INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT KOZHIKODE
Post Graduate Programme in Business Leadership
Course Outline
Course Code and Course Title MANAGING BUSINESS MARKETS (MBM)
Course type Elective
Pre-requisites (if any) Nil
Course Credit 3
Total no. of sessions 20
Session Duration 90 Minutes
Term III
Year and Batch PGP-BL02 2020-21
Sections (if any) Nil
Instructor(s) Prof. Joffi Thomas
Contact Details
[email protected] Office 04952809117
Consultation Hours Available on Zoom for 30 Minutes after every
session.
What is referred as Business Markets? Businesses, governments and institutions acquire
products or services for mainly three reasons- (i) to incorporate into products and services
they deliver to their customers (ii) for their own use or (iii) to resell to other organizations.
These organizations who purchase products/ services from other businesses form the business
markets. For example - when a firm sells soap or shampoo or other goods which are pre-
dominantly used by households or individuals to businesses or leisure hotels or to other
organizations including large retailers or distributors they are operating in a business market.
Two fundamental characteristics differentiate business markets from consumer markets – (i)
the purpose of purchasing and (ii) the people and processes involved in purchasing.
Businesses buy to attain their business objectives -which is the survival and growth of the
firm (both topline and bottom line goals) and the purchasing, in most cases, is performed by
professional purchasers or business professionals whose task is to create value in monetary
terms. This is not true in the case of consumer markets and hence managing business markets
demand specialized knowledge; MBM is designed to meet this requirement.
What is characteristic of managing business markets? It involves managing the
organizational processes for understanding, creating and delivering value to customers as
well as the firm’s partners and society at large. This requires managers in business markets
to: (a) quantify the monetary worth of different benefits to customers esp. economic benefits,
technical benefits, service benefits and social benefits of market offerings as well as assess
the value of intangibles (b) understand and align technology strategy and market strategy to
create new offerings/ product pipeline and effectively differentiate existing offerings and (c)
communicate the value of the offerings to multiple members in the customer’s decision
making unit.
Managing business markets requires cross-functional working across multiple areas in the
organization to ensure that all organizational decisions are anchored on an in-depth
understanding of customer value. Strong focus on building and maintaining customer
relationships with customer groups and major accounts (few large customers compared to
consumer markets), emphasis on understanding of technology options and customization
possibilities to deliver superior value, and business networks, characterize business markets.
Digitalization forces and emergence of business ecosystem connecting related value chains
serving a set of customer needs demands understanding of both business markets and
consumer markets to manage collaboration across organizations and facilitate co-creation of
customer value.
Managing Business Markets*-What ways is it relevant to participants? An applied
knowledge of managing business markets could be relevant to participants with different
interests including: (a) Participants interested to take up marketing/ sales responsibility in
firms managing business markets - Business markets are significantly larger than consumer
markets (you may like to check the companies participating in placements and check the
roles involving business market management); they offer a variety of career opportunities.
With the digitization forces unleashing new opportunities and global competition from new
entrants as well as imports, for the Indian business markets traditionally characterized by
supply shortages, there is unprecedented demand for professional managers who can
effectively manage business markets. (you may think of taking customer management
responsibility or customer facing jobs in Consulting, IT, Investment banking, Capital
Equipment suppliers, or in firms supplying products and services to any industry including
automobile, construction/ infrastructure etc; also think of marketing / selling to institutions
like hotels or airlines or enabling selling to modern retail formats like Big Bazaar or
Reliance fresh for any consumer goods company. (for example. consider positions, apart
from industrial product companies, in consumer goods firms like Unilever or ITC or Nestle
managing modern retail formats)
(b) Those looking to lead business-marketing organizations / launch startups in business
markets: A close understanding of business markets / customers is essential for strategic
planning and hence is a requirement for top management executives / aspirants in a firm
catering to business, government and institutional markets even when managers are not
placed in the marketing / sales department. The course could thus be useful to participants
with entrepreneurial ambitions in business markets as well.
(c) Participants focusing on manufacturing/ operations to prepare take up responsibility
of procurement of capital equipment’s, raw materials components, supplies in consumer
markets or business markets: Knowledge of managing business markets is not only a
requirement for managers in the supplier firm catering to business markets but also is a need
for procurement professionals in the customer firm entrusted with the responsibility to create
value for the customer firm. If cost of goods sold is 50% of sales it implies that 50% of the
sales revenue is spend in purchase of raw materials, capital equipment and services, majority
of which goes to a few suppliers. Effective supplier management demands close
understanding of business markets.
Course Objectives
To provide participants with an applied understanding of customer value management
in business markets and appreciation of emerging digital ecosystems.
To develop critical analysis and problem-solving abilities required to appreciate and
manage the processes for assessing value, creating value and delivering it in business
markets.
Pedagogy
(i) Case discussions as well as lectures to appreciate and apply concepts and
frameworks in analyzing issues in managing business markets and
(ii) Project work to apply the learning from different session to understand issues in
business marketing firms
The course has an application orientation and hence primarily employs the case pedagogy.
The participants are required to come prepared after analyzing the case, going through the
readings assigned for each session and completing the case analysis and submission. The
readings are specified in the session plan. Participants will also be guided to apply the
learning gained in sessions in the course project.
Readings:
There are two sets of readings for the course. The first set of readings are readings to supplement
discussion about the concepts dealt in in analyzing the cases and class discussions. The second set of
readings deals with contemporary developments in digitalization, which are transforming the way
markets are managed; formation of digital business ecosystems, challenges and opportunities for both
incumbent firms as well as new players in different related industries and strategies to survive and
thrive in a digitalizing world.
Readings prefixed R (R1 R2…) in the list of readings are readings to supplement discussion about the
concepts dealt in case analysis and class discussions; readings prefixed D (D1, D2.. etc ) are readings
to connect to contemporary developments in digitalization which are transforming the way business
markets are managed.
Evaluation Scheme
Class Preparation and Participation (Individual) : 40%
(Class preparation includes case analysis submission prior to the
Session and participation in the class)
Assignments/Exercises : 30 %
End Term Exam (Case Based/ Project Based) : 30 %
Class Participation
Participants are expected to contribute to the classes by sharing their understanding from
readings as well as from following developments in practice. The learning from the course
will depend largely on the time and effort participants invest in preparing for the sessions,
connecting with developments in practice in industries of their interest & participating in the
discussions. Hence, it is critical that the participants come prepared, connect with the practice
through reading business newspapers and magazines and actively engage in class discussions.
Case Analysis Submission
Participants are required to answer the case assignment questions.
Detailed analysis/calculations may be shown in an excel sheet if required. You are
encouraged to use tables/ figures in the case analysis note to communicate in a
clear and crisp manner.
The submission should include a cover page mentioning participant name, roll no
and follow the specified format -11 font size, size, Times New Roman, single line
spacing, 1-inch margin on all sides.
Submissions to be made in VC on the day of the scheduled session for case
discussion, latest by 08:00 AM.
Session Plan
MODULE I Overview: Managing Business Markets
Session 1: Introduction and Course Overview
Conceptual Readings
R1-“Fundamentals of Customer Value” by Mohanbir Sawhney in CIO Magazine, July 2003,
4 pages.
R2- “Selling solutions isn’t enough: B2B Companies need to focus on customers achieve
better outcomes” in MIT Sloan Management Review 2018, 5 pages.
Session 2: Business Market Management
Case: PV Technologies, Inc.: Were They Asleep at the Switch?
Managing Markets in the Digitalising World – Readings
D1-Digital Ubiquity: How Sensors Connections and Data are revolutionalising Business in
HBR, 2014, 11 pages.
MODULE II Assessing Customer Value
Session 3, 4: Measuring Customer Value
Case: Commercializing the Kunst 1600 Dry Piston Vacuum Pump
R3- Customer Value propositions in Business Markets by James C. Anderson, James A.
Narus and Wouter van Rossum in Harvard Business Review March 2006, pages 91-99.
Session 5, 6: Understanding Firms as Customers
Case: eProcurement at Cathay Pacific Airways: e-Business Valuation
R4 –“The B2B elements of value: How to measure and deliver what customers want” in
HBR 2018, 9 pages
Session 7: Branding in Business markets
Case: SAP: Building a Leading Technology Brand - Part A
Session 8: Branding in Business markets
Case: SAP: Building a Leading Technology Brand- Part B
R5- Webster Frederick E and Kevin Lane Keller (2004), “A Road Map for Branding in
Business Markets” in Brand Management.
Session 9: Industry Issue Updates
Discussion: Understanding Customer Value
Managing Markets in the Digitalising World – Readings
D2- Thriving in an Increasingly Digital Ecosystem in MIT Sloan Management Review 2015,
8 pages.
D3- Surviving in an Increasingly Digital Ecosystem in MIT Sloan Management Review,
2017, 3 pages.
MODULE III Aligning Market Strategy with Technology Strategy
Session 10, 11: New Offering Realisation
Case: Precise Software Solutions
R6: Dynamic Capabilities at IBM: Driving Strategy to action in Califiornia Management
Review 49 (4) 2007, 24 pages.
Session 12, 13: Managing the Market Offering
Case: IndiaMART
R7-: Capturing the Value of Supplementary Services by James C. Anderson and James A.
Narus in Harvard Business Review 1995 (Jan-Feb), pages, 75-83.
Session 14: Creating Value, Review
Presentation of Industry Issue Updates
Discussion: Creating Customer Value
Managing Markets in the Digitalizing World
D4-In the ecosystem economy what should be your strategy? in Harvard Business Review
2019, 11 pages.
D5-The delicate balance of making an ecosystem work in Harvard Business Review 2019, 4
pages.
D6-3 steps to market-driven digital transformation in IESE Insight 2017, 8 pages.
D7- Kill it, Bill it or Keep it Free in MIT Sloan Management Review 2018, 10 Pages.
MODULE IV Delivering Value
Session 15: Gaining Customers
Session 16: Business to Business Selling
Case: Siebel Systems: Anatomy of a Sale, Part I and Part II
R8-Selling as a systematic process in HBR 1998, 6 pages.
R9- What makes a good salesman?
Session 17, 18: Key Account Management
Case: ABB and Caterpillar (A): Key Account Management
R10- Towards an integrated framework for key account management in Journal of Business
and Industrial marketing 2008, 9 pages
Session 19: Presentation of Industry Issue Updates
Discussion: Delivering Value
Managing Markets in the Digitalizing World
D8- How B2B Sellers Are Offering Personalization at Scale, Harvard Business Review
(2017)
D9-Sales: It is 10 AM. Do you know what your sales rep are doing? in Harvard Business
Review (2017), 5 pages.
D10- Collaborative Intelligence: How human and artificial intelligence create value along the
B2B sales funnel in Business Horizons 2020, (63), 12 pages.
Session 20: Course Review
