In the general public, the term "marketing" is usually associated with brands such as Coca-Cola, Nike or Disney and thus equated with consumer goods or business-to-consumer marketing. This is quite understandable against the background of the advertising pressure exerted by such brands on consumers, but measured by sales, marketing processes in business-to-business markets are much more important than those in consumer goods markets due to the large number of value-added stages involved. These marketing processes are so specific that it is necessary to treat them within the framework of an independent marketing approach - business-to-business marketing. The instrumental peculiarities of this marketing approach reflect in particular the higher degree of individualization in various facets (e.g. personal communication, performance individualization, price negotiations and price individualization) characteristic of business-to-business markets. But also the fact that purchase decisions in business-to-business markets are made by organizations and therefore have a predominantly multi-personal character has significant effects on the marketing approach to be chosen in business-to-business markets.

However, business-to-business marketing has been fundamentally further developed in recent years by the Business-to-Business-Marketing department in that it is based on a value-based approach. In contrast to the traditional view of marketing, value-based Business-to-Business-Marketing does not focus one-sidedly on the question of marketing effectiveness. Because even if a provider is effective because it creates a higher customer value compared to the competition, the question remains whether this effectiveness is also designed efficiently to the extent that corresponding value is created for the provider itself. At the heart of value-based business-to-business marketing is therefore the adequate control of the relevant value drivers and value realization with the aim of simultaneously generating value for the customer and the provider. in particular, the higher degree of individualization characteristic of business-to-business markets is reflected in various facets (e.g. personal communication, performance individualization, price negotiations and price individualization). But also the fact that purchase decisions in business-to-business markets are made by organizations and therefore have a predominantly multi-personal character, has significant effects on the marketing approach to be chosen in business-to-business markets.

Selected publications

Werani, T./Gaubinger, K./Kindermann, H. (2006): Praxisorientiertes Business-to-Business-Marketing: Grundlagen und Fallstudien aus Unternehmen; Wiesbaden: Gabler

Werani, T. (2012): Business-to-Business-Marketing: Ein wertbasierter Ansatz; Stuttgart: Kohlhammer

Werani T. (2014): Prozessorientierung als Schlüssel eines wertbasierten B-to-B-Marketing; Marketing Review St. Gallen, 31. Jg., Nr. 6, S. 48-55

Werani, T./Leitner, M. (2015): Multi-Channel-Marketing in Industriegütermärkten; in: Backhaus, K./Voeth, M. (Hrsg.): Handbuch Business-to-Business-Marketing: Grundlagen, Geschäftsmodelle, Instrumente des Industriegütermarketing, 2. Aufl.; Wiesbaden: Springer Gabler, S. 461-482

If one throws a view in enterprises, which are active in business-to-business markets, and looks at their priority setting in marketing, then one comes fast to the realization that the price management is treated in many cases almost stepmotherly. This subjective finding can be corroborated by empirical facts. For example, a study by Rullkötter* among German companies in the mechanical engineering and chemical industries shows that although 62 percent of the managers surveyed assess the importance of price management as great or very great, only 27 percent consider the degree of professionalization of price management in their own company to be great or very great. This apparent discrepancy between claim and reality may have various causes. However, the fact that professional price management requires the (laborious) development of methodological competence certainly plays an important role.

In addition to researching a systematic price management process and its effects on the profitability of companies, the research field "Price Management" also pays special attention to benefit-oriented pricing and the methods associated with it. Because against the background of the value-based marketing understanding represented by the department of business-to-business marketing, the fundamental goal of price management must be to achieve prices that maximize the price willingness of customers. However, this goal can only be achieved if pricing is (also) oriented to the customer and his perception of benefit. In business-to-business markets, benefit-oriented pricing represents a particular challenge in that it is usually a multi-personal procurement process. Therefore, the influence of the different members of the buying center must be taken into account in pricing. For this purpose, the department Business-to-Business Marketing has developed a methodical and at the same time practicable approach.

* Rullkötter, L. (2008): Preismanagement – Ein Sorgenkind? Die wichtigsten Problemfelder und Ursachen im Industriegüterbereich; Zeitschrift für Controlling & Management, 52. Jg., Nr. 2, S. 92-98

Selected publications

Prem, C. (2009): Nutzenorientierte Preisfindung auf Industriegütermärkten: Entwicklung und Einsatz einer Methode zur Abbildung von Preisbereitschaften bei organisationalen Beschaffungsentscheidungen; Dissertation am Institut für Handel, Absatz und Marketing (Abteilung B2B-Marketing) der Johannes Kepler Universität, Linz

Werani, T./Prem, C. (2009): Preispolitik; in: Gaubinger, K./Werani, T./Rabl, M. (Hrsg.): Praxisorientiertes Innovations- und Produktmanagement: Grundlagen und Fallstudien aus B-to-B-Märkten; Wiesbaden: Gabler, S. 201-216

Litzlbauer, W./Werani, T./Prem, C. (2009): Fallstudie Miba AG: Pricing als kritischer Erfolgsfaktor; in: Gaubinger, K./Werani, T./Rabl, M. (Hrsg.): Praxisorientiertes Innovations- und Produktmanagement: Grundlagen und Fallstudien aus B-to-B-Märkten; Wiesbaden: Gabler, S. 217-224

Werani, T. (2012): Business-to-Business-Marketing: Ein wertbasierter Ansatz; Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 

Offering competitive products and services is the basic prerequisite for the economic success of companies. However, this success can only be ensured in the long term if products and services are developed in a customer-oriented manner, successfully launched on the market and subsequently their life cycle is optimally designed. Increasing competitive pressure, a dynamic corporate environment and growing complexity make the successful development and marketing of product and service innovations increasingly difficult for companies. Therefore a systematic innovation management is necessary, which aims at a comprehensive planning, management and control of the entire innovation process.

This research field focuses on the one hand on the question of how innovation management should be structured in business-to-business markets. This question is all the more relevant given the considerable economic importance of these markets and the differences compared to business-to-consumer markets. On the other hand, however, the management of innovations inevitably implies dealing with uncertainty. How uncertainty with its various aspects can be reduced by an integrated and interdisciplinary process of innovation and product management, thus increasing the quality of the results of a company's innovation efforts, represents a second innovation-related research focus. Like the first research focus, this one is also worked on in close cooperation with the Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences - Campus Wels. Last but not least, the question of increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of all innovation-related measures of a company is also taken into account by transferring the logic of the value-based marketing understanding developed at the Department of Business-to-Business Marketing to innovation management in business-to-business markets.

Selected publications

Gaubinger, K./Werani, T. (2007): Planung von Innovationsaktivitäten in KMU: Ein prozessorientierter Ansatz; in: Meyer, J.-A. (Hrsg.): Planung in kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen – Jahrbuch der KMU-Forschung und -Praxis 2007; Lohmar/Köln: Eul, S. 393-401

Gaubinger, K./Werani, T./Rabl, M. (2009): Praxisorientiertes Innovations- und Produktmanagement: Grundlagen und Fallstudien aus B-to-B-Märkten; Wiesbaden: Gabler

Griesmayr, Ingrid (2013): Wertbasiertes Innovationsmanagement für Industriegüterunternehmen des Produkt- und Systemgeschäfts: Grundlagen und Konzeptentwicklung auf Basis einer branchenübergreifenden Studie; Dissertation am Institut für Handel, Absatz und Marketing (Abteilung B2B-Marketing) der Johannes Kepler Universität, Linz.

Gaubinger, K./Rabl, M./Swan, S./Werani, T. (2015): Innovation and Product Management: A Holistic and Practical Approach to Uncertainty Reduction; Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer

In times of increased competition, ongoing globalization and new technologies, new business models are increasingly seen as the key to corporate success. Following this trend, more and more companies in business-to-business markets are actively trying to redesign their business models. Accordingly, offers from large consulting firms have emerged quickly, which want to provide assistance in changing business models. To date, however, there has been no meaningful insight into the conditions under which business models should be changed and how. In view of the consequences that changing business models can have, this finding is all the more serious. In the research area "Business Models in Business-to-Business Markets", the department of Business-to-Business Marketing therefore deals on the one hand with an analytical approach to changing business models that takes into account the fact that changing a business model is not necessarily the same as a business model innovation. In order to make the developed approach accessible to companies, the Business Model Analyzer® tool was developed in cooperation with external partners.

A second research focus deals with the digital transformation of business models, which will be a topic that will occupy many companies in the coming years. However, the decisive question in this context, which areas of a company or business model are affected by this transformation, has not been asked so far, especially in Europe. Rather, it is reflexively assumed that by focusing the digitization discussion on measures that lead to cost savings and efficiency increases in operational areas such as production or logistics under catchwords such as "Industry 4.0" or "Smart Factory", the digital transformation of business models is already being extensively addressed. The goal of this research topic is therefore to identify fundamental starting points for the digital transformation of business models, based on the characterization of successful business models in business-to-business markets, and thus to place the digitization discussion on a broader basis.

Selected publications

Werani, T./Freiseisen, B./Martinek-Kuchinka, P./Schauberger, A. (2014): Wo müssen Innovation und Transformation von Geschäftsmodellen ansetzen? Ergebnisse einer empirischen Studie bei Industriegüterunternehmen; in: Erich-Gutenberg-Arbeitsgemeinschaft Köln e.V. (Hrsg.): Tagungsunterlagen der wissenschaftlichen Konferenz “Business Model Innovation and Transformation”; Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, S. 70-71

Werani, T., Freiseisen, B., Martinek-Kuchinka, P., Schauberger, A. (2016): How should successful business models be configured? Results from an empirical study in business-to-business markets and implications for the change of business models; Journal of Business Economics, 86. Jg., Nr. 6, S. 579-609

Werani, T./ Schauberger, A./Martinek-Kuchinka, P./Freiseisen, B. (2017): Wertdisziplinen und digitale Transformation von Geschäftsmodellen: Implikationen auf Basis einer empirischen Studie in Business-to-Business-Märkten; in: Schallmo, D./Rusnjak, A./Anzengruber, J./Werani, T./Jünger, M. (Hrsg.): Digitale Transformation von Geschäftsmodellen: Grundlagen, Instrumente und Best Practices, Wiesbaden: Springer Gabler, S. 237-263

Schauberger, Alexander (2017): Implikationen der Digitalisierung für die Geschäftsmodelle von Industriegüterunternehmen: Eine empirische Analyse; Dissertation am Institut für Handel, Absatz und Marketing (Abteilung B2B-Marketing) der Johannes Kepler Universität, Linz.