, competition is not between companies but rather between marketing networks, with the profits going to the company that has the better network.
CB Sheth Further adds that Organizing marketing around the consumer offers at least 3 important opportunities in network economy:
i) 1st is the opportunity to capitalize on information about consumers as a business asset. On basis of its market value realize appropriate economic rents for consumers for use of this information.
ii) 2nd is the opportunity to provide consumer with content and usage information on products.
iii) 3rd is the opportunity to facilitate such interaction by organizing consumers into lifestyle related virtual communities as retirees, outdoor enthusiasts
Summary
The Nordic School, The Anglo-Australian approach (The Cranfield School) & The Industrial Marketing and Purchasing Group (IMP Group) are varied aspects of RM approaches. ”According to Ravi Achrol And kotler, one of the levels at which they study the network phenomenon is in terms of customer opportunity networks. Those are organized around the customer needs and market opportunities & are designed to search for best solution to them. Further they propose that the marketing function may reach its highest level of development as a customer consulting function, marketing-consumer relationship dominant over marketing –producer relationship.
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