Managing Global Accounts - Softcover

Capon, Professor Noel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0979734436 ISBN 13: 9780979734434

Publisher: Wessex, Inc., 2008

Synopsis

As globalization takes hold several things happen; customers are more demanding and sophisticated, competition gets tougher, business is more complex and fast changing, and highly competent global account managers are in short supply. The managerial challenges of competing in a global world are more difficult in orders of magnitude than competing domestically. Life is especially tough when the corporation is not centrally focused on the global customer when corporate personnel across functions and around the world do not get it. To get it means understanding at a visceral level that success or failure with global customers maybe synonymous with success or failure of the entire enterprise. Unless all employees are focused in the firms relationship with its global customers, competitors that do get it will surpass them. Indeed, competitive advantage based on building global supplier customer relationships may be longer-lasting than competitive advantage based on products or services. Companies cancel products but they less easily cancel people, especially those that have served them well. But the promise of long-run sustainable competitive advantage can be secured only if the firm truly focuses in serving the global customer. No matter where they are located, all firm employees must understand they are competing in a global world and that success with global customers is the Holy Grail. They must throw off the shackles of ethno-centrism and nationalism acquired in their youths, and embrace the global challenge. Not only should they defend their turf against global competitors but they must do what they can to make their global customers succeed. In pursuing this goal, they may develop a global account management system that in itself becomes a competitive advantage.

About this title

About the Author:

Professor Capon is the R.C. Kopf Professor of International Marketing and former Chair of the Marketing Division at Columbia Business School in New York, where he has been on the faculty since 1979. He is Director of the Managing Strategic Accounts (MSA), and Pricing-to-Win (P2W) executive programs. He also teaches on the Columbia Senior Executive Program (CSEP) and on Columbia's Executive MBA partner programs with the University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley/Columbia EMBA) and London Business School (EMBA Global). He also designs, directs, and teaches numerous private programs for major corporations. Professor Capon is widely published. His articles have appeared in many reviewed journals and trade magazines. He has also written many books on marketing and sales management. He earned B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry from University College, London University, and degrees in Business Administration from Manchester (Dip. BA), Harvard (MBA) and Columbia Business Schools (Ph.D.).

Review:

An indispensable how-to book for CEOs who lead global companies and, even more importantly, for those who aspire. Implementing global account management is not easy. In a unique partnership of the business world with academe, Capon, Potter, and Schindler lay out a comprehensive roadmap for developing a global account program. If you are trying to support your global customers, I recommend you read and use this book. You will save yourselves time and many missteps as you learn from the myriad of insights the authors provide. IĀ’ve seen it from both sides of the desk. Increasingly all firms are impacted by globalization. --Jennifer Cuthbertson, Business Book Review

Managing a company s global accounts is not the same as managing national accounts, and any business that tries to move from national to global accounts without careful consideration and planning is doomed to fail. Managing Global Accounts presents a planning process and nine critical factors that any company must consider as it moves into the global marketplace. From how to change an organization s structure, to how to determine what accounts to accept, to how to hire the right Global Account Manager (GAM), this book provides a blueprint for any company contemplating making the leap into the global economy. Capon, Potter, and Schindler focus on achieving corporate success and organizational survival by focusing on developing and sustaining beneficial relationships with global customers. Today, many companies are finding that they are getting a higher portion of their revenue and profits from fewer customers. In fact, these customers can be considered to be core assets. As a result many companies have developed strategic or key account programs as an organizational approach to revenue and profit concentration. These strategies have brought many companies great success, when they develop the appropriate strategies, line organizations, systems and processes, and human resources to serve them. But, many of the companies find they are not set up to handle a customer s request to place a single global order, to purchase similarly. The authors contend that the domestic strategic account management model does not work for this scenario, because the supplier does not have a framework, strategy, organization, or process to negotiate an arrangement with the global customer. As they put it, The multi-domestic (or multinational) supplier cannot satisfy the customer s need for conducting business globally, even though the supplier itself may operate in many countries around the world. Successful global account management may call for reformulating the line organization and accepting the inherent personnel dislocations. It will also mean changing systems and processes designed to serve domestic customers with ones that will work globally, and the human resources implications are enormous. Globalization is one of the key catalysts for change in today s business world, and one of the biggest challenges is that most companies will still need to meet the needs of their domestic customers, while determining how to adapt for current and potential global customers. The authors have outlined several hurdles that companies must clear before setting up a global account management system. They also lay out the rewards and risks in global account management and caution that, while it is very tempting to skip the extensive planning, it is not recommended. Indeed the benefits of getting it right the first time are very substantial. If you are able to improve your relationships with a few global accounts, the rewards in additional revenues and profits should by far exceed your investment in the global program. --Rolf Dobelli (Luzern Switzerland)

Managing a company s global accounts is not the same as managing national accounts, and any business that tries to move from national to global accounts without careful consideration and planning is doomed to fail. Managing Global Accounts presents a planning process and nine critical factors that any company must consider as it moves into the global marketplace. From how to change an organization s structure, to how to determine what accounts to accept, to how to hire the right Global Account Manager (GAM), this book provides a blueprint for any company contemplating making the leap into the global economy. Capon, Potter, and Schindler focus on achieving corporate success and organizational survival by focusing on developing and sustaining beneficial relationships with global customers. Today, many companies are finding that they are getting a higher portion of their revenue and profits from fewer customers. In fact, these customers can be considered to be core assets. As a result many companies have developed strategic or key account programs as an organizational approach to revenue and profit concentration. These strategies have brought many companies great success, when they develop the appropriate strategies, line organizations, systems and processes, and human resources to serve them. But, many of the companies find they are not set up to handle a customer s request to place a single global order, to purchase similarly. The authors contend that the domestic strategic account management model does not work for this scenario, because the supplier does not have a framework, strategy, organization, or process to negotiate an arrangement with the global customer. As they put it, The multi-domestic (or multinational) supplier cannot satisfy the customer s need for conducting business globally, even though the supplier itself may operate in many countries around the world. Successful global account management may call for reformulating the line organization and accepting the inherent personnel dislocations. It will also mean changing systems and processes designed to serve domestic customers with ones that will work globally, and the human resources implications are enormous. Globalization is one of the key catalysts for change in today s business world, and one of the biggest challenges is that most companies will still need to meet the needs of their domestic customers, while determining how to adapt for current and potential global customers. The authors have outlined several hurdles that companies must clear before setting up a global account management system. They also lay out the rewards and risks in global account management and caution that, while it is very tempting to skip the extensive planning, it is not recommended. Indeed the benefits of getting it right the first time are very substantial. If you are able to improve your relationships with a few global accounts, the rewards in additional revenues and profits should by far exceed your investment in the global program. A successful global account program can mean increased profits through global coordination; development of global partnerships; better competitive positioning, and greater global dependency by customers, because customers also benefit. They receive better products and services that meet their needs, and they could gain process efficiencies and solve global supply chain issues. --Jennifer Cuthbertson - Business Book Review Vol. 23, No. 17

About this edition

• Publisher: Wessex, Inc.
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0979734436
• ISBN 13: 9780979734434
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 280