Industrial purchasing is a growing discipline with a broad scope of research issues. Research contributions vary greatly with respect to problem issues, the level of analysis, research methods and the application of theoretical frameworks. Literature reviews in the purchasing research field give...

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to argue for an explicit foundation of market exchange on person‐to‐person relationships as an alternative to the foundation on person‐to‐goods relationship underlying the exchange model inherited from neoclassical economics and classical contract law...

Purpose – Networks are increasingly recognised as being important to successful marketing amongst small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). The purpose of this study is to investigate the structure and content of network relations amongst SME clusters, and explore the link to marketing...

This article advocates recognition of interpretive elements in business research and the need for improvement of the researcher’s interpretive skills. The scientific tradition specifically concerned with interpretation is called hermeneutics. However, interpretation exists in all types of...

How do managers, in their role as decision makers, design and implement systems for management of quality? Proposes that there is no one, definitive answer to this question, given various industrial environments and their operating constraints, diverse market conditions and numerous management...

Purpose – The paper aims to offer a five‐step method for discovering a customer's particular strategic needs based on a unique application of value‐chain analysis. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a five‐step approach. Step 1 explains how internal and external value...

This article is about ongoing efforts to come to grips with the question: Does relationship marketing pay? The question is discussed under the umbrella concept return on relationships. Much of what is being done in relationship marketing and customer relationship management has a bearing on both...

Purpose – A large number of researchers and marketing textbooks see business marketing dominantly from the relationship marketing perspective. One can even talk about a “matrimony” of these domains; “RM=BM”. The Contemporary Marketing Practices studies, however, provide clear evidence...