14 The Marketing Book
following a market perspective, the latter a
network/systemic perspective.
In identifying two distinct streams of
thought within the RM literature M ̈oller and
Halinen-Kaila recognize that they may be
‘swimming against the fashionable stream of
RM as the general marketing theory rhetoric!’
(p. 16). If so, they are not alone as Mattsson
(1997) is clearly of a similar opinion as is the
author for, otherwise, he would have promoted
an alternative perspective. That said, by adopt-
ing the M ̈oller and Halinen-Kaila approach and
identifying the key characteristics of the differ-
ent schools of thought, it becomes possible to
recognize both similarities and differences in
much the same way that the concepts of pure
competition and monopoly enabled the emer-
gence of a theory of imperfect competition
which reflects messy reality rather than theoret-
ical purity. As M ̈oller and Halinen-Kaila point
out, the key managerial challenge in both forms
of RM is how to manage a portfolio of exchange
relationships. Within the domain of consumer
or ‘limited’ relationship marketing, numerous
approaches and techniques have evolved
which are highly relevant to addressing this
problem. Indeed, with the developments in
information technology in recent years many of
these have become of practical rather than
theoretical interest. We should not lightly dis-
card these methods.
In the domain of interorganizational rela-
tionships their complexity is likely to limit the
extent to which ‘packaged’ solutions may be
applied. While useful generalizations will
have an important role to play, the situation-
specific nature of most problems will continue
to require decision-makers to use experience
and judgement in coming up with effective
solutions.
Summary
In this introductory chapter we have attempted
to trace the evolution of exchange relationships
and provide at least a partial answer to the
question ‘What is marketing?’ In the process we
have established that exchange is at the very
heart of human development in both economic
and social terms. Until recently, however, the
desirability of enhancing consumer satisfaction
through the provision of more and better goods
and services has been so self-evident that little
consideration has been given as to how to
define ‘more’ and ‘better’, or the processes by
which such evaluations are made. As Adam
Smith observed in his Wealth of Nations(1776),
‘Consumption is the sole end and purpose of
production’. Having stated the obvious the
remainder of his great work is devoted wholly
to issues of improving supply with no con-
sideration of demand per se.
As we have seen, it is only with the
stabilization of populations in advanced
economies, and the continuous and accelerat-
ing improvements in productivity attributable
to technological innovation, that a preoccupa-
tion with supply side problems has given way
to demand side considerations. Modern mar-
keting, dating from the 1950s, reflects this
transition. But, as we have attempted to show,
the marketing management model which
emerged was itself a purely transitional
response to managing the changing balance
between sellers and buyers. Initially, the mar-
keting management model was concerned
with what sellers needed to do to retain
control over the transaction, with consumers
seen as passive participants in the process.
With the evolution of service dominated
economies, so the balance of power changed
and supply was now seen to be subservient to
demand and consumer sovereignty.
As we noted in the last edition prepared
in 1998, the problem with the change in
emphasis is that it still sees exchange as a
zero-sum game. While buyers are winners,
sellers are losers! As predicted then, the dan-
gers of this adversarial approach to exchange
are readily apparent, especially in the manu-
facturing sector, where the greatest potential
for growth and added value exist. Thus, the