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Paper info: The Impact of Organisational Context on the Effective Implementation of KAM/SAM Programs

Title


The Impact of Organisational Context on the Effective Implementation of KAM/SAM Programs

Authors


Kevin Wilson
Bordeaux Business School
France
Kevin Wilson and Diana Woodburn

Place of Publication


The paper was published at the 28th IMP-conference in Rome, Italy in 2012.

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Abstract


This paper explores some of the contextual reasons for the failure of key or strategic account management (K/SAM) programs. It will discuss how organisational context impacts upon the implementation and effective operation of suchprograms in business-to-business markets. The paper looks at the issues affecting K/SAM programs rather than the management of individual relationships.Organisational context shapes the work environment (Rice 2005, Porter &McGloghlin, 2006): it is comprised of those elements that drive behaviour and facilitate or impede management processes (Goodman and Haisley, 2007). The literature prescribes a wide range of contextual elements conducive to K/SAM processes, but is less expansive on the subject of elements that may cause K/SAM programs to disappoint.This work-in-progress paper takes an inductive approach to material provided by surveys of K/SAM communities and their discussions in LinkedIn special interest groups or similar forums, to develop a model to give structure to the organisational context issues which may be responsible for K/SAM failure. The next stage will include a co-operative inquiry appr+oach based on this data, in which participants will actively validate and develop the model by exploring it within their organisations.This research is the first stage in the development of an integrated diagnostic model that is meaningful in contributing to our understanding of those organisational factors that facilitate or hinder the effectiveness of K/SAM programs.