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
1 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
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.
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
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
a. Decider: The marketing professor who decides to use this textbook for his or her classroom
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.
New buy: The bookstore purchases textbooks it has never purchased before or has never
purchased from a particular supplier.
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
no change in anything but the quantity ordered.
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
Based upon the overall (importance × performance) score for each manufacturer, Mazda should choose
Manufacturer A.
Issues
Imp
Weights
Mfg A
Perf
Mfg A
Imp × Perf
Mfg B
Perf
Mfg B
Imp × Perf
Sound 0.4 5 2.0 3 1.2
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
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?
This ethical scenario forces students to determine any violations of their own ethical standards of fairness
• “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
• “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
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.
9 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
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.
10 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
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
they serve as a benchmark for RFP award. Instructors should spend some time fully reviewing the
segmentation categories.
An in-class exercise is to divide the class into groups and assign them a business (pet shop, a fast-food
franchise, computer manufacturer, DVD store).
Have each group outline what would be included in each step of the business-to-business buying
process. Students can outline a few product specifications and write a brief RFP.
They can also list what they would seek in obtaining a supplier and use critical thinking skills to develop
two or three vendor/performance assessment points. Each group then could present their
business-to-business buying process to the class for discussion.
Online Tip: Use this exercise in a team setting where teams are assigned a business and have them
post their business-to-business buying process to the class on a public forum (post or docShare). Have
the other teams comment.
Instructors may want to go online to: http://www.census.gov/eos/www/naics/ and demonstrate how this
classification system is used as benchmarks when evaluating other businesses as potential buying
clients.
An in-class activity that students might find fun would be to divide the class into groups and have them
prepare a skit that demonstrates the various Buying Center roles. Students should include all six roles in
the skit that is presented to the class. Ask the “audience” to keep track on a piece of paper who played
the various roles. Have students jot down some marketing strategies that may work in influencing the
people in these various roles. This will provide active learning as the students learn to recognize the
various roles as their fellow students present their respective group skits.
Connect Activities
Activity Type Learning Objectives 07-
01 02 03 04 05
The Buying Center Click & Drag X
B2B Customers Click & Drag X
Toyota and the B2B Buying Process Click & Drag X
The Buying Center
Activity Type: Click & Drag
Learning Objectives: 07-03
Difficulty: Medium
Activity Summary: The student classifies buying center roles in the context of a medical services
example.
Activity
Introduction: Jared Harless shattered his elbow in a snowboarding accident and decided to visit a
doctor at Smith Union Hospital for treatment.
Concept Review: In most large organizations, several people are responsible for the buying
When the student moves his/her mouse over each of the ten rectangles presented, more information is
provided.