Business relationships on different waves: Paradigm shift and marketing orientation revisited

Abstract Relationships with customers, also referred to as inter-organizational relationships, are a growing theme in marketing. The increased interest in these concepts has triggered views that a paradigm shift from mass marketing toward relationship marketing has taken place over the last 20 years and that only a relationship orientation secures firms' success. In this paper, we promote the idea that relationships exist along different orientations and paradigms. We identify five different orientations and the logic of a buyer–supplier relationship in each of these waves. Furthermore, we argue for a dyadic view of orientation, i.e., the supplier orientation must match the buyer orientation in order to allow smooth interactions.

[1]  Ian Wilkinson,et al.  A History of Network and Channels Thinking in Marketing in the 20Th Century , 2001 .

[2]  R. Brodie,et al.  How Firms Relate to Their Markets: An Empirical Examination of Contemporary Marketing Practices , 2002 .

[3]  Robert J. Keith,et al.  The Marketing Revolution , 1960 .

[4]  Bernard J. Jaworski,et al.  Market orientation: Antecedents and consequences , 1993 .

[5]  R. Bagozzi.  Marketing as Exchange , 1975 .

[6]  K. Cook.  Exchange and Power in Networks of Interorganizational Relations , 1976 .

[7]  P. Blau.  Exchange and Power in Social Life , 1964 .

[8]  Mark S. Granovetter.  Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness , 1985, American Journal of Sociology.

[9]  Alexandra Waluszewski,et al.  Rethinking marketing : developing a new understanding of markets , 2004 .

[10]  P. Kotler,et al.  Marketing management : analysis, planning, and control , 1973 .

[11]  David Ford,et al.  Technology Strategy for Business , 1996 .

[12]  Atul Parvatiyar,et al.  Evolving Relationship Marketing into a Discipline , 2002 .

[13]  Dennis E. Garrett,et al.  Marketing Theory: Evolution and Evaluation , 1986 .

[14]  Håkan Håkansson,et al.  Influence tactics in buyer — seller processes , 1976 .

[15]  D. F. Dixon,et al.  An Alternative Paradigm for Marketing Theory , 1984 .

[16]  Ronald A. Fullerton.  How Modern is Modern Marketing? Marketing's Evolution and the Myth of the “Production Era” , 1988 .

[17]  H. Håkansson.  International Marketing and Purchasing of Industrial Goods: An Interaction Approach , 1982 .

[18]  Frances Brassington,et al.  Principles of Marketing , 1999 .

[19]  J. Sheth,et al.  The evolution of relationship marketing , 1995 .

[20]  T. Kuhn,et al.  The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. , 1964 .

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

[22]  K. Cook,et al.  Power, Equity and Commitment in Exchange Networks , 1978 .

[23]  R. Wise,et al.  Go Downstream: The New Profit Imperative in Manufacturing , 1999 .

[24]  H. Gemünden,et al.  Relationships and Networks in International Markets , 1998 .

[25]  H. Håkansson,et al.  Developing relationships in business networks , 1995 .

[26]  John C. Narver,et al.  The Effect of a Market Orientation on Business Profitability , 1990 .

[27]  Lars-Erik Gadde,et al.  The Business Marketing Course: Managing in Complex Networks (2nd edition) , 2001 .

[28]  B. Anderson,et al.  Sociological theories in progress , 1966 .

[29]  Tevfik Dalgic.  Dissemination of market orientation in Europe , 1998 .

[30]  Barton A. Weitz,et al.  Handbook of marketing , 2002 .

[31]  R. Emerson.  Power-Dependence Relations , 1962, Power in Modern Societies.

[32]  David T. Wilson,et al.  Managing Business Relationships , 1998 .

[33]  Anthony F. Heath,et al.  Rational Choice and Social Exchange , 1977 .

[34]  E. Gummesson.  Relationship Marketing in the New Economy , 2002 .

[35]  Robin Wensley,et al.  The Dynamics of Business Orientation: the case of the Volvo Car Corporation , 2004 .

[36]  P. Kotler.  Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control , 1972 .

[37]  J. Arndt.  Toward a Concept of Domesticated Markets , 1979 .