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2016/2017  KAN-CIBMO1003U  Business to Business Sales and Relations Management

English Title
Business to Business Sales and Relations Management

Course information

Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Spring
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for MA in International Business Communication
Course coordinator
  • Simon Ulrik Kragh - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
Main academic disciplines
  • Customer behaviour
  • Communication
  • Cultural studies
Last updated on 12-08-2016
Learning objectives
To achieve the grade 12, students should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor mistakes or errors:
  • analyze business markets, customer organizations and decision making processes in organizations and propose and evaluate sales strategies
  • link the overall strategy of the company to concrete sales activities
  • be able to propose organizational structures, training and HR development that enable the execution of strategy
  • analyze the personal qualities needed in order to perform efficiently in different kinds of business to business relations.
  • analyze and explain the role of trust and culture in developing lasting customer relations
  • critically evaluate different approaches to business to business sales and their contribution to overall strategy
  • critically asses advantages and disadvantages of different sales execution strategies and of organizations and training programs related to business to business sales and marketing
Examination
Business to Business Sales and Relations Management:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Oral Exam
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Duration 20 min. per student, including examiners' discussion of grade, and informing plus explaining the grade
Preparation time With the listed preparation time: 15 Minutes
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) Internal examiner and external examiner
Exam period Summer
Aids allowed to bring to the exam All written and electronic aids
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Description of the exam procedure

The exam takes its point of departure in a question which the student has drawn before the preparation time.

 

 

 

Course content and structure

The purpose of this course is to train students to analyze the motives and demand patterns of the organisation’s external stakeholders and to manage stakeholder relations. The course offers an overview of the various types of actors and relationships the organization must relate to and manage, focusing in particular on industrial customers and professional sale and cooperation.      

 

Students will gain insight into

 

  • the strategic importance of customer relations in business to business marketing as a means to achieve the organization’s overall strategic goals, including how sales managers and other customer facing personnel implement and transform strategic goals into concrete sales strategies.

 

  • how to create and maintain customer loyalty through communication and personal relationship-building. The students will both develop a theoretical understanding of developing the appropriate relationships as well as a practical proficiency in consultative communication. 

     

  • how departments such as HR and marketing which are not directly involves in sales and cooperation with partner companies may contribute to the attainment of the organization’s business to business goals.

     

  • the various forms ofbusiness to business cooperation, ranging from short term sales to joint product development and marketing

     

  • the factors that determine customer satisfaction and loyalty through the delivery of superior value to customers in complex business to business sales, in consulting and cooperation with other organizations.

     

  • the buying and decision making behavior of organizations and how to interact with customer organizations.
     

Indicative literature: Frank V. Cespedes: Aligning Strategy and Sales. Harvard Business Review Press. Latest edition.

Teaching methods
Lectures and case-discussions
Student workload
Lectures 49 hours
preparation and exam 105 hours
Last updated on 12-08-2016