The globalization of industry and the intense competition has led some companies), Global Account Management (GAM, a systematic and businesses throughout the process, which providers use to identify, develop and retain their most valuable customers in the global business-to-business markets commitment . If they expand internationally, often global companies expect the acquisition and use by providers of goods and services worldwide, with consistent quality, effectively implemented, and prices.

In mergers and acquisitions to reduce the number of buyers, fewer, larger customers tend to buy larger volumes, the buyer's purchasing power suppliers. Manufacturers hope that their critical business information protected, because if they fail to global buyers in a market offering, they will threaten the buyer in other markets and their activities. They also tend to prefer their organic growth by deliberately concentrating its resources on selected clients worldwide, or speed up global accounts.

Global accounts will benefit from the GAM, as this approach brings added value and innovative sourcing partnerships. Total GAM, both suppliers and their global accounts, helping to deepen their relationship and to expand its global operations. Supplier GAM program normally consists of a program director and program managers to provide more global account managers and their staff and specialists, product, logistics, and legal support. For example, Procter & Gamble was a devoted, several hundred people GAM team, led by a global account manager, only on a global basis, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., its largest customer.

Thus, the GAM can search for programs at the enterprise level, where the need was all clients, situated at Procter & Gamble, or they can within the strategic business units, where customers buy the world and especially from a particular business. The program director usually contains strategic direction for the GAM program and reports directly to the board, program normally responsible for the development and operation of processes, tools and systems that govern the GAM is required.

Key processes include global account program selection and de-selection, appointment and development of the Global Account Manager, Account business planning, multi-level building relationships, Customer Knowledge Management, performance measurement and correlation. Criteria for selection and deselection of the world is, for example, future revenue and profit potential, strategic and cultural alignment between the organizations and the extent to which the customer buys a central, global basis. Perhaps the most important feature in one program, the GAM Global) Account Manager (GAM.

Suppliers generally have a full-time pro GAM Global Account, which she found in proximity to the headquarters of the global account. Thus, viewing the GAM, a first contact for the customer and Orchestrate all the activities of suppliers worldwide. GAM also leads the multi-functional global account teams that reflect the customer's purchasing team, should be to ensure optimal cooperation. Beyond the role and responsibility of the GAM is higher than for an international sales manager for the GAM developed and leads the implementation of a global and long-term strategy for cooperation with the global account.

This effort requires a thorough understanding of the markets in the global account for the identification of entrepreneurial skills and develop new business and political ability to adjust the supplier's internal organization, with global customers. At IBM, for example, is GAM's position as a manager who manages his own team, the company at a given global account offers a full profit and loss basis. Challenges to GAM, primarily to the organizational complexity and cultural diversity inherent to the global, inter-organizational relationships.

For example, the GAM program to further global structures that attempt, a provider of comprehensive activities of several functions, markets and business areas, which often have different objectives. Moreover, in teamwork, a GAM team a challenge, since cultural diversity arising from different functional ways of thinking, such as research and development, compared with advertising or by members of various educational and cultural backgrounds. Consequently, vendors implement GAM attempt to go to market strategies and firm-wide bonus program designed to ensure coherent.

Moreover, they try to develop talent and GAM, the collaborative capabilities of the organization's members. Finally, the suppliers to the global-local tensions that arise as a result of a corporate-wide programs, such as GAM, such as product / service customization to resolve versus standardization.