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Does KAM have a dark side?

Webinar

Does KAM have a dark side?
Friday 28th May 2021
11:15-12:15 p.m. BST | 12:15-1:15 p.m. CET
Dr Nima Heirati, Associate Professor of Marketing, Surrey Business School, University of Surrey
Yumeng Zhang, Research Assistant at the School of Business and Management, Queen Mary University of London, UK

Are close business relationships always synonymous with superior performance?

Does the dark side of a business relationship spread in relationship portfolios?

Based on interviews with key account managers, this research uncovers that the emergence of a ‘dark side’ in a business relationship can overshadow its benefits. This research also shows that the dark side can spread between business relationships, resulting in a contagious effect. This presentation explains how the ‘dark side’ can spread across business relationships and offer managerial guidelines to mitigate the emergence and spread of dark side effects in relationship portfolios.

Learning points

  • The factors that make business relationships with customers or suppliers beneficial can leave those relationships vulnerable to deterioration.
  • The dark side of close business relationships appears and overshadows the benefits of close relationships.
  • The emergence of the dark side in a close and strong business relationship can deteriorate that relationship and contaminate other business relationships.
  • Managers should be aware of the practices that help mitigate the dark side and its contamination in relationship portfolios.
Dr Nima Heirati

Dr Nima Heirati
Associate Professor 

Dr Nima Heirati is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Surrey Business School, University of Surrey. He is also Visiting Academic at the Queen Mary University of London. Before joining academia, Nima held positions as the marketing manager and business development manager. His research relates predominantly to the area of Innovation Strategy, Service Marketing, and Business Relationships with the special focus on the challenges involved in business relationships as well as business model innovation through digitalisation and service infusion.

Yumeng Zhang
Research Assistant

Yumeng Zhang is a PhD candidate and a research assistant at the School of Business and Management, Queen Mary University of London, UK. Her research focuses on relationship marketing and relationship portfolio management. She has published her research in leading journals such as the Journal of Business Research and European Journal of Operational Research.

Hosted by:

The Association for Key Account Management

For more information:

Email [email protected]

AKAM's next webinar:

Friday, 18th June 2021

Vested contracts | Members only
David Frydlinger