Marketing Channels

Lou Pelton, David Strutton and James R. Lumpkin

Channel relationships are increasingly important in creating market value and sustainable competitive advantage. This elective provides an up-to-date perspective of the relationships among marketing channels using the channel relationship model (CRM). It looks at challenges and opportunities in the external channel environment, behavioural issues that beset channel relationships (internal channel environment), coordinations, conflict, cooperation, the economics of exchange and the development of channel relationships, including the implication of acquiring strategic partners.

Topics covered

Where mission meets market.
Channel roles in a dynamic marketplace.
Conventional marketing systems.
Marketing mix and relationship marketing.
Environmental scanning: managing uncertainty.
Legal developments in marketing channels.
Ethical issues in relationship marketing.
Global challenges and opportunities.
Channel climate.
Conflict resolution strategies.
Information systems and relationship logistics.
Cultivating positive channel relationships.
Transaction costs in marketing channels.
Vertical marketing systems.
Franchising: an emerging global trend.
Long-term interfirm relationships.
The emerging role of strategic alliances.
Strategic implications for the twenty-first century.

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Safwat Kabany
Syria

For Safwat Kabany, from Syria, doing his MBA with Edinburgh Business School was the most logical choice. "I'm in the petrochemical industry and Heriot-Watt University is one of the world-leading academic institutions in this field of industry. I therefore knew a lot about the high standards at Heriot-Watt and these are certainly evident in EBS's MBA programme."

Safwat decided to do the programme as a full-time on-campus student, which was not without its challenges, particularly for a foreign student. "I had to cope with both language and cultural differences, which at first were quite daunting. EBS, however, is very skilled at dealing with people from different backgrounds and cultures and it wasn't long before I felt very comfortable in this environment. The faculty are extremely helpful and take a keen interest in every individual. The facilities at Heriot-Watt for resident on-campus students are excellent and not having to worry about where I would live or how I would feed myself ensured that I could devote all my attention to my studies."...more