Datacorp Business Administration, Corporate Business and Control, Basic Course & Business Administration, Global Marketing

[pic 1]ÖREBRO UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Business Administration

Business Administration, Corporate Business and Control, Basic Course & Business Administration, Global Marketing

Autumn 2016

B2B Marketing Week Assignment

Group 25

Datacorp – An Executive Summary

                                                                                  


                                                

                                                        





                                        



                                                                         Mayer, Thomas - 960209

                                                                        Nylander, Sebastian – 930719

                                                                                                          Reimer, Miranda – 950912
               Roumi, Saman - 951011                        

Relationships & Interactions in a Power/Dependence Perspective
Datacorp is in a fairly simple network of actors, without any central figure, (see fig. 6.3 in Case Datacorp) and yet each relationship with the different actors is complicated.
         Between Datacorp and their Japanese component supplier, MCM, there is a product exchange within the network of a vital component that is transferred to Datacorp (Håkansson & Johanson, 1992). According to Datacorp, the relationship could be tied down tighter, which is one of the biggest challenges in the network. The main problems are the social exchange episode (Håkansson, 1982a) and internationalism (cultural differences) and the lack of openness and feeling of information held back (might be because MCM are a competitor as well as a supplier). Since MCM are Datacorp’s only component supplier for component used in the new technology, in the presented network, Datacorp are very much dependent on them. MCM use this weakness in the network, by putting themselves in an inferior position and exercising indirect control over Datacorp’s resources with demands (Agndal & Axelsson, 2012).

One of Datacorp’s most important customers is the OEM Electra. There is a long-term relationship between the two, with Datacorp transferring the product to Electra, where Electra then resell it as part of one of their package products (Håkansson & Johansson, 1992). What is problematizing the relationship is Electra’s extreme demand for quality, which can cause Datacorp to create an adaption of their product quality, at the same time as Electra are the ones forming the relationship. Another problem is Electra’s organizational structure (the hierarchy), which is the reason for Datacorp’s problem of locating the decision makers of Electra.