| Abstract: | ABSTRACT This paper provides a new model of buying center leadership. It draws upon the theory of emergent leadership to explore the potential for a relatively low-ranked member of a buying center to rise in stature and emerge as the group's de facto leader. It provides a theoretically-based analysis of the antecedents to such a role including communications, negotiating skills, power, and procedural control. It also reviews how these elements may be used to provide the group with two essential leadership functions–relational support and task support. It then examines how these functions, in turn, provide the individual with enhanced influence within the buying center. In this way, this paper provides a new conceptual framework for understanding buying center behavior. |
