ABSTRACT
This chapter turns to relationships and networks as the next stage in developing effective value-based strategy – the strategic pathway – as shown in Figure 9.1. One of the problems with marketing think is that as soon as you use the word “relationship” they think you mean with customers and then assume that everything is taken care of with customer relationship management (CRM) * technology. This is not helpful because it is wrong on both counts. What we see in this chapter is that strategy is underpinned by a network of relationships that determine in large part whether the strategy stands up and whether it can be implemented. Strategy is about customers, obviously, but it is also about our relationships with collaborators in alliances and partnerships, where we stand with competitors and the contingent infl uencers who shape the landscape and with the people in our own organization. Here we look at several different elements of the relationship networks surrounding strategy. This provides the remaining component of the strategic pathway. The structure of the chapter is explained in Figure 9.2.
