At RBI, the professional and academic programs are backed by a living curriculum that is a result of integration of expert academic research and deep industry insights. Faculty members are actively involved in sales research and their work has been published at high quality peer reviewed journals. Some of the research priorities of the RBI faculty members include Sales Force Turnover and Retention Issues, Sales Training Effectiveness, Optimal Customer Relationship Management/ Sales Force Automation Deployment and Performance, Buyer/ Seller Relationships - Customer Satisfaction and Retention, Salesperson Performance Enhancement, Competitive Intelligence, etc.
________________________________________________________________________ Topic: Impact of Outsourcing on Business-to-Business Marketing: An Agenda for InquiryAuthors: Michael Ahearne and Prabakar Kothandaraman (2009)Publication: Industrial Marketing Management, 38 (4), 376-378 Abstract: Increasing globalization has made companies focus more on their outsourcing decisions. Moving beyond the tactical companies have begun to incorporate outsourcing as a strategic weapon in their armory. This article expands on this theme by highlighting the need for understanding this key issue from business marketing and sales perspective and pointing to some interesting research issues on the topic.
________________________________________________________________________ Title: The Future of Competition: Value-Creating NetworksAuthors: Prabakar Kothandaraman and David T. Wilson (2001) Publication: Industrial Marketing Management, 30, 379–389 Abstract: In buyer–seller relationships, the focus has moved beyond individual firms to value-creating networks formed by key firms in the value chain that deliver value to the end consumer. The article develops a rationale for value-creating networks using three core building blocks: superior customer value, core competencies, and relationships. The rationale is developed based upon an understanding of the value-creation process and its links to core capabilities of firms in the network. The importance of inter-firm relationships in realizing the true potential of the value-creation networks is also highlighted. The authors argue based on their sample analysis of some examples that competition in the future will shift to the network level from the firm level. The influence of some emerging business tools such as electronic commerce on redefining value creation is also discussed.
________________________________________________________________________ Title: Implementing Relationship Strategy Authors: Prabakar Kothandaraman and David T. Wilson (2000) Publication: Industrial Marketing Management, 29 (4), 339-349 Abstract: The domain of interest, while investigating inter-organizational relationships, has been the boundary function of marketing and purchasing. Understanding the effect of proper cultural orientation of the critical value creating functions within the organization on the successful implementation of relationship marketing strategy requires attention. Managers who are charged with the responsibility of implementing a relationship strategy often encounter skepticism within the organization from the functional managers. In pursuing a relationship paradigm, the old ways of adversarial exchanges need to give way to the new ways of doing business that is built on trust and commitment. The functional departments need to believe in relationships as a way of doing business. This research explores the impact of the internal attitude toward relationship paradigm on relationship outcome. In this paper, we develop a framework of relationship strategy implementation and argue that functional managers need to buy into the relationship paradigm in order for relationship strategy to work.
