Hans Georg Gemünden

Value Creation in Buyer- Seller Relationships Theoretical Considerations and Empirical Results from a Supplier's Perspective

Abstract The essential purpose for a supplier and customer firm engaging in a relationship is to work together in a way that creates value for them. Various important functions of business relationships in creating value for the partner firms are widely assumed in the literature. However, there is a lack of empirical studies due to the absence of conceptual definition. Furthermore, there is a strong concentration on value for customers neglecting that value is also created for suppliers. In this study, the authors take the suppliers perspective and conceptualize value creation as a set of direct and indirect functions of customer relationships. The functions are characterized with respect to performed activities and employed resources of a customer firm. The findings from an empirical study of more than 200 firms show that both direct and indirect functions of customer relationships contribute to the value perceived by the supplier. The results of this study have considerable consequences for the management of inter-organizational relationships and networks regarding the process of how value can be created in business markets.

Network competence: Its impact on innovation success and its antecedents

Abstract Past research has consistently shown that companies, which have close relationships with customers, suppliers, research institutions, and competitors are more likely to have higher product and process innovation success. But why and how are these firms able to build up and use technology-oriented interorganizational relationships, which give them a competitive advantage? The authors postulate that the underlying reason is a company-specific ability to handle, use, and exploit interorganizational relationships. We call this skill network competence. Drawing upon a sample of 308 German mechanical and electrical engineering companies, results of a LISREL analysis reveal that network competence has a strong positive influence on the extent of interorganizational technological collaborations and on a firms product and process innovation success. Furthermore, four organizational antecedents have an impact on a companys network competence: access to resources, network orientation of human resource management, integration of intraorganizational communication, and openness of corporate culture.

The impact of a company's business strategy on its technological competence, network competence and innovation success

Abstract This paper discusses the dual nature of the key to competitiveness in the network economy: On the one hand, a company needs technological competence in order to add value to products and processes. On the other hand, companies need to develop network competence in order to link their organization to other players in the market to allow interactions beyond organizational boundaries. In this paper, a basic framework for the successful implementation of a technology-oriented business strategy is developed, consisting of four elements: business strategy, network competence, technological competence and innovation success. The model is empirically tested using a database of 308 German companies. The results show that both network competence and technological competence have a significant positive impact on a companys innovation success. Furthermore, the results suggest that a companys technological strategy supports the development of both network and technological competencies.

Network configuration and innovation success: An empirical analysis in German high-tech industries

Abstract Based on the assumption that intensity and structure are the most important dimensions of a firms technological network, the authors identity seven different types of technology-oriented network configurations. Drawing upon a database of 321 high-tech companies, they show that innovation success is significantly correlated with a firms technological network. Product and process innovations are shown to demand different types of network configurations.

Interorganizational relationships and networks: An overview

Abstract Relationships and networks have been analyzed with different theoretical backgrounds and methods, at different levels, and with different results and conclusions. This diversity promotes a better understanding of the antecedents, dynamics, and effects of relationships and networks. However, this diversity also creates problems to compare and integrate results and to develop a general theory based on cumulative evidence. Therefore, we want to offer a framework, which gives some overview and orientation by classifying and describing the different levels of analysis, the different theoretical and managerial perspectives, and the different objects of analysis, which have been used. This could guide the process of bringing together the different pieces of the research jigsaw called research in business-to-business markets.

The impact of information technology deployment on trust, commitment and value creation in business relationships

To strengthen their position in todays highly‐competitive and fast‐paced business environment, supplier firms often engage in relationships with their customers. Recent advances in information technology offer new ways of managing inter‐organizational relationships. In this paper, a model conceptualizing the impact of information technology deployment on inter‐organizational buyer‐seller relationships is developed. Using an empirical study of 61 German firms engaged in customer‐supplier relationships, this paper also gives some empirical evidence for the developed framework. With regard to relationship management, intra‐ and inter‐organizational information technology deployment has different effects on relationship atmosphere and on the relationships value creation. The findings give new insight into the role of information technology in value‐creation in business‐to‐business relationships. Managerial implications and future research questions in this area are also discussed.

Opening Up for Competitive Advantage – How Deutsche Telekom Creates an Open Innovation Ecosystem

When, on 21st September 2006, ‘The Economist’ compared incumbent telecommunication operators with dinosaurs that could soon face extinction, most readers were ready to agree. The mixture of declining revenues and fierce competition was believed to shake the market and soon to dethrone former national champions. However, there are ways to fight that extinction and one way is to open up for competitive advantage. This paper reflects on a case study at Deutsche Telekom, the German national telecommunication operator. The aim of this study is to analyse to what extent the open innovation paradigm has been embraced inside this now multinational company. Using empirical evidence from 15 in-depth interviews, we identify 11 open innovation instruments and detail their value contribution. We can show that Deutsche Telekom has successfully enhanced its innovation capacity by opening up its traditional development process and embracing external creativity and knowledge resources.

Perceived risk and information search. A systematic meta-analysis of the empirical evidence

Abstract Does high perceived risk really induce intensive information search? A systematic meta-analysis of 100 empirical findings showing 51 contradictory results, raises severe doubts. For convenience goods, perceived risk usually seems to remain below the tolerated threshold. For complex goods, information search turns out to be only one among several risk-reducing instruments. The findings are also influenced by the extent, type, and validity of risk measurement, and by the operationalization of information search, but measurement problems alone cannot explain the contradictory evidence. Alternative theoretical concepts are proposed and implications for marketing and consumer policy are discussed.

Role Models for Radical Innovations in Times of Open Innovation

In this paper, we study the influence of innovator roles in highly innovative ventures. In order to obtain a differentiated picture we take into account the degree of innovativeness as a moderating variable. To test our hypotheses we use a sample of 146 highly innovative new product development projects. We choose a rigorous sampling design and apply state-of-the-art measures for the degree of innovativeness. Furthermore, we apply multi-trait-multi-method methodology (MTMM) to enhance the validity of our study. The results show that innovator roles have a strong influence on innovation success but these influences are positively and negatively moderated by innovativeness. The moderating influences depend on the type of innovativeness. Remarkably, with increasing technological innovativeness innovator roles which create inter-organizational links with the outside world appear to be more important than intra-organizational linker roles, and support from high-ranked organizational members turns out to have a significant negative effect on project success with higher degrees of technological innovativeness. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed and consequences for innovation research and innovation management are shown.

Bridging the gap between suppliers and customers through relationship promoters: theoretical considerations and empirical results

Despite the pivotal importance of marketing‐oriented boundary spanners for successful relationship development, only a few studies have investigated the influence of these boundary spanners on relationship outcomes. Findings of this study show that relationship advancement through a relationship promoter in the supplier or customer firm have a positive significant impact on the growth of sales within the relationship and the supplier’s share of a customer’s business. Relationship promoters are persons who identify appropriate partners of different organizations, bring them together, and facilitate the dialogue and the exchange processes between them. Relationship promoters support interactive learning processes and solve inter‐organizational conflicts. Furthermore, they fulfil an important social task. Relationship promoters overcome existing distances between partner firms and develop an understanding for the situation and objectives of the respective partner.