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Calculating, creating, and claiming value in business markets: Status and research agenda

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Abstract

A key challenge facing business marketers surrounds developing a deeper understanding of customer needs. We conceptualize that challenge as having three dimensions: calculating, creating, and claiming value. We discuss key problems, new developments and research challenges in each of these three domains and note the desirability for a deeper collaboration between academics and practitioners to address the research challenges.

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Notes

  1. Even though the transactions between a retailer and a manufacturer is between two firms, as the transactions are meant for products meant for non-business consumers, i.e., consumer markets, we characterize these transactions as being B2C transactions.

  2. There is some overlap between the contractual dimension and the governance mechanisms typically discussed in the relationship marketing literature (e.g., Heide 1994; Jap and Anderson 2003). Most market governance mechanisms are likely to be non-contractual; however, non-market governance mechanisms tend to be either contractual (e.g., use of auditing services) or non-contractual (e.g., capital spending).

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM) and the Marketing Science Institute (MSI) for their support for several elements of the research presented here.

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Correspondence to Gary L. Lilien.

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Lilien, G.L., Grewal, R., Bowman, D. et al. Calculating, creating, and claiming value in business markets: Status and research agenda. Mark Lett 21, 287–299 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-010-9108-z

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