Daniel D. Prior

The effects of buyer‐supplier relationships on buyer competitiveness

Purpose – This paper aims to propose a new theoretical model based on the AAR framework (actor bonds, activity links and resource ties) to examine the effects of the identified buyer‐supplier relationship elements on four indicators of relative competitive advantage for the buyer firm.Design/methodology/approach – The paper bases its findings on data gathered through a survey of 216 key informants within the Australian manufacturing sector. AMOS v. 18 is used to perform confirmatory factor analysis and to estimate a structural model of the proposed hypotheses.Findings – The paper finds support for the notion that actor bonds between the firm and its largest supplier provide a source of competitive advantage that result in higher relative customer satisfaction, innovation, market efficiency and market effectiveness for the buyer firm. The paper also supports the notion that a positive relationship between information sharing and asset efficiency exists.Practical implications – This paper demonstrates that ...

Webethnography : towards a typology for quality in research design

Traditional ethnography focuses on identifiable cultural groupings of individuals and, through a process of observation and participant interviews (among other techniques), the researcher explores the effects of the social dynamic with regard to a topic of interest. Webethnography (also known as netnography, webnography, online ethnography and virtual ethnography) involves the application of ethnographic research methods to specific online communities through the observation and analysis of online dialogue and other online artefacts. This paper contends that webethnography is appropriate only where almost all interactions between group members occur online through the community site - that is, the community is a virtual community in the truest sense. Where communities conduct some or most of their interaction offline, webethnography is less appropriate as a stand-alone research method. Using a case study of project manager online communities on the social networking site www.LinkedIn.com, we argue that a triangulation with offline data sources helps to ensure data validity and generalisation to the group of interest. This paper presents a typology that proposes three general approaches to research design, to account for the differing scope of online cultural groups. The implications of this typology include the addition of additional precautions in the design of ethnographic studies.

Integrating Stakeholder Management and Relationship Management: Contributions from the Relational View of the Firm

This paper offers a synthesis of the stakeholder management and relationship marketing literature in terms of how both strands can inform each other. Based on the suggestions of Luk, Yau, Tse, Sin and Chow (2005), stakeholders are seen as synergistic or hindering in terms of the overall strategic prospects of the organisation. This conflict is central to traditional stakeholder management approaches. The relational view of the firm (Dyer and Singh, 1998) offers an interesting framework on which stakeholder relationships can be based. Using the four key variables contained within the relational view, this paper argues for a stakeholder analysis process that is underpinned by the notion of competitive rivalry in stakeholder markets rather than on incumbency.

Value Co-Destruction in Complex B2B Relations: Conceptualization and Mechanisms

Over the last decade, value co-creation has attracted a great deal of interest as a joint process of mutual benefits realization. However, few studies consider close buyer-supplier interactions that either do not affect value creation or, indeed, lead to its destruction. We contribute to this area by developing the notion of value co-destruction as the obliteration of benefits or the elimination of opportunities for benefits creation in buyer-supplier exchange. We consider value as an in-use, phenomenological concept and its destruction or elimination the result of activities of actors in an exchange context. We develop this notion of value destruction in terms of economic - perceptual, direct - indirect, and individual - organizational manifestations. We also consider the underlying mechanisms that influence these in terms of managerial economic decisions, organizational processes and social dynamics within the relational exchange process.

The impact of scandal on sport consumption: a conceptual framework for future research

Scandal has become an increasingly prominent sports phenomenon. All major sports competitions around the globe face scandals on a continuing basis; however, there is little research about the nature of scandal and its impacts on consumer behaviour. Drawing on the extant sports consumption literature, we develop a conceptual model of scandal and its impacts on sports consumption activities (ticket sales, viewership, merchandise sales). We then extend this model through examples of a sport scandal to propose the major dimensions of the scandal construct. Our goal in this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that is useful for future research of the scandal-consumption relationship.

Internal Branding and Leader-Member Exchange: Role of Cultural Capital in Employee’s Service Delivery Behaviour in Healthcare Sector: An Abstract

The idea of a strong bond between culture and health (see Bourdieu 1985) is explored in detail by investigating the role of cultural capital in the internal brand-building practices of leaders and members working in the healthcare sector. However, service employees often fluctuate in their delivery of the brand promise, leaving firms with less direct control over service quality. Besides, internal branding is a predictor of service quality. Nevertheless, the issue of how to get service employees to act in a way that enhances service quality, considering they may not share same cultural capital, is clearly of pivotal importance. Previous studies have identified the role of leader in implementing internal branding efforts; however, limited research explains how leader-member exchange influences internal branding outcomes, in view of cultural capital, especially in the healthcare sector. It is, therefore, the focus of the present study. Drawing on interviews with 36 respondents from India, the study addresses this issue. Firstly, this study identifies that cultural capital influences leader-member exchange. Cultural capital similarities in age, experience and education among leaders and members encourage transformational leadership styles. On the other hand, cultural capital dissimilarities in age, experience and education encourage transactional leadership. Secondly, the study highlights that leader-member cultural capital similarity is more likely to facilitate internal branding through communication and training and hence enhance service quality. Thirdly, employees’ service delivery behaviour in public healthcare is more likely to be affected by low resource availability and minimal incentives schemes wherein leaders lack financial incentive offers. The study, therefore, offers knowledge about managing leader-member exchange and thereby facilitating internal branding outcomes.

A Social Identity Perspective of Customer Value Heterogeneity in Complex Industrial Solutions

Most industrial marketing literature embodies the assumption that value creation and delivery result in outcomes that occur at the firm level. While this may be so, few studies consider the impacts on individual actors of this subjective and phenomenological concept. Drawing on social identity theory, I build an argument in this paper that the participation and consequent perceptions of value delivery processes depend on the specific roles and social positions on individual participants through this process. I develop four archetypical social identities (overseer, thinker, project implementer and technical implementer) and explore their relationship with value creation and delivery processes. I source data through case studies of complex solutions in the Australian context.

Incorporating exchange governance in service-dominant logic Lessons from transaction cost economics

An area that receives limited attention in service-dominant (SD) logic is exchange governance. Exchange governance provisions can determine how benefits and costs are created and distributed, hence their importance. Much of the rationale for this oversight arises due to the emphasis on “value” in SD logic. With this as a starting point, this commentary article offers three sets of suggestions to integrate exchange governance into SD logic research. First, the subjective, socially embedded nature of value necessitates a greater reliance on norms-based governance. Under SD logic, there is a need to govern for a wider variety of idiosyncratic interactions throughout a service ecosystem. This has a bearing on monitoring and control activities. Second, SD logic is virtually silent on resource ownership. Understanding the property rights associated with value-creating resources is likely to determine who creates and appropriates value. Third, value-in-use suggests that value does not occur at the point of exchange exclusively. Given this, there is a need to consider value at the point of exchange as well as during the course of usage. The commentary concludes with a brief research agenda.

Transactional, Project-Based and Ongoing Service Delivery in the B2B Context

This paper presents a new typology of buyer-supplier relationships in the B2B context. Contrary to other approaches to conceptualising these relationships, the typology focuses on the level and type of service requirement encompassed within the exchange. These dimensions are considered to have a significant influence on the type of professional relationship that emerges.

Examining Project Management Through a Marketing Lens: a Literature Review and Research Agenda

This paper briefly reviews the relevant project management and marketing literature and proposes a research agenda that argues that project management is a service that requires the development of inter-firm relationships and can be executed more efficiently if a clear understanding of customer requirements exists.