Making sense of global key account management (GAM): a case study from Japan

Abstract

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Understanding cross-cultural sales manager–salesperson relationships in the Asia-Pacific Rim region: a grounded theory approach

“…Our five themes of building and sustaining cross-cultural relationships, effective cross-cultural communication, acquisition and maintenance of trust, language, and decision-making, could be applied to a wide variety of cultures. Yet it has long been recognized that the traditions, values, and customs of Asian countries must be recognized and respected if one is to develop business relationships successfully in this region (Ellis and Iwasaki 2018;Reeder 1987). Drawing from the context of our five main themes, future research should dive more deeply into core cultural differences existing between Western and Eastern cultures as a means to build our understanding and help Western sales practitioners develop appropriate strategies when doing business in Asia.…”

“…Figure 1 displays the topic areas in which these studies made their key contributions. What we have learned from this research is that differences can exist in Western and Eastern samples regarding the effects of salesforce control (e.g., Fang, Evans, and Landry 2005), trust development and the relationships between trust and other variables (e.g., Atuahene-Gima and Li 2002), the effects of cultural variables (e.g., Sharma 2016), approaches to leadership (e.g., Mulki, Caemmerer, and Heggde 2015), models of global account management (Ellis and Iwasaki 2018), and responses to female managers (e.g., Liu, Comer, and Dubinsky 2001). Taken together, these studies suggest an ad hoc approach to our research on sales management in the Asia-Pacific Rim.…”

Top managers’ role in key account management

“…Atanasova and Senn, 2011; Ellis and Iwasaki, 2018;Guenzi and Storbacka, 2015;Nätti and Palo, 2012;and Neto et al, 2015. To check the KAs team commitment to the shared goals; to mitigate the internal power struggles; to disseminate the cross-functional capabilities of the team. Guenzi and Storbacka, 2015;Homburg et al, 2002;Leischnig et al, 2018;Richards and Jones, 2009;Salojärvi et al, 2013;Workman et al, 2003. To check the KAM formalization, the team-based structure, and the alternatives to improve KA's knowledge acquisition, assimilation, and use.…”

“…Davies and Ryals, 2014; Gounaris and Tzempelikos, 2013; Gounaris and Tzempelikos, 2014;Guenzi et al, 2009;Murphy and Li, 2015;Storbacka, 2012. To check if the business environment monitoring is proactive and consider both the customer's and the supplier's, as well as the international specificities. Blocker et al, 2011;Ellis and Iwasaki, 2018;Flint et al, 2011;Ivens and Pardo, 2008;Jean et al, 2015;Neto et al, 2015; To check if the buyer-supplier alignment is opportunistic, passive, mutualistic, or compensatory; and if the relationship with the KA is stable despite the difference in the strategic interests.…”

“…Another study identified that paying attention to the cultural factors associated with the differentiation of sales/KAM could improve results/time orientation, customer orientation and operational alignment (Wilson and Woodburn, 2014). To improve culture, a supplier should try to increase internal interaction and cooperation (Nätti and Palo, 2012), as well as analyzing the cultural differences in global KAM (Atanasova and Senn, 2011; Ellis and Iwasaki, 2018; Neto et al , 2015). Internal cooperation can be leveraged by training, team rewards and recognition (Guenzi and Storbacka, 2015).…”