Thursday, January 28, 2021 – 12:00 – 13:00 

QUANTIFYING RELATIONAL VALUE IN B2B: IMPLICATIONS FOR AI

Sharmila CHATTERJEE – MIT Sloan School of Management

Abstract: Increasingly knowledgeable business-to-business (B2B) customers and evolving customer needs are leading to seismic shifts in vendor–client interactions.  Across industries, sellers are changing their business models from a simple goods orientation to a hybrid goods–services model, placing greater emphasis on delivering complete customer solutions.  In such an environment, companies must find ways to prioritize investments in resource development.  The service-dominant (S-D) logic framework offers significant insights into this challenge; however, these effects have not been estimated quantitatively.

This study addresses that gap, examining the influence of various seller resources on buyer satisfaction through an empirical analysis of buying organizations that purchased and implemented business intelligence systems.  Our results demonstrate the value of investing in “soft” service facets versus more tangible, “hard” service facets with as much as a 3:1 effect.  They also showcase the potential for high returns from human capital investments that facilitate a holistic customer value mindset. These investments can enhance relationship satisfaction, bring positive word-of-mouth, and promote repurchase intent.

BIO Sharmila CHATTERJEE – MIT Sloan School of Management

Sharmila Chatterjee is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at MIT Sloan School of Management. She is also the Academic Head for the MBA Track in Enterprise Management (EM) launched at MIT Sloan in Fall 2012. Chatterjee teaches the graduate course in B2B Marketing and is deeply engaged in Action Learning as a faculty mentor for G-Lab, China/India Lab, and as an instructor for the Enterprise Management (EM) Lab. She published several articles in reputed marketing journals and she is an award winning case writer with several of her cases placing first in the case writing competitions sponsored by the educational wing of Direct Marketing Association, DMEF. She earned her PhD in marketing from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.