Ebook: Relationship Marketing In Services

About the Guest Editor Jay Kandampully is an Associate Professor inservices management, UQ Business School, The University of Queensland,Ipswich, Australia, and a visiting Professor at the REIMS ManagementSchool, France. Jay also serves as the Editor of the international journal,Managing Service Quality. He holds a PhD in service quality management,and an MBA, specialising in services marketing, both from the University ofExeter, UK. His undergraduate degree was in Hotel Management fromSalzburg, Austria. His educational qualifications have been well supportedby nine years’ managerial experience in India, Europe and in the USA. Jayenjoys close alliance with leading service oranisations in the USA, the UK,Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and India, where he is ofteninvited to conduct management seminars to update managers on nascentstrategies. Jay has published over 50 refereed articles in internationaljournals and international conference proceedings. His publication entitled‘‘Competitive advantage through anticipation innovation and relationships’’,published in the journal Management Decision, received the 1999 HighlyCommended Award and Citation of Excellence award. This article has alsobeen identified as the 4th most read article of all the 140 MCB journals in theEmerald database in 1999. In January 2003 Jay will be taking up a positionas Professor of Services Management at Ohio State University in the USA.The evolving significance of service relationships in the global marketplaceWithin a business context, the concept of relationships is as old as thephenomenon of trade itself. There is no question that the meaning and natureof these relationships has changed, but the catalyst in their evolution can beattributed to the transformation of business itself – in the way it operates andthe realms within which it operates. Business relationships today haveassumed numerous strategic roles, both within and outside the organisation– roles that were not conceived of and utilised in the past. Relationshipmarketing, once referred to as a ‘‘fad’’, is emerging as a discipline, and iswell recognised by both academics and practitioners. Indeed, relationshipmarketing has brought about a paradigm shift in the business mindset – ashift away from the short term (financial focus) to that of a long term focus(win-win), the so-called ‘‘business wisdom’’ of the new millennium.Advances in technology have exposed business enterprises to the infiniteopportunities now available with the creative utilisation of knowledge, timeand distance. In fact, it is the philosophy (wisdom) of the relationship thathas ultimately helped firms to transcend to an understanding of the infinitebenefits of the collective mind. Relationships play a pivotal role in this global business market, with firmsfinding it imperative: to extend rather than expand, laterally rather thanvertically; and to add value to their offer through strategic networks andalliances. The creative utilisation of this philosophy has seen partnershipsestablished between firms across the globe in order to cater for a customer’sentire value chain (holistic needs), not only as it is of today, but also as itwill evolve over time. Moreover, service innovation results only when a firm is able to focus its entire energies to think on behalf of the customer – for anoutcome that surpasses customers’ present expectations of superior value. Afirm’s leadership in the marketplace is attributed to their ability to thinkbeyond the present (anticipate), to think for the customer (innovation), and tothink outside the parameters of the firm (relationships). Today and in thefuture, competition per se may prove to be a less appealing alternative forfirms. Increasingly, firms will effectively focus on enhancing the value oftheir offer to the customer. Given the fact that both products and servicescontinue to become more complex, it has proved effective to seek expertisefrom outside the firm to add value. Recognising the expertise and developingworking relationships with knowledge centres outside the firm has helpedmany leading firms to gain and maintain their market leadership.Firms that maintain consistent market leadership are recognised championsin managing relationships. Relationship strategy today is the essence ofcorporate strategy, as it seeks to gain competitive advantage by creatinglinks among distinct but interrelated businesses. Thus the core competency ofthe firm (as valued by the customer) is creatively developed by the firm’sability to nurture enduring relationships with various parties inside andoutside the organisation. The experts inside and outside the firm cantherefore essentially be deemed the firm’s ‘‘competency-contributingpartners’’, since it is with their assistance that the design and delivery of theservice is realised. While the customer remains the primary focus of therelationship in a business context, the firm’s competitive advantage can nolonger be confined to the immediate organisational context. The firm’ssuccess is increasingly contingent on its ability to successfully adopt aholistic perspective of business encompassing all stakeholders of the firm, forexample: customer, employee, retailer, supplier and shareholder. Thus thefirm’s ability to nurture collective efficiency will prove more valuable, notonly to its customers but also to the stakeholders. In this increasinglycomplex and fragmented global market, a firm’s positive relationships withits network partners and other stakeholders will prove crucial. It istechnology that renders it possible for these amorphous networks ofexpertise to come together in cyberspace, although they may be thousands ofmiles apart physically. Technology thus acts as an unparalleled tool thatmakes it possible for a service firm to extend its core competency and toforge networks of relationships across the globe. In the last two decades, services marketing has evolved into a wellrecogniseddiscipline. This is indeed no coincidence as services dominate theglobal trade in both developed and developing economies. In this globalmarketplace, electronic networks proffer a unique opportunity for firms andindividuals to work collectively for mutual benefit. This special issue of theJournal of Services Marketing, focusing on ‘‘Relationship marketing in theservice sector’’, seeks to advance the knowledge on service relationships.This issue has incited established authors and emerging scholars tocontribute excellent articles. I believe this special issue will add to ourknowledge in the field of services marketing and relationship marketing.The authors and reviewers of this special issue have made an importantcontribution to the field of relationship marketing in the service sector. Isincerely appreciate and acknowledge their time, effort, co-operation andunderstanding in making this issue possible. Jay Kandampully Previously published in: JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, Volume 16, Number 7, 2002