Cambridge Business Association
Managing Global Accounts
Book

Managing Global Accounts

Nine Critical Factors for a World-Class Program

Noel Capon, Dave Potter and Fred Schindler
Thomson South-Western, 2005
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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Noel Capon, Dave Potter and Fred Schindler claim that how corporations manage their global accounts will determine nothing less than their “success and organizational survival in the 21st century.” The authors present in reasonably clear (though not always grammatical) language the essentials of global account management. Stories at the beginnings of the chapters demonstrate the importance of the issues, and helpful summaries at the ends recapitulate the authors’ main points. This is a practitioner’s guide, straightforward and detailed. getAbstract recommends it to global account managers as well as to managers of sales and marketing units who are considering instituting a global account management program.

Summary

Why Managing Global Accounts Matters

In a globalized business environment, customers can search the world for suppliers. When businesses first began to expand internationally, many set up international divisions; eventually, regional units succeeded the international divisions. Some businesses created matrix structures in which, for example, global product divisions overlay regional units. The idea was to enable the business to treat each country and region differently. However, in a globalized world, companies want to be treated the same, whether they’re in Europe, Asia or North America. Globalization challenges suppliers in five ways:

  1. Customers are more sophisticated than in the past – As global customers focus on their own core competences, they are outsourcing more, using longer-term contracts and relying on a new breed of procurement executive, who has the authority to make strategically significant decisions.
  2. Competition isn’t what it used to be – Your competitors may be partnerships, strategic alliances or channel intermediaries.
  3. Complexity and change are roiling business...

About the Authors

Noel Capon is a professor of international marketing and chair of the marketing division at the Graduate School of Business, Columbia University. Dave Potter had a 35-year career at a major corporation, and from 1995 to 2002 was director of marketing and global account management. Fred Schindler had a 33 year career with an international computer company and for seven years was program executive for its global customer management program.

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