DePaul University Communication Strategies for Converting Power to Influence Paper

Managing channels is a fundamental and substantial task, requiring efforts to motivate and incentivize a range of independent but also interdependent entities to work toward the common good. In an effective channel relationship, two or more organizations must function as if they are pursuing a single shared interest. Channel management becomes even harder in an omni-channel environment, which involves more varied actors, activities, and channels, often with conflicting interests. Virtually every element of marketing channels is permeated by considerations of power, because marketing channels themselves are systems of players that depend on one another but have competing objectives and may not march to the beat of the same drummer, without some force that requires them to do so.