The amount of the exchange that occurs among firms and organizations represents the 2/3 of the total exchange in the advanced economies. The course is designed to provide the conceptual frameworks and main methodological tools to gain understanding of the structure and dynamics of business markets with reference both to upstream and downstream markets. In particular, the course is structured in two main parts: Business-to-Business (BtoB) Marketing, principles of Supply Chain Management (SCM).

I part (BtoB marketing): the course offers students the main managerial tools: to analyze and develop company’s positioning in business markets, to segment business markets; to formulate and develop the value proposition with respect to business customers and to analyze their satisfaction. In particular following issues will be in focus: Understanding business markets; Markets as networks; Business customer behavior and SCM; Developing the value proposition; Segmentation and targeting; Analysis of customer satisfaction; Marketing organization in business markets

II part (SCM): customer satisfaction in business markets depends from a complex "offering" generated by a multiplicity of actors. Every company should be able to cope with a complex network of supplier relationships in order to satisfy its customers. The objective of the course is to provide the student with a clear understanding and analyzing ability of the "upstream" market of the firm and with basic managerial tools in SCM.

Knowledge and understanding

Students should acquire knowledge and effective understanding of the main theoretical models developed in the business to business discipline and of the operational tools in industrial marketing and supply chain management.

Applying knowledge and understanding

Students should be able to apply the acquired knowledge and fully understand and solve problems with reference to a variety of contexts that characterize business to business markets, using, when necessary, interdisciplinary competences.

Making judgements

Students should use autonomously the acquired knowledge both at the conceptual and at the operational level showing effective capabilities in analyzing different contexts.

Communication skills

Students should learn the technical language that characterizes the discipline in order to clearly and effectively communicate with practitioners, managers, experts and academics. At the same time they should be able to relate and communicate with non professional people.

Learning skills

Students should develop learning abilities that allow them to autonomously study and investigate advancements in the discipline especially in the working environment in which they’ll operate.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it