Question 1:

(a) Discuss the influences that led to the development of relationship marketing.

(b) Using appropriate theories, discuss why the marketing mix paradigm and the four P model has become such a strait jacket for marketers rejoining the sayings of Goonroos (1997) "Is there a Paradigm shift in Marketing"?

In the article" Preventing the premature death of relationship marketing" by Susan Fournier et al (1998), the premature demise of the customer intimacy is portrayed.

Discuss the strategies mentioned in the article to prevent this from happening.

Question 2:

"If a decade ago, we had had a greater understanding of the business and organizational dynamics of technology, I think we would now have an even greater payback from our investment in it. In my experience, the new systems that work best are those that are aligned not only with the business but also with the way people think and work". (Bob Martin, CEO of Wal-Mart stores)

(a) Discuss the reasons why many companies are not able to achieve the performance breakthrough even though they have made big investment in technology.

(b) What according to you are the steps necessary to implement a CRM system solution?