sumption. However, TNM’s flinty eyed accountants remained uncon-
vinced of these intangible benefits. The issue was particularly poignant to
Keegan as she had recently moved to the Marketing Department after a
successful five years as a production engineer in TNM’s South African
mine, smelter and refinery operation in Rustenburg. Prior to her shift into
the marketing area the company had sponsored her in the one-year
full-time MBA programme at Cape Town’s International Graduate School
of Business, following which she was transferred to TNM’s European mar-
keting headquarters in London, England. Keegan reflected to herself
whether she had moved into the Marketing Department only to watch the
department’s dismantling, or was there some way to introduce innovation
to TNM’s marketing and sales efforts to bring more value to the function?
She had taken a number of marketing courses during her MBA and felt that
the emerging area of relationship marketing held the greatest potential for
adding value to TNM’s sales and marketing function.
The company
Transvaal Nickel Mines (TNM) was created in 1926 to mine and refine
nickel deposits found in the Transvaal area of South Africa. With its head
office located in Johannesburg, the company had branched out interna-
tionally and now had mines, smelters and refineries on three continents –
Africa, Australia and South America.
The market
Primary nickel consumption in the Western world for 1995 was estimated
to be 905,000 tonnes; 66 per cent of this nickel was used in the production
of stainless steel.†The balance of the nickel produced was used in the pro-
duction of super alloys and in electroplating applications. Super alloys are
metal alloys formulated to withstand extreme conditions; common appli-
cations include jet engine turbine parts, automotive turbocharger blades
and nuclear reactor tubes. It is in this area that high purity/quality pro-
ducers like TNM can obtain higher than average prices for their nickel. Key
areas of nickel consumption are Japan, the US, Korea, Germany and other
parts of Western Europe.
The supplier and alliance market domain 209
**The London Metal Exchange is a terminal market where standard quality nickel
can be bought and sold. The LME establishes the benchmark price for the majority
of commercial transactions involving nickel.
†Nickel Development Institute, 1996.