Chapter 7 – Business-to-Business Marketing Marketing 6th
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McGraw-Hill Education.
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Chapter 7
Business-to-Business Marketing
Tools for Instructors
• Brief Chapter Outline
• Learning Objectives
• Extended Chapter Outline with Teaching Tips
• Answers to End of Chapter Learning Aids
• Chapter Case Study
• Additional Teaching Tips
• Connect Activities
Brief Chapter Outline
B2B Markets
The Business–to-Business Buying Process
The Buying Center
The Buying Situation
End of Chapter Learning Aids
Chapter Case Study: Staples: The Big Box Retailer That’s Really a B2B Powerhouse
Learning Objectives
LO7-1 Describe the ways in which business–to-business (B2B) firms segment their markets.
All firms want to divide the market into groups of customers with different needs, wants, or characteristics
who therefore might appreciate products or services geared especially toward them. On a broad level,
B2B firms divide the market into four types: manufacturers or service providers, resellers, institutions, and
types of goods and services; in the United States, defense is among the largest expenditures.
LO7-2 List the steps in the B2B buying process.
Similar to the B2C buying process, the B2B process consists of several stages: need recognition; product
specification; the RFP process; proposal analysis, vendor negotiation, and selection; order specification;
LO7-3 Identify the roles within the buying center.
The initiator first suggests the purchase. The influencer affects important people’s perceptions and final
decisions. The decider ultimately determines at least some of the buying decision—whether, what, how,
Chapter 7 – Business-to-Business Marketing Marketing 6th
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McGraw-Hill Education.
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LO7-4 Describe the different types of organizational cultures.
Firm culture consists of unspoken guidelines that employees share through various work situations. They
generally can be classified as autocratic, in which one person makes most decisions; democratic, where
LO7-5 Detail different buying situations.
The buying process depends to a great extent on the situation. If a firm is purchasing a product or service
for the first time (i.e., new buy), the process is much more involved than if it is engaging in a straight rebuy
Extended Chapter Outline with Teaching Tips
I. B2B Markets
A. Manufacturers and Service Providers
B. Resellers
C. Institutions
D. Government
Progress Check: Several questions are offered for students to check their understanding of core
concepts.
1. What are the various B2B markets?
II. The Business-to-Business Buying Process
A. Stage 1: Need Recognition
B. Stage 2: Product Specification
C. Stage 3: RFP Process
D. Stage 4: Proposal Analysis, Vendor Negotiation, and Selection
E. Stage 5: Order Specification
F. Stage 6: Vendor Performance Assessment Using Metrics
Progress Check: Several questions are offered for students to check their understanding of core
concepts.
Chapter 7 – Business-to-Business Marketing Marketing 6th
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McGraw-Hill Education.
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Answers to End of Chapter Learning Aids
Marketing Digitally
1 Ballymaloe Country Relish is an Irish delicacy sold in fine food stores throughout Ireland. For
consumers outside Ireland, it also lists various sellers in different countries. Visit
ballymaloecountryrelish.ie, and click on “Stocklist” to find the most convenient source for you
personally. Why does Ballymaloe offer such information and direct links to other retailers?
What benefits does doing so provide the relish maker, the retailer, and customers?
Ballymaloe wants to make it easy for its customers to purchase its products. Consumers can buy directly
from the Ballymaloe website or from one of the retailers that distribute the Ballymaloe product. These
retailers are listed on the Ballymaloe website. By promoting this information, Ballymaloe is able to sell
products.
2 Siemens worked with the custom motorcycle manufacturer Orange County Chopper to build
the Smart Chopper—the first electric motorcycle. Visit
http://www.usa.siemens.com/smartchopper/ to learn about the specifications and details of
this new form of chopper. How is Siemens using this innovation to improve its relationships
with its business customers? What other outcomes might this services provider expect from
its efforts?
“We wanted to build this unique chopper to raise environmental awareness and reflect what the 69,000
employees of Siemens USA are doing to help America stay on the cutting edge of tomorrow’s green
economy,” said Daryl Dulaney, President & CEO of Siemens Building Technologies.
Marketing Applications
1 Provide an example of each of the four types of B2B organizations.
In providing a representative example of each type, students demonstrate their understanding of B2B
organizations.
Examples of the four key types of B2B organizations appear below:
2 What are the major differences between the consumer buying process discussed in Chapter 6
and the B2B buying process discussed in this chapter? Use buying iPads for personal use
versus buying mora than 100 iPads for a firm to illustrate the key points.
Students must be able to discern the difference between a consumer and a B2B buying process and
could compare these processes in several ways. Compared with the consumer buying process, the B2B
buying process tends to be much more formalized, involves more people in the actual decision, evaluates
Chapter 7 – Business-to-Business Marketing Marketing 6th
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McGraw-Hill Education.
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alternatives more extensively and often over a longer time period, and rarely contains any impulse or
habitual behavior component.
3 Assume you have written this textbook and are going to attempt to sell it to your school.
Identify the six members of the buying center. What role would each play in the decision
process? Rank them in terms of how much influence they would have on the decision, with 1
being most influential and 6 being least influential. Will this ranking be different in other
situations?
In large organizations, several people typically are responsible for buying decisions. By taking the role of
an author selling a book to an educational institution, students must think through the potentially involved
parties to determine how best to approach the buying center. Although the question asks students to rank
the six members, they should understand that all members must agree to the purchase.
4 Now provide an example of the three types of buying situations that the bookstore at your
school might face when buying textbooks.
Instead of taking the role of the author selling a book, this exercise asks students to put themselves in the
shoes of the school’s textbook procurement manager.
Chapter 7 – Business-to-Business Marketing Marketing 6th
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McGraw-Hill Education.
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5 Finally, discuss for which types of products the bookstore would do a straight rebuy and for
which it would pursue a modified rebuy.
• Straight rebuy: The bookstore simply orders more copies of a textbook it has ordered before with
6 Mazda is trying to assess the performance of two manufacturers that could supply music
systems for its vehicles. Using the information in the table below, determine which
manufacturer Mazda should use.
Performance Evaluation of Brands
Issues
Importance Weights
Manufacturer A’s
Performance
Manufacturer B’s
Performance
Sound
0.4
5
3
Cost
0.3
2
4
Delivery time
0.1
2
2
Brand cache
0.2
5
1
Total
1
This exercise challenges students to complete a vendor analysis matrix and evaluate which vendor would
be the better choice. To complete this task, they must multiply the importance weights and performance
Manufacturer A.
Issues
Imp
Weights
Mfg A
Imp × Perf
Mfg B
Imp × Perf
Sound
0.4
2.0
1.2
Cost
0.3
0.6
1.2
Delivery Time
0.1
0.2
0.2
Brand Cache
0.2
1.0
0.2
Total
1
3.8
2.8
7 Describe the organizational culture at your school or job. How would knowledge of this
particular organization’s culture help a B2B salesperson sell products or services to the
organization?
A firm or school’s organizational culture often comprises a set of unspoken guidelines that employees or
students share in various situations. By comparing two different cultures, students should gain an
8 You have just started to work in the purchasing office of a major pharmaceutical firm. The
purchasing manager has asked you to assist in writing an RFP for a major purchase. The
manager gives you a sheet detailing the specifications for the RFP. While reading the
specifications, you realize that they have been written to be extremely favorable to one bidder.
How should you handle this situation?
Chapter 7 – Business-to-Business Marketing Marketing 6th
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This ethical scenario forces students to determine any violations of their own ethical standards of fairness
and business transparency. Using the ethical decision-making framework from Chapter 4, students can
• “Have you thought broadly of any ethical issues associated with the decision to be made?” I have
concerns about how fair the overall bidding process will be if the RFP specifications are written to favor
company and the bidder, which would cause us to lose face and run the risk of possible lawsuits.
• “Have you involved as many people as possible who have a stake in how this issue is resolved?” At
• “Does this decision respect the rights and dignity of the stakeholders?” My company’s management
• “Does this decision produce the most good and the least harm to the relevant stakeholders?” No,
• “Does this decision uphold relevant conventional moral rules?” It likely violates the community’s
• “Can you live with this decision alternative?” If the decision alternative is to discuss my concerns about
• Therefore, I will approach the management team about my concerns and advocate that the RFP
Quiz Yourself
1 Which of the following statements regarding the B2B buying process is true?
a. The B2B buying process is identical to the B2C buying process.
b. The B2B buying process is less complex than the B2C buying process.
c. In the B2B buying process, decisions are made quickly and without much consideration.
d. In the B2B buying process, formal performance evaluations of the vendor generally do not occur.
e. In the B2B buying process, the search for information and evaluation of alternatives is more
formal and structured.
2 In a _____ situation, the buying center is likely to proceed through all six steps in the buying process
and involve many people in the buying decision.
a. straight rebuy
b. standard rebuy
c. modified rebuy
Chapter 7 – Business-to-Business Marketing Marketing 6th
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d. new buy
e. capital buy
Chapter Case Study: Staples: The Big Box Retailer That’s Really a B2B
Powerhouse
1 Imagine a small business that has long bought its office supplies from Staples. It reads about
Lendio and considers whether to solicit a loan. What kind of buying situation has this small
business entered?
The main assumption that must be addressed is if this is the first time the business has solicited a loan.
If this is the first time, then this is a new buy situation. The buying decision is likely to be quite involved
2 What attributes should this small business use to evaluate Staples as vendor? What about
Lendio? Using those attributes for Staples and Lendio, perform two separate vendor analyses.
Staples as an office supply vendor could be evaluated on:
• Capacity to supply the appropriate products and services
• Capabilities—what it can and cannot do or provide
Lendio as a financier could be evaluated on:
• Financial strength
• Capacity to loan the desired amounts
Additional Teaching Tips
This chapter exposes students to business–to-business markets, the buying process for B2B, and factors
affecting the buying process unique to B2B transactions. Students also learn the various buying center
roles.
While students are quite familiar with business-to-consumer markets, most are unfamiliar with
business-to-business markets. Students may find it difficult to understand the buying process. Students
may have not heard the term “RFP” and may not know how detailed order specifications are and how