The relative importance of industrial promotion tools

This article describes a survey of the perceptions of organizational buyers regarding the extent to which their purchasing decisions are influenced by various promotional tools. The results of this survey provide some practical implications for industrial marketers regarding the relative effectiveness of various promotional tools and the relative emphasis that they should place on each of them.     

Commitment in business-to-business relationships: The role of organizational and personal needs

This article examines commitment in business-to-business (B2B) relationships from the purchasing manager's perspective. It proposes that purchasing managers will form stronger bonds with suppliers who are better able to satisfy both the buying firm's organizational needs as well as the purchasing manager's personal needs. It also proposes that purchasing managers will be more influenced by personal rather than organizational need fulfillment. The results from a survey of purchasing managers support all hypotheses. The findings suggest that marketers will be able to develop stronger bonds with purchasing managers by offering benefit bundles that address both organizational and personal needs.     

Impact of organizational and buyer characteristics on the buying center

A mail survey of 200 organizational buyers was conducted to determine if the number of individuals in the buying center or the amount of perceived self-influence varied by organizational and buyer characteristics or by the type of purchase decision. The results of the study indicate that the type and size of the firm, as well as the buyer's educational level, affect both the number of individuals in the buying center and the amount of perceived self-influence of the organizational buyer. The results further indicate that the size of the buying center increases and the amount of perceived self-influence decreases as the purchase decision becomes more complex.     

Outcome-based contracting from the customers' perspective: A means-end chain analytical exploration

Within the context of servitization, manufacturing firms increasingly offer outcome-based contracts (OBCs) which sell the outcome of a manufacturing process instead of the resources required for outcome creation. While extant studies have focused on the provider's viewpoint, this research explores industrial customers' requirements and goals when sourcing OBCs. We report the results of laddering interviews with purchasing and engineering managers from 32 actual and potential OBC customers. Based on a means-end chain analysis we find that, in addition to organizational goals, such as reducing costs or ensuring reliable supply, individual goals of the decision-makers also play a key role when purchasing OBCs. Specifically, the risk of being held accountable for problems that may occur in an OBC's implementation and operation emerges as an important concern of decision-makers. In contrast to extant research, that highlights how OBCs transfer operational risk from the customer to the supplier firm, our study indicates that customers also perceive elevated levels of individual and organizational risk when making OBC purchase decisions. Against this backdrop, OBC salespeople should address both individual and organizational goals of key decision-makers in the customer firm and focus on building trust in the supplier's ability to realize and operate an OBC.     

Industrial brand value and relationship performance in business markets — A general structural equation model

This paper develops a general model of industrial brand value and relationship performance in business-to-business markets from the perspectives of consumer and industrial marketing literature. The structural equation model integrates the analysis of industrial brand value and relationship performance. The model describes the extent to which supplier-buyer transaction performance is influenced by the eight important factors: supplier competence, purchasing value, customer satisfaction, switching cost, brand trust and loyalty, relationship quality, commitment, and transactional performance.The general model is applied to organizational buyer groups of comprehensive industrial markets (Electronics, Chemicals, Equipment, etc). The analysis finds that supplier competence directly affects purchasing value and customer satisfaction, and via purchasing value and customer satisfaction, it indirectly affects commitment, switching cost, brand trust and loyalty. The managerial implications of the study results are also discussed.     

Changes in industrial buying: Implications for industrial marketers

Some of the most dramatic changes in organizational buyer behavior have occurred and continue to occur in the industrial purchasing function. Purchasing is becoming less and less a lower-level staff function and more and more a top-level management position. This article examines some of the major changes in the purchasing function and the reasons for those changes. The article concludes by considering some of the major implications of these changes for the industrial marketer.     

The mediating role of key supplier relationship management practices on supply chain orientation—The organizational buying effectiveness link

The role of key supplier relationships and their link with purchasing performance are poorly recognized in current business-to-business marketing literature. Given the predominance of collaborative supply chain relationships, purchasing must be considered to be providing value, thereby implying its effective nature. This study introduces a conceptual model of the relationship between supply chain orientation (SCO) and key supplier relationship management (KSRM) with organizational buying effectiveness (OBE) as a measure of effective purchasing behavior. To extend the model's nomological network, we link OBE with firm profitability. We find that SCO and KSRM have a strong positive influence on OBE. Furthermore, KSRM is demonstrated to be a significant mediator in the SCO–OBE relationship. Finally, OBE significantly and positively influences firm profitability, suggesting that it adequately addresses the aspects of effective purchasing behavior. We also discuss theoretical and managerial implications as well as future research directions in light of the limitations of this study.     

Organizational learning in high-technology purchase situations: The antecedents and consequences of the participation of external IT consultants

Typically, research on organizational learning has been conceptual in nature. In a departure from this tradition, we develop and test a structural model of organizational learning in the context of the purchasing of an expensive and complex product in the information technology (IT) area. The key focus of our research is the participation of external IT consultants and our model links seven explanatory constructs that are consistent with the process school of thought in organizational learning. More specifically, two organizational variables-formalization, strategic importance-and two individual-level variables-stakeholding, prior experience-are viewed as antecedents of consultant participation. In contrast, we view internal search effort, external search effort, and organizational learning as consequences of consultant participation. As predicted, all four antecedent variables affected consultant participation. Moreover, we found that, while consultant participation had a positive impact on internal search effort and organizational learning, its impact on external information search effort was negative.     

Emergency and routine MRO part buying

This article examines the effect of emergency vs. routine replacement part buying situations on the purchasing criteria used by maintenance and purchasing managers in process industries. Criteria included expediency, distance, part quality, price, and similar factors. Three sources were considered: OEMs, non-OEMs, and in-house production. The study found significant differences between criteria as a function of the buying situation. No significant difference was found between the criteria of maintenence managers and those of purchasing managers.     

True vendor loyalty or simply repeat purchase behavior?

Local customers—usually defined as those who tend to concentrate their purchases within one or a limited number of brands or stores—have long been of major interest to marketing practitioners and academicians. In organizational purchasing literature, however, little attention has been focused on this important dimension of buyer behavior. The purpose of this article is to underscore the importance of the loyal customer, to distinguish between simple repeat purchasing and true loyalty, and to examine the reasons for such consistent purchase behavior.     

Aligning Marketing and Purchasing for new value creation

The objective of this study is to explore how changes in organizing the alignment between Marketing and Purchasing (M&P) might be linked to new value creation. The issue of value creation and the specific role of inter-functional cooperation have been examined in depth in the marketing literature. However, the relationship between Marketing and Purchasing alignment and value creation has received only limited attention, even though the emerging role of purchasing is increasingly recognized. This work aims to address this gap using the analytical framework by Bocconcelli and Tunisini (2012) as a basis and adopting a process perspective. Specifically it intends to explore i) how companies over time manage the alignment of M&P and under which conditions/triggers; ii) whether different types of emerging organizational alignments between purchasing and marketing might result in different types of new value creation. To address these research objectives a qualitative methodology based on multiple-case study research is adopted. Four cases of mechanical firms – two large and two medium-sized – have been examined in depth. Results show that two trajectories – interactive alignment of M&P and structural alignment of M&P – have been implemented and that these paths are related respectively to value creation processes in terms of optimizing product delivery and managing product and solutions development. Market pressure and new competences are assessed as main relevant drivers, while organizational culture emerges as a meaningful barrier. Therefore this works provides a theoretical and empirical contribution further developing in a process perspective the analysis of M&P alignment and its effects on value creation. Results have also clear implications for practice: M&P alignment is necessary and beneficial for value creation. Changes, however, require time, organizational resources and a stronger awareness within the company.     

Organizing and integrating marketing and purchasing in business markets: An introduction to the special issue, issues and implications

The article is the introductory paper to the special issue on “Organizing and Integrating Marketing and Purchasing in Business markets”. It analyses the different organizational issues in the marketing and purchasing interfaces by an extensive analysis of the literature. It introduces the different contributions to the special issue and draw some reflections on further research steps.     

Exploiting innovative opportunities in global purchasing: An assessment of ethical climate and relationship performance

Purchasing managers are expected to balance costs, innovation, supplier management, and corporate social responsibility while coordinating expanding areas of the corporation. The increased responsibilities and pressures to innovate brings purchasing managers into potentially increasingly difficult ethical dilemmas. In this study, we examine the relationships between organizational culture, learning, entrepreneurial innovation, and purchasing outcomes in different ethical climates. To address external business conditions that may influence innovation in purchasing, we also examine the moderating effects of technological and market turbulence. Data from 200 purchasing managers in multinational corporations were used to test the relationships through structural equation modeling. We find that entrepreneurial innovation positively affects the quality of the relationships among sourcing participants when operating in a climate valuing ethics. The study results are particularly relevant for managers concerned that establishing an ethical climate may restrict innovation in the purchasing process.     

全球价值链中的收益分配与“悲惨增长”——基于中国纺织服装业的分析

在通过加入全球价值链(GVC)以实现产业升级,获取分工收益的出口导向型产业发展道路中,国内纺织服装业形成了以跨国采购商为主导的俘获式GVC。跨国采购商所决定的分工格局以及对升级的控制,将作为代工者的国内纺织服装企业牢牢锁定在低附加值的加工制造环节,这正是国内代工企业在GVC中的分配地位日趋恶化,陷入悲惨增长的根源。摆脱跨国采购商的升级控制,培养自己的高级要素,实现由俘获式GVC向均衡式GVC的转变,是走出这一困境的关键。     

An experimental approach to segmenting buyers of marketing research

Successful industrial market segmentation may often depend on the marketer's ability to identify key characteristics influencing purchase preferences. Environmental, organizational, and personal factors are all potential determinants of buyer response patterns. Recent attention to microsegmentation processes has focused interest on personal level factors and how these are modified by organizational and situational variables. Utilizing a simulated buying experiment, this study explores a simplified approach to microsegmentation that emphasizes information readily available to industrial vendor representatives.     

Buying an industrial service warehouse space

This paper reports the results of a study of the industrial buyer of warehouse space. The role of the purchasing agent and the other members in the buy group are identified and evaluated.     

Information search in complex industrial buying: Empirical evidence from Brazil

This study develops and tests a model of information search in complex buying. We incorporate three categories of influences of organizational, personal and situational factors that affect information searching efforts. A sample of 96 of the largest Brazilian firms reported their use of the various influences in the decision to purchase integrated business management systems. Findings show that formalization of the organization is a key driver of information search efforts. Situational characteristics of importance, novelty and bargaining power increased the level of information search. Also, conformity of the purchasing agent and organizational centralization reduce information search efforts among the sampled Brazilian firms.     

Processes and integration in the interaction of purchasing and marketing: Considering synergy and symbiosis

Effective integration of both purchasing and marketing functions is central to effective value creation and alignment of an organization with its business environment. Rapidly changing environments create gaps in the value creation process that compromises the delivery of value to the customer and risk misalignment of value propositions to their needs. Despite the clear imperative for research in this area, the extant literature is partial and delivers limited coherence. Ours is a theoretical article that—in drawing on previous literature—introduces the new work collected in this special issue and considers this against our own empirical evidence. We present a framework that maps out the landscape of internal organizational integration with a particular emphasis on purchasing and marketing integration. Implications for theory and managers are explored.