Rituals in managing extrabusiness relationships in international project marketing: a conceptual framework

Abstract The current craze for the so-called relationship marketing in business markets must not mask the fact that, beyond economic and technological interdependencies between companies, business relationships are also made up of social interactions. This social dimension often escapes the attention of marketing theorists although it is of major importance in the management of business relationships. On the basis of an investigation into international project activities, this article develops a ritual approach for managing the extrabusiness phase of business relationships. This ritual approach allows us to build a framework designed to encapsulate and, possibly, manage the many faces of the social dimension of business relationships.

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