Managerial implications of research on inter-organizational interfaces: The case of key account management
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify what managerial implications research related to inter-organizational interfaces has been produced in marketing. For this aim, the authors focus on a specific concept implemented in many firms that operate on business-to-business markets, which is key account management (KAM).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used the Ebsco Database entering “account management” as a key word in the title row. The search provided 51 papers to which the authors added four MSI reports written by Moriarty and Shapiro between 1980 and 1984. The authors then identified such keywords as “managers”, “practitioners”, “marketers”, “managerial”, “business”, and their variations as well as normative words such as “should”, “must”, etc. in order to identify managerial implications.
Findings
Four main findings are provided: a clear managerial purpose is affirmed by KAM academic works whether as a central “purpose” of the works or as “implications”; these managerial implications may display different forms (dimensions to be considered, consequences to anticipate, advices); though the managerial scope of KAM works is clearly visible, the sophistication of managerial recommendations remains … limited; the identification of who is exactly “the manager” targeted by the implications remains vague.
Research limitations/implications
The authors discuss the notion of managerial relevance of academic research.
Practical/implications
The authors explore sources for practices (whether they are the ones of scholars or managers) that could help “spelling out more effectively the managerial implications.
Originality/value
To the knowledge this is the first work that reviews so precisely how academic articles address to the managerial audience on a precise issue. Furthermore, the authors believe that KAM is an interesting and appropriate field for such a review because it is widely implemented on business markets.
Keywords
Citation
Ivens, B.S. and PARDO, C. (2016), "Managerial implications of research on inter-organizational interfaces: The case of key account management", IMP Journal, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 25-49. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMP-06-2015-0030
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited