Value Co-Creation in Industrial Buyer-Seller Partnerships ... - Doria

creation in a world of relationships and networks where interdependence can be seen as apositive force.For business managers one problem is that selection criteria when categorizingrelationships and developing relationship management strategies are often not rich enoughto provide a good understanding of how resources for the management of differentrelationships should be allocated. Selection and assessment criteria are often based ondirect quantifiable value of a relationship instead of seeing the indirect sources of value thata relationship might give the opportunity to.Another problem is that mismanagement might be caused when managing single exchangerelationships because of the lack of understanding of the process, how history and present,actions, actors, and acts have an impact on relationship management, and how theorganization for managing a certain relationship should be designed. Also, the potentialfuture value of a particular relationship might not be realized and the wider context wherethe dyad resides.Yet another problem for management is that the traditional mindset of the “ economicman” who always seeks to maximize profit through opportunistic behavior does not easilyallow for new business logics and new ways of thinking about business to gain foothold. Tobe able to see interdependence as the key to a new logic of buyer-seller partnerships is achallenge because it requires a change in old, traditional mindsets and ways of thinkingabout business management.141.1 The objectives and limitations of the studyThe general objective of this study is to explore the development of a buyer-sellerrelationship from a traditional buying-selling –type of business relationship to a partnership.The focus is on why and how the relationship was developed into a partnership and howvalue is co-created by the parties through business interaction. The motivation to study acomplicated phenomenon like value in buyer-seller relationships is that the existing view onvalue in business relationships is narrow. In order to more fully understand the dynamics ofvalue in industrial relationships, the meaning of the value concept needs to be researchedthrough empirical studies.The overall purpose of the research is to explore the phenomenon of value co-creationin an industrial buyer-seller partnership, how such a partnership emerges and developes, andwhat the prerequisites for value co-creation are. The more specific research questions thatthe study seeks to answer are:Question 1: How is the value concept used theoretically in business marketing?