Value creation in the relationship life cycle: A quasi-longitudinal analysis

Among the growing literature on value creation in collaborative buyer–seller relationships, most researchers examine relationship value at a single point in time. In the present research, we explore whether different stages of the relationship life cycle moderate the relative importance of value-creating dimensions. To shed light on the dynamic nature of value in B2B relationships, we present the results of a survey among purchasing managers using a quasi-longitudinal research design. Our findings confirm the moderating role of the relationship life cycle in value creation. More precisely, our results indicate that a key supplier's potential for value creation in customer's operations increases in relative importance as relationships move through the life cycle. In turn, supplier's capabilities to create superior value at the level of the customer's sourcing process display a decreasing role over the life cycle of a business relationship. No significant link was found in the present study between value creation through a supplier's core offering and different stages of a buyer–seller relationship.

[1]  K. Möller,et al.  Business suppliers' value creation potential: A capability-based analysis☆ , 2003 .

[2]  Joseph P. Cannon,et al.  Buyer–Supplier Relationships and Customer Firm Costs , 2001 .

[3]  Francis Farrelly,et al.  The Role of Value Change Management in Relationship Dissolution: Hygiene and Motivational Factors , 2004 .

[4]  Adrian Payne,et al.  A Review of the ‘Value’ Literature and Implications for Relationship Marketing , 1999 .

[5]  Mark Vandenbosch,et al.  Beyond Better Products: Capturing Value in Customer Interactions , 2002 .

[6]  C. Grönroos,et al.  The value concept and relationship marketing , 1996 .

[7]  R. B. Woodruff,et al.  Customer value: The next source for competitive advantage , 1997 .

[8]  Thomas Ritter,et al.  Functions of industrial supplier relationships and their impact on relationship quality , 2003 .

[9]  Wayne S. DeSarbo,et al.  An Integrated Approach toward the Spatial Modeling of Perceived Customer Value , 1998 .

[10]  Pradeep K. Chintagunta,et al.  Customer Value Assessment in Business Markets: A State-of-Practice Study , 1992 .

[11]  P. Ring,et al.  Developmental Processes of Cooperative Interorganizational Relationships , 1994 .

[12]  Lisa M. Ellram,et al.  Life‐cycle Patterns in Industrial Buyer‐Seller Partnerships , 1991 .

[13]  Larry E. Toothaker,et al.  Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions , 1991 .

[14]  V. Kasturi Rangan,et al.  Beating the commodity magnet , 1992 .

[15]  Wynne W. Chin,et al.  A Partial Least Squares Latent Variable Modeling Approach for Measuring Interaction Effects: Results from a Monte Carlo Simulation Study and an Electronic - Mail Emotion/Adoption Study , 2003, Inf. Syst. Res..

[16]  C. Fornell,et al.  Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. , 1981 .

[17]  H. Håkansson,et al.  Dyadic Business Relationships within a Business Network Context , 1994 .

[18]  Andreas Eggert,et al.  Relationship Value in Business Markets: The Construct and Its Dimensions , 2005 .

[19]  S. Swanson,et al.  The role of relationship quality in the stratification of vendors as perceived by customers , 1998 .

[20]  Gilbert A. Churchill.  A Paradigm for Developing Better Measures of Marketing Constructs , 1979 .

[21]  A. Parasuraman.  Reflections on gaining competitive advantage through customer value , 1997 .

[22]  Philip Charles Zerrillo,et al.  The Relationship Life Cycle: I) A Network-Dyad-Network Dynamic Conceptualization, and II) The Application of Some Classic Psychological Theories to its Management , 1996 .

[23]  James C. Anderson,et al.  Predicting the performance of measures in a confirmatory factor analysis with a pretest assessment of their substantive validities. , 1991 .

[24]  J. Nunnally.  Psychometric Theory (2nd ed), New York: McGraw-Hill. , 1978 .

[25]  Andreas Eggert,et al.  Value-Based Differentiation in Business Relationships: Gaining and Sustaining Key Supplier Status , 2006 .

[26]  Andreas Eggert,et al.  Customer perceived value: a substitute for satisfaction in business markets? , 2002 .

[27]  F. Dwyer,et al.  Developing Buyer-Seller Relationships , 1987 .

[28]  Robert F. DeVellis,et al.  Scale Development: Theory and Applications. , 1992 .

[29]  Sandy D. Jap,et al.  Control Mechanisms and the Relationship Life Cycle: Implications for Safeguarding Specific Investments and Developing Commitment , 2000 .

[30]  David T. Wilson.  An integrated model of buyer-seller relationships , 1995 .

[31]  Jule B. Gassenheimer,et al.  The role of economic value, social value, and perceptions of fairness in interorganizational relationship retention decisions , 1998 .

[32]  David W. Gerbing,et al.  An Updated Paradigm for Scale Development Incorporating Unidimensionality and Its Assessment , 1988 .

[33]  K. Seltman.  Marketing for management. , 2004, Marketing health services.

[34]  Maria Holmlund,et al.  Analyzing business relationships and distinguishing different interaction levels , 2004 .

[35]  Stanley F. Slater,et al.  Developing a customer value-based theory of the firm , 1997 .

[36]  C. Medlin.  Interaction in business relationships: A time perspective , 2004 .

[37]  David T. Wilson,et al.  Understanding the Value of a Relationship , 1994 .

[38]  David W. Cravens,et al.  Looking toward the next 25 years ofJAMS , 1997 .

[39]  James C. Anderson.  Relationships in business markets: Exchange episodes, value creation, and their empirical assessment , 1995 .

[40]  F. Robert Dwyer,et al.  Business Marketing: Connecting Strategy, Relationships, and Learning , 1999 .

[41]  F. Selnes,et al.  Customer Portfolio Management: Toward a Dynamic Theory of Exchange Relationships , 2004 .

[42]  Wolfgang Ulaga.  Capturing value creation in business relationships: A customer perspective , 2003 .

[43]  H. Gemünden,et al.  Value Creation in Buyer–Seller Relationships: Theoretical Considerations and Empirical Results from a Supplier's Perspective , 2001 .

[44]  Jan-Bernd Lohmöller,et al.  Latent Variable Path Modeling with Partial Least Squares , 1989 .

[45]  Sandy D. Jap.  The Strategic Role of the Salesforce in Developing Customer Satisfaction Across the Relationship Lifecycle , 2001 .

[46]  K. Tan,et al.  Buyer‐supplier relationships: The impact of supplier selection and buyer‐supplier engagement on relationship and firm performance , 2006 .

[47]  J. Lapierre.  Customer‐perceived value in industrial contexts , 2000 .

[48]  R. B. Woodruff,et al.  Exploring the Phenomenon of Customers' Desired Value Change in a Business-to-Business Context , 2002 .

[49]  James A. Narus,et al.  Business Market Management: Understanding, Creating, and Delivering Value (Управление бизнес-рынками: понимание, создание и донесение ценности) , 1998 .