Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Simone Manfredi, Domenico Celenza and Rosa Lombardi
The first examines <strong>the</strong> income a client has created, by relating <strong>the</strong> contributing margin related to <strong>the</strong>
client itself and <strong>the</strong> length <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> relationship (in years). Companies will bet on <strong>the</strong> ones who have or
will have wider margins.
This system lets you classify clients as follows:
<strong>the</strong> historical and unpr<strong>of</strong>itable clients. They have had a long term relationship with a company and
generate very little income;
<strong>the</strong> clients defined as partners. They generate more income compared to <strong>the</strong> previous ones.
<strong>the</strong> young and not yet pr<strong>of</strong>itable clients. They generate very little value.
Young and interesting clients. They guarantee good incomes. They are likely to contribute
significantly and constantly to create value.
The second process examines <strong>the</strong> relationship between duration and management cost and identifies
<strong>the</strong> historical and economical clients, <strong>the</strong> historical and demanding ones, <strong>the</strong> new and economical
ones, one shot.
The key indicators that evaluate <strong>the</strong> relationship with <strong>the</strong> clients (Bonani 2001) are as follows:
kind <strong>of</strong> client;
duration <strong>of</strong> supply;
client role;
support that clients have had;
client success.
The position <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> client <strong>of</strong>ten becomes more important than o<strong>the</strong>r factors. In fact, <strong>the</strong> contribution <strong>of</strong>
each and every client is very important to <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> relational capital.
3.2 Relationships with providers
Suppliers are ano<strong>the</strong>r key category <strong>of</strong> stakeholders (Mitchell, Agle, Wood, 1997). Over <strong>the</strong> last years,
companies have had <strong>the</strong> tendency to involve suppliers in <strong>the</strong> production process in order to create
successful, strong and long lasting relationships. These agreements <strong>of</strong>ten become inter-companies
relations which coincide with businesses nets (Cafaggi 2004) that allow mutual exchange <strong>of</strong>
knowledge. Never<strong>the</strong>less, <strong>the</strong> net must be optimized through two key elements:
common interests;
trust relationship (Luhmann 1979; Scott 1980).
If <strong>the</strong>se two elements do not exist, <strong>the</strong> relations which will take place will not create any value.
The relationship with <strong>the</strong> suppliers must not end with <strong>the</strong> exchange <strong>of</strong> productive factors. Companies
make <strong>the</strong> relationship long-lasting through common initiatives that highlight <strong>the</strong>ir resources.
The partnership relations has mutual advantages for both parties in term <strong>of</strong> lower costs, higher
incomes, more innovative capacities, knowledge sharing.
Generally speaking, <strong>the</strong> collaborations that usually take place are <strong>the</strong> just in time and <strong>the</strong>
comarkership (Lipparini 2002).
The management <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se relationships should be based on some key factors, such as mutual
collaboration, know how transfer, mutual assistance, cooperation.
3.3 Relationship with shareholders
Among <strong>the</strong> main stakeholders <strong>of</strong> a company (Freeman 1984) <strong>the</strong>re are <strong>the</strong> shareholders.
Shareholders can have short term or medium/long term objectives (Lacchini 1992). Never<strong>the</strong>less, <strong>the</strong>
longer <strong>the</strong> term <strong>the</strong> smaller <strong>the</strong> risk and <strong>the</strong> bigger <strong>the</strong> attention to <strong>the</strong> sustainability <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> investment.
Long term can, usually, guarantee a satisfying income deriving from <strong>the</strong> investment.
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