The extension of construction partnering for relationship marketing Available to Purchase

Relationship marketing focuses on building strong relationships with individual customers. Its emergence in the 1980s was however not so much a discovery, but a rediscovery of a truth which formed the foundation of many businesses. Partnering, at its best, is a long term commitment between two or more organisations for the purpose of achieving specific business objectives by maximising the effectiveness of each participant’s resources. The relationship is based upon trust, dedication to common goals and understanding each other’s individual expectations and values. This seems to suggest many similarities between relationship marketing and partnering. It is, however, still unclear as to what these similarities are. The objectives of this paper are, firstly, to compare relationship marketing with the partnering concept in the construction industry and, secondly, draw lessons from partnering in construction for relationship marketing.