ABSTRACT
New marketing philosophies and core technologies have emerged. Relational marketing orientation, increasing global opportunities and competition, forging closer working relationships with value chain partners, increasing use of information technologies in the marketing processes, and organizing for creating time-based competitive values—all have revolutionized the way marketers create and nurture exchange relationships and transact business in the marketplace. As prospective business marketers, students need to understand the strategic trends shaping the purchasing and supply management functions. Relationship marketing generally involves creating unique values and business arrangements for the customer for forging long-lasting business relationships. The increasing importance and practice of relational marketing strategies and tactics are likely to affect several areas of business marketing decisions. Electronic commerce eliminates a number of national and global market entry barriers, such as distribution and marketing costs. Real-life examples of conflicts and empowerment scenarios depicting a variety of marketing disagreements can be brought in, either through case method or by inviting guest speakers in the class.
