Relational and transactional factors as hybrid criteria for buyer project selection (BPS): An exploratory study from industrial suppliers' perspective

Working off the literature in selection studies, evolving from supplier selection, to buyer selection, to selection as transaction embedded in relationality, this study asks how industrial suppliers actually engage in buyer project selection (abbreviated as “BPS”). Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were used to construct and pilot-test a new BPS instrument among electronics executives in Taiwan. A mail survey using the new BPS instrument subsequently resulted in three significant research findings. First, the five BPS factors uncovered a hybridity thesis: factors from the transactional paradigm and the relational paradigm co-existed side by side. Second, even though suppliers engaged in project selection, the majority of the respondents' firms lacked clearly articulated formal BPS criteria. Third, relational satisfaction, more than perceived power, significantly impacted project selection; and project economic contribution, more than the other four BPS factors, played a substantive role in assessing relationality. Our research hopefully will help practitioners to recognize the need of BPS formalization, making a rich literature related to the co-existence/hybridity of transactional and relational approaches in project marketing and management relevant to Taiwan, China and the broader Asian business world in the future.