A comprehensive collection of papers representing researched knowledge of strategic account management from across the academic community. This reference work gives the most up-to-date and complete review of established knowledge in the field while separating genuine knowledge from opinion and myth. .

Acknowledgements vii The editors ix About this book xi Key strategic account management: where are we now? 1 Editors Woodburn and Wilson Section 1: Strategic dimensions of KSAM 35 Making the case for managing strategic accounts 37 Capon and Mihoc Drivers for key account management programmes 53 Brehmer and Rehme KSAM as an organizational change: making the transition 77 Woodburn Switching costs in key account relationships 103 Sengupta, Krapfel and Pusateri The strategic buyer: how emerging procurement strategies may support KAM/SAM relationships 115 Croom Social and ethical concerns in strategic account management: emerging opportunities and new threats 141 Piercy and Lane Section 2: Value creation through KSAM 169 Value in strategic account management 171 La Rocca and Snehota Value dimensions and relationship postures in dyadic key relationship programmes 191 Henneberg, Pardo, Mouzas and Naude Vertical coopetition : the key account perspective 205 Lacoste Key account management in business markets: an empirical test of common assumptions 227 Ivens and Pardo Strategic account plans: their crucial role in strategic account management 245 McDonald and Woodburn Using customer profitability and customer lifetime value to manage strategic accounts 267 Lemmens and Vanderbiesen Section 3: Developing KSAM programmes 287 A configurational approach to strategic account management effectiveness 289 Homburg, Workman and Jensen The appropriateness of the key account management organization 317 Wengler Organizational structures in global account management 337 Yip and Bink Strategic account management programmes: alignment of design elements and management practices 355 Storbacka Global customer team design: dimensions, determinants and performance outcomes 379 Atanasova and Senn Key accountization at Bosch Automotive Aftermarket Italy: managing and implementing a strategic change 405 Guenzi Section 4: Operationalizing KSAM 419 Recent developments in relationship portfolios: a review of current knowledge 421 Zolkiewski Account portfolio management: optimizing the customer portfolio of the firm 441 Gok Strategic account management processes at corporate, relationship and annual level 461 Ojasalo Developing strategic key account relationships in business-to-business markets 495 Wilson The role of the key/strategic account manager 515 Wilson and Holt The influence of personality on the job performance of strategic account managers 539 Mahlamaki, Uusitalo and Mikkola References 555 Author profiles 605 Index 615

Strategic account management (SAM) is a difficult, fascinating, highly topical and enduring field that has so far attracted the attention and interest of a limited number of academics, much less than it deserves.  It is a distinctive and important domain of business that needs to have a place in the mind of academics as substantial as the attention it attracts in companies. 

Some academics claim that key strategic account management (KSAM) is just part of relationship marketing, and while it owes a great deal to that stream of thinking, there is much that is different: lumping them together is very misleading. 

At the same time, sales research literature contributes some valuable ideas to KSAM, but that generally assumes a substantial quantity of unconnected customers and opportunities: it is quite the reverse in KSAM, where opportunities are far fewer, bigger, wide-reaching, linked to the past and the future, critical, and often demanding of significant change in the supplier’s business. Also intrinsic to KSAM is its impact on the internal organisation and the rest of the company, to which neither relationship marketing nor sales research gives much consideration.

The Handbook of Strategic Account Management is a unique and comprehensive collection of the current body of knowledge in KSAM that gives the most up-to-date and complete review of established knowledge in the field, while separating genuine knowledge from opinion and myth.

The book will prove to be an invaluable resource for students, lecturers and researchers in strategic account management, as well as serious practitioners. 

“Today’s strategic, key and global account management professionals owe thanks to a small community of academic researchers who, over the past three decades, have been pioneers in identifying, cataloguing and analyzing the selling and business management practices of an emerging profession we now call strategic account management.  This Handbook is an important milestone to mark SAM’s still-evolving impact on corporate business strategies and its ever-increasing relevance as a proven engine for growth in business-to-business strategic customer relationships.”
—Bernard Quancard, President & CEO, Strategic Account Management Association

“Key strategic account management is challenging, but when properly implemented, it can deliver significant benefits to both a company and its customers. This Handbook draws together the existing body of knowledge on the subject and makes it accessible so we can apply the concepts with confidence. It’s going to be a very valuable resource for practitioners as well as academics.”
—Henrik Hauggaard, Vice President Sales Management, Tetra Pak International

“This book is a vital source of insight and ideas in a key area for management.”
—Professor David Ford, Emeritus Professor of Marketing at Bath University, Affiliate Professor at KEDGE Business School, Bordeaux and longtime member of the IMP (Industrial Marketing and Purchasing) Group