B2B Marketing

Name of the Faculty Mohan Kuruvilla

Affiliation
(Institution / Organisation) Stolle Machinery USA

Teaching Area Business to Business Marketing

Long duration programmes to which
this course may be offered
(PGP, FPM, PGPEM, PGPPM, EPGP)
http://www.iimb.ernet.in/programmes PGP, PGPEM, EPGP

Credits (No. of hours)

(3 credits=30 classroom hours; 1.5 credits-15
classroom hours; session=90 minutes) 3

Term / Quarter

Are there any financial implications to

this course?

Course Type (Regular/ workshop)? Regular

o Profile of the guest / adjunct faculty
teaching in the course.
o If there are more than one faculty teaching,
please mention the no. of sessions allocated
Additional information required for each faculty.

B2B Marketing Course Outline 2016 by Prof Mohan Kuruvilla 1

Course Objectives
The critical skills of the Marketing Manager in the B2B space involve:

a. Opportunity Identification - knowing the challenges faced by the nature of

demand (derived, joint and fluctuating).
b. Participants in the decision making units identifying the participants (who to
meet and who not to meet) and crafting the appropriate value proposition.
c. Devising the most effective influencing route and developing market access.
d. Qualifying, selling and managing Key Accounts.
e. Customer Relationship Management.
f. Compressing buying cycle times.

Course Outline
Live Cases have proven that having the best of products and services still does not
garner revenues if critical analytical skills are amiss. Planning, implementation,
evaluation and control are a must and all cases and caselets need to be read, understood
and be internalised before making creative approaches of what will work and what will
not.

B2B is all about hands-on applications and quick thinking. Thus we use cases and
caselets to put students in various real-life situations and then get them to do a project
which helps assimilation all that one has learnt. The loss of a Major Account could spell
disaster for companies. However, retention and acquisition of the right accounts is
easier said than done. Selecting the right Industry/Company and influencing to buy
through the project will be helpful and get a feeling of having clear takeaways in the
objectives.

Pedagogy
Lectures, cases/caselets, quizzes & application exercises.

B2B Marketing Course Outline 2016 by Prof Mohan Kuruvilla 2

Course Evaluation & Grading Pattern
a. Group Component(s)
a. Group Project/Case analysis 30 %
b. Individual Component(s)
a. Class Participation 10%
b. Quiz 20%
c. End Term Exam 40%

B2B Marketing Course Outline 2016 by Prof Mohan Kuruvilla 3

Session-wise plan
Session Date / Topic
No. week
(Optional)
1&2 Topic: Introduction to B2B Marketing

Readings:
a. Scope and Challenges of Business to Business
Marketing: HBS - 9 -594 -124 by Kasturi Rangan
b. Chapter 1, “The Environment of Business Marketing,”
from B2B Marketing by Hutt, Sharma and Thomas Speh
(11th Edition)
Cases:
c. Dominion Motors and Control: HBS by Raymond
Corey HBS 9.589 -115
d. Quiz - Applications Exercises in the Indian context

3&4 Topic: Customer Analysis

Readings:
a. Chapter 2, “Organisational Buying Behaviour,” from
B2B Marketing by Hutt, Sharma and Thomas Speh (11th
Edition)
b. Application Marketing Exercises how Customers Select
Products and Vendors
c. Reading “Understanding what Customers Value by
James Anderson and James Narus” HBR

Cases:

d. Caselet of a Bangalore based Software company who is

facing the threat of being replaced by a new vendor by
one of the World’s Largest Retailer

5&6 Topic: Customer Relationship Management Strategies for

Business Markets

Readings:

B2B Marketing Course Outline 2016 by Prof Mohan Kuruvilla 4

 a. Chapter 3, “Customer Relationship Management
Strategies for Business Markets,” from B2B Marketing by
Hutt, Sharma and Thomas Speh (11th Edition)
b. Differentiating Customers - Some Customers are worth
more than others from the Book Managing Customer
Relationship - A Strategic Framework by Don Peppers
and Martha Rodgers
(Chapter 5)

Cases:

c. Zurin Industries – Mariott School of Management,

Brigham Young University
7 Topic: Assessing Market Opportunities

Readings:
a. Chapter 4, “Segmenting the Business and Market and
Estimating Demand,” from B2B Marketing by Hutt,
Sharma and Thomas Speh (11th Edition)
b. Customer Segmentation in Business to Business Markets
by Joshua Stein (Darden Business Publishing)

Cases:

c. Brand Pipe Company - demonstrating the use of Macro

and Micro bases of Segmentation in the B2B Market
8&9 Topic: Environmental Changes Impacting Supply Chain Power

Readings:
a. Negotiating with a Customer you cannot lose by
Thomas Keiser HBR

Cases:

b. Becton and Dickenson (Harvard Case)

10 Topic: Strategic Market Planning

Readings:
a. Chapter 5, “Formulating Business Marketing Strateges,”

B2B Marketing Course Outline 2016 by Prof Mohan Kuruvilla 5

 from B2B Marketing by Hutt, Sharma and Thomas Speh
(11th Edition)
b. Industrial Marketing Strategy – An Overview by E
Raymond Corey 1996 Background Note

Cases:

c. The Tinplate Company of India Ltd - Need for

Conceptual Focus by Dr Ramesh Kumar and Mohan
Kuruvilla (Ivey)
11 Topic: Managing Products for Business Markets

Readings:
a. Customer Value Propositions in Business Markets by
Das Narayan Das - HBR
Cases:

b. Loctite

12 Topic: Managing Business Market Channels

Readings:
a. Chapter 10, “Managing Business Marketing Channels,”
from B2B Marketing by Hutt, Sharma and Thomas Speh
(11th Edition)
Cases:

b. Centra Software - John Deighton and Lactitta Pouliquen

(Harvard School)

13 Topic: Pricing

Readings:
a. Chapter 12, “Pricing Strategies for the Business
Markets,” from B2B Marketing by Hutt, Sharma and
Thomas Speh (11th Edition)
Cases:

b. Atlantic Corporation

B2B Marketing Course Outline 2016 by Prof Mohan Kuruvilla 6

 14 Topic: Key Account Management

Readings:
a. Managing Major Accounts - Frank Cespedes 9 -590 -046
b. Building Loyalty in Business Markets by Das Narayan
Das
Cases:

c. ABB and Caterpillar by Inna Francis International

Institute of Management

15 - 17 Topic: Business Marketing Communication

Readings:
a. Chapter 14, “Business Marketing Communications:
Managing the Personal Selling Function,” from B2B
Marketing by Hutt, Sharma and Thomas Speh (11th
Edition)
b. Using Social Media in B2B by Robert Spekman and
Ealiane Datsun

Cases:

c. Ascelpius Consulting - The Sales Force Dilemma by

Sreeram Sivakramakrishnan (Ivey) WI 13564
d. Hiperbaric B2B 2.0 by Pablo Foncillas IESES Business
School IES 373 January 2013

18 Topic: B2B Branding

Readings:
a. Chapter 5, “Branding in the B2B World - New
Opportunities” from ‘Basics of Branding’ by Jay
Gronlund

Cases:

b. Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool

Product stinking by V Kaasturi Rangan and Sunru

B2B Marketing Course Outline 2016 by Prof Mohan Kuruvilla 7

 Young

19 Topic: Controlling the Results

Readings:
a. Chapter 15, “Evaluating Business Marketing Strategy
and Performance,” from B2B Marketing by Hutt,
Sharma and Thomas Speh (11th Edition)

Cases:

b. Dropbox Revolutionises Cloud Storage Service with

Easy File Sharing for all
c. Lander Chemicals
20 Topic: Reviewing Critical Learnings

Readings:
a. Summaries learnings
- Challenges faced by B2B Marketeers
- Creating value
- Communicating value
- Delivering value

Cases:

b. Castrol India sells to Businesses but Advertises to

Consumers
c. Account Management at YRC WorldWide : Choosing
Customers Wisely
d. The Case of the Pricing Predicament

B2B Marketing Course Outline 2016 by Prof Mohan Kuruvilla 8

Profile of the Adjunct / Guest Faculty
Professional Experience:
Mohan Kuruvilla has 34 years of Industry experience starting with TATA TINPLATE
and having worked for 18 years leaving in April 2000 as The Chief Marketing Manager.
He was acknowledged for charting out a Marketing success story for TATA TINPLATE
in a new market and was amongst the chosen few to be sent to the Tata Management
Development Center for General Management training and then to IIM Ahmedabad.
He was also selected with McKenzie after they were appointed as Consultants to TATA
Steel Group.

In September 2000, Mohan set up his own Market Development Organisation, Metal
Packaging International (MPI), and took on complete outsourcing of sales and
marketing for MNCs in SAARC nations. Some of the key milestones of MPI are
highlighted below:

a. Started an exclusive arrangement with ICI Packaging Coating (now Akzo

Nobel) whose can coatings are made in various facilities around the globe and in
India was sold through ICI Paints before being hired. Worked with ICI for 10
years increasing their Sales from nothing to US$ 1 million, making them the
market leaders in the Food Packaging.

b. Increased the client base to five leading MNCs in US, Europe and China across
capital goods, entering goods and Services (OEMs) to market their products and
services begin with selecting target markets, developing access routes, generating
sales and profits etc.

c. Mentoring a leading Pan India Company (one-year contract in improving sales

of their products). Involves monthly mentoring sessions with Regional Sales
Managers, developing live caselets and conducting quarterly workshops.

d. Joined the world’s largest Metal Packaging Company worth US$ 9 billion full-
time as Head of Marketing in SAARC Region after installing their first major can-
making plant in Colombo owned by the Cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan
(INR 400 Crores). Now associated with several projects in Food Processing in Sri
Lanka, Bangladesh and India.

Teaching and Corporate Training Experience:

a. Has been teaching at various IIMs the complete paper in B2B for the past 22
years.
i. IIM Bangalore (1994 – 2000; except in 1996 when I co-anchored the paper
with the late Prof Thirunarayana)

B2B Marketing Course Outline 2016 by Prof Mohan Kuruvilla 9

 ii. IIM Indore (13 years)
iii. IIM Kozhikode (10 years)
iv. IIM Trichy (last 5 years)
v. IIM Rohtak and Kashipur
vi. IIM Indore - B2B for PGP three sections, EPGP Sales and Distribution and
workshop before placements (Locking Customers, Blocking Competition)

b. Has been an Accredited Trainer by MIS and MDIS Singapore doing open house
programmes (2-day workshops) for Corporate Executives on topics such as
Designing a Sales Funnel, Key Account Management and Selling, Enterprise
Selling.

c. Has done Corporate training in India and overseas for Companies like Samsung
India (Air Conditioning and Monitor divisions), Toshiba Singapore, Siemens
India, ITI, Hindustan Aeronautics, Lexis Nexis, Pearson and Entrepreneurs
forum in Chennai.

d. Has done sessions at Ohio University for their 2 year Sales Management
Programme.

e. Has contributed to the leading book in B2B Marketing by Hutt and Speh (named
in the book).

f. Working on a book titled "The Sales Chase" for Executives capturing live
situations and providing insights of how companies have devised approach
plans.

Publications:

Kumar, R., & Kuruvilla, M. (2001). Tinplate Company of India – Need for a Conceptual
Focus. Ivey Case.

Kumar, R., & Kuruvilla, M. (1999). Pricing in Business-to-Business Marketing. The

Hindu-Business Line.

Contact Details:

Address: 68 5th Cross, Pampa Extn., 5th Main, Kempapura, Hebbal. Bangalore – 560024.

Email: mohank26@hotmail.com

Mobile: +91 98452 05485

Website: http://www.thesaleschase.com/

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