Dissertation, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, 2023

Key Account Management is a strategic concept to manage a company`s strategically most important customers. Academic research of KAM comprises a broad spectrum of empirical studies contributing to the understanding of KAM practices and related phenomena (Kumar, Sharma, and Salo 2019). Jensen (2001) and Homburg, Workman, and Jensen (2002) identify three main research areas within that literature: the first stream of research focuses on the KA manager as an individual, the second stream is concerned with dyadic relationships between suppliers and KAs, and the third stream deals with KAM programs. This dissertation falls in the first of the three streams.
The dissertation aims the identity and identity work of a key account manager. In particular, the topic of job resources and job demands according to Demerouti et al. (2001) in combination with the network theory of Ivens et al. (2016) is examined. In this context, a further focus is on the mental health of KA managers. The dissertation provides insights into the effects of psychological contract breaches on the KA manager. In addition, a framework is presented using Scrum, which provides KA managers with the opportunity to work on their identity.