Towards an empirically based taxonomy of buyer–seller relations in business markets

To develop appropriate theories of business relationship management we need to understand what types of relations exist and the differing types of problems they pose for the firms involved. We report the results of research to develop an empirically based taxonomy of buyer–seller business relations from data that include both buyer and seller firm perspectives. Cluster analysis is used to identify five types of relations based on measures of relationship atmosphere that share similarities and some important differences with previous typologies. A comparison of typologies shows that some obscure and confound relationship types by forcing them into predefined groups, that the same type of relationship atmosphere is compatible with more than one pattern of behavior and that the estimated correlations among relationship variables are sensitive to the mix of relations included in the sample. Future research that can build on this work, the challenges that this kind of research presents and the methodologies to help address them are then discussed.

[1]  James R. Brown,et al.  Interdependency, Contracting, and Relational Behavior in Marketing Channels: , 1996 .

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

[3]  B. McKelvey.  Guidelines for the Empirical Classification of Organizations. , 1975 .

[4]  C. Burt,et al.  A factor analysis of body measurements for British adult males. , 1947, Annals of eugenics.

[5]  I. Wilkinson,et al.  Idea Logics and Network Theory in Business Marketing , 2002 .

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

[7]  L Halln,et al.  Relationship Atmosphere In International Business , 1988 .

[8]  M. Bensaou.  Portfolios of Buyer-Supplier Relationships , 1999 .

[9]  P. Abell.  Narrative Explanation: An Alternative to Variable-Centered Explanation? , 2004 .

[10]  J. Koch,et al.  A Critical Appraisal of Integrated Treatments of Contingency Findings , 1975 .

[11]  M. Lorr.  Cluster analysis for social scientists , 1938 .

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

[13]  Joseph P. Cannon,et al.  An Examination of the Nature of Trust in Buyer–Seller Relationships: , 1997 .

[14]  G. De Soete,et al.  Clustering and Classification , 2019, Data-Driven Science and Engineering.

[15]  Louise Young,et al.  The Commitment Mix: Dimensions of Commitment in International Trading Relationships in India , 2006 .

[16]  S. Wasserman,et al.  New Frontiers in Network Theory Development , 2006 .

[17]  O. Williamson,et al.  Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications. , 1977 .

[18]  Jeffrey H. Dyer,et al.  The Relational View: Cooperative Strategy and Sources of Interorganizational Competitive Advantage , 1998 .

[19]  I. Wilkinson,et al.  Managing in complex business networks , 2004 .

[20]  Jacob Cohen,et al.  The Equivalence of Weighted Kappa and the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient as Measures of Reliability , 1973 .

[21]  Mary Tripsas.  Unraveling The Process Of Creative Destruction: Complementary Assets And Incumbent Survival In The Typesetter Industry , 1997 .

[22]  D. Kipnis,et al.  Intraorganizational Influence Tactics: Explorations in Getting One's Way , 1980 .

[23]  Ian Wilkinson,et al.  Using narrative sequence methods to advance international entrepreneurship theory , 2007 .

[24]  Ravi S. Achrol,et al.  Evolution of the Marketing Organization: New Forms for Turbulent Environments , 1991 .

[25]  Will Tait.  The space between: fine art and technology , 1998, COMG.

[26]  Dawn Iacobucci,et al.  Toward An Encompassing Theory of Business Marketing Relationships (BMRS) and Interpersonal Commercial Relationships (ICRS): An Empirical Generalization , 1999 .

[27]  Jagdip Singh,et al.  A typology of consumer dissatisfaction response styles , 1990 .

[28]  Girish N. Punj,et al.  Cluster Analysis in Marketing Research: Review and Suggestions for Application , 1983 .

[29]  R. Blashfield,et al.  A Nearest-Centroid Technique for Evaluating the Minimum-Variance Clustering Procedure. , 1980 .

[30]  K. Lewin.  Field theory in social science , 1951 .

[31]  Raymond B. Cattell,et al.  rp and other coefficients of pattern similarity , 1949, Psychometrika.

[32]  G. Huber,et al.  Retrospective reports of strategic‐level managers: Guidelines for increasing their accuracy , 1985 .

[33]  Aino Halinen,et al.  Research on Ending Exchange Relationships: A Categorization, Assessment and Outlook , 2002 .

[34]  G. W. Milligan,et al.  An examination of procedures for determining the number of clusters in a data set , 1985 .

[35]  A. Buja,et al.  Quasi-Darwinian Selection in Marketing Relationships. , 2007 .

[36]  G. W. Milligan,et al.  A Two-Stage Clustering Algorithm with Robust Recovery Characteristics , 1980 .

[37]  Marshall Scott Poole,et al.  Alternative Approaches for Studying Organizational Change , 2005 .

[38]  Joseph P. Cannon,et al.  Buyer–Seller Relationships in Business Markets , 1999 .

[39]  Gary L. Frazier,et al.  On distributor commitment in industrial channels of distribution: A multicomponent approach , 1997 .

[40]  S. J. Press,et al.  Applied Multivariate Analysis. , 1973 .

[41]  G. W. Milligan,et al.  CLUSTERING VALIDATION: RESULTS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR APPLIED ANALYSES , 1996 .

[42]  L. Hallén,et al.  Interfirm Adaptation in Business Relationships , 1991 .

[43]  Edward W. Davis,et al.  Extended Enterprise , 2003, Encyclopedia of Biometrics.

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

[45]  Das Narayandas,et al.  Building and Sustaining Buyer–Seller Relationships in Mature Industrial Markets , 2004 .

[46]  P. H. Friesen,et al.  A Longitudinal Study of the Corporate Life Cycle , 1984 .

[47]  Brian Everitt,et al.  Cluster analysis , 1974 .

[48]  Louis W. Stern,et al.  Development of a Content Analytic System for Analysis of Bargaining Communication in Marketing , 1978 .

[49]  B. Everitt,et al.  Cluster Analysis (2nd ed). , 1982 .

[50]  James A. Narus,et al.  A Model of Distributor Firm and Manufacturer Firm Working Partnerships , 1990 .

[51]  J. Hair.  Multivariate data analysis , 1972 .

[52]  Edward G. Carmines,et al.  Reliability and Validity Assessment , 1979 .

[53]  N. Venkatraman,et al.  Configurations of inter-organizational relationships : a comparison between US and Japanese automakers , 1995 .

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

[55]  S. Hunt,et al.  The Commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing , 1994 .

[56]  J. Steenkamp,et al.  The Effects of Supplier Fairness on Vulnerable Resellers , 1995 .

[57]  Edward W. Hill,et al.  A Methodology for Identifying the Drivers of Industrial Clusters: The Foundation of Regional Competitive Advantage , 2000 .

[58]  I. Wilkinson,et al.  The Space Between: Towards a Typology of Interfirm Relations , 1998 .

[59]  John R. Nevin,et al.  Performance Outcomes of Purchasing Arrangements in Industrial Buyer-Vendor Relationships , 1990 .

[60]  Adam Lindgreen,et al.  Relationship marketing: schools of thought and future research directions , 2005 .

[61]  Robert E. Spekman.  International marketing and purchasing of industrial goods: IMP Group, ed. Håkon Håkansson Wiley, Chichester (England), 1982 , 1984 .

[62]  J. F. Gaski.  The Theory of Power and Conflict in Channels of Distribution , 1984 .

[63]  Jakki J. Mohr,et al.  Collaborative Communication in Interfirm Relationships: Moderating Effects of Integration and Control , 1996 .

[64]  B. Williams.  The new social contract , 1967 .

[65]  Gary L. Frazier,et al.  Measurement of distributor commitment in industrial channels of distribution , 1997 .

[66]  Louise Young,et al.  On cooperating: firms, relations and networks☆ , 2002 .

[67]  J. Rotter.  A new scale for the measurement of interpersonal trust. , 1967, Journal of personality.