Buyer-Seller Relationships
John Bantham, Kevin Celuch, Chickery Kasouf, Jeffrey Streiter
MPI and the PMRC have studied many facets of buyer-seller relationships in the supply chain for over ten years, including quantitative and qualitative projects.
A two year longitudinal study generated the richest data set during this time. This phase of the study investigated four partnerships between P/M part producers and a key customer. The primary sources of data for this study were personal interviews conducted with those employees who are involved with the management and operation of the partnerships. Companies ranged in size from approximately 50 employees to several thousand employees. Informants represent various functions within the organizations (e.g., Buyers, Commodity Managers, Supplier Managers, Design Engineers, Quality Engineers, Marketing Managers, and Customer Service Specialists). The key informants were identified in preliminary discussions with primary contacts at supplier firms. In total, 53 interviews with 25 different informants were conducted for the study, which spanned an eighteen-month period. Personal interviews were conducted with the appropriate individuals within each firm of the partnering dyad. The interviewing approach was open-ended. The interview typically began with the researcher asking the participant, "What does your firm bring to the relationship?" Further topics related to what it is like working with the partner- positives and negatives, the nature of information use, satisfaction with the partnership, and likelihood of continuing with the relationship. This form of interviewing provided the perspectives of the participants; in the participants' own words.
Early in the project we integrated literature from cognitive psychology with preliminary data and some data from the phase I projects to develop a model to explain relationship commitment. That model is outlined in Figure 1. Toward the end of the qualitative phase of the study, we developed a questionnaire based on our evolving interpretation of the data. That questionnaire was sent to 246 firms in the fall of 2001 using Dillman's Total Design method in two mailings. This resulted in 96 responses - a rate that we were very pleased with given the anthrax deaths that dominated the news just as we mailed the questionnaire.
Key results from this project include:
- Development of a preliminary model that linked partnership commitment to investment the comparison level of alternatives, and, in turn, by Interdependent Problem Solving, which is manifested by joint motivation and coordination of activities. From our perspective, the real value of the model lies here and in the variables driving this coordination. Supplier or customer cooperation are wonderful "motherhood" objectives - difficult to contest but equally difficult to implement. Mindset, the development of cooperative norms (i.e., common standards for problem resolution that recognize each other's goals) drives Skillset (communication abilities). The value of this framework is that it provides normative direction for relationship management for the buyer and the seller. Developing the appropriate communication skills to guide the relationship through conflict and generate mutually beneficial outcomes yields improved supplier performance and efficiencies for the customer and profitable accounts for the supplier. The back end skills (the development of mutually beneficial norms and communication skills), while often overlooked, can be a rich area to develop effective long-term relationships. While engineering and production excellence will always be critical for part producers' success, complementary customer management skills are also essential to manage profitable projects.
- The interviews in the second phase of the research supported the original model and found that the development of self-awareness in both parties was critical for relationship development. Both buyers and sellers develop expectations relative to their partners' performance and behavior. Each party also develops expectations relative to their own performance and behavior in the relationship. This self-awareness of expectations is a critical phase in managing conflict, which forms the basis for successful relationships.
- Being self aware of expectations is necessary yet not sufficient for the successful interdependent problem solving. At some point, specific expectations must be clearly articulated and shared with the partner if they are to stand a realistic chance of being met. Moreover, they must be understood and agreed upon by both parties. The significance of perspective taking cannot be overemphasized as a means of addressing self-awareness and sharing related to expectations management. However, the need to "see the other side" is not enough to insure interdependent problem solving. A partner must also be willing to actively address and manage expectations.
This project resulted in the following papers:
- Kasouf, Chickery J., Kevin G. Celuch, and John H. Bantham (2006), An Examination of Liking as a Mediator of Communication Behavior and Trust in Individual-Level Buyer-Seller Exchanges, to be presented at the Annual meeting of the Society for Marketing Advances, Nashville, TN, November, 2006.
- Celuch, Kevin G., John H. Bantham, and Chickery J. Kasouf (2006) "An Extension of the Marriage Metaphor in Buyer-Seller Relationships: An Exploration of Individual Process Dynamics," Journal of Business Research, 59(5) 573-581.
- Celuch, Kevin G., Chickery J. Kasouf, and John H. Bantham (2006), "Extending the Marriage Metaphor: The Importance of Partner Communication Behavior in Understanding Buyer-Seller Relationships," presented at the 2006 Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior Conference, Bloomington, IL, June 9, 2006.
- Kasouf, Chickery J., Kevin G. Celuch, and John H. Bantham (2006), "An Examination of Communication Behaviors as Mediators in Individual-Level Inter-Organizational Behaviors," Psychology and Marketing, 2006, 33 (1) 35-56.
- Hunter, Lisa M., Chickery J. Kasouf, Kathryn Curry, and Kevin G. Celuch (2004) "A Classification of Business-to-Business Buying Decisions: Risk Importance and Probability as a Framework for E-Business Benefits," Industrial Marketing Management, 2004, 33 (2) 145-154. Sixth most frequently downloaded article in IMM in 2004.
- Celuch, Kevin G. and Chickery J. Kasouf, "Interorganizational Buyer-Seller Relationships: The Impact of Individual Perceptions on Relationship-Oriented Action," presented at the Meeting of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vancouver, BC, May, 29, 2004.
- Kasouf, Chickery J., John H. Bantham, and Kevin G. Celuch, "Managing Customer Relationships: Implications for the P/M Part Producer," presented at the 2003 PM2TEC Meeting, Las Vegas, NV, June 12, 2003.
- Kasouf, Chickery J., Kevin G. Celuch, , and John H. Bantham, "An Examination of Communication Behaviors as Mediators of the Influence of Cooperative Norms on Problem Solving Efficacy in Buyer-Seller Relationships," presented at the 2003 American Marketing Association Winter Educators' Conference, February 16, 2003.
- Bantham, John H., Kevin G. Celuch, and Chickery J. Kasouf (2003), "A Perspective of Partnerships Based on Interdependence and Dialectical Theory," Journal of Business Research, 56 (4) 265-274.
- Bantham, John H., Kevin G. Celuch, and Chickery J. Kasouf (2002), "A Qualitative Investigation of Interdependent Problem Solving in Buyer-Seller Partnerships," Proceedings of the 2002 Decision Sciences Institute 2002 Annual Meeting, Timothy L. Smunt, ed.
- Kasouf, Chickery J., Kevin G. Celuch, and John H. Bantham (2002), "An Examination of Communication Behaviors as Mediators of the Influence of Cooperative Norms on Problem Solving Efficacy in Buyer-Seller Relationships," to be presented at the 2002 American Marketing Association Winter Educators' Conference.
- Kasouf, Chickery J., Samyukta Warty, and Kevin G. Celuch (1999), "Buyer-Seller Relationships in the Supply Chain: Factors Affecting Customer and Seller Commitment," presented at the Portland International Conference on the Management of Engineering and Technology, July 26, 1999.
- Kasouf, Chickery J. and Kevin G. Celuch (1997), "Interfirm Relationships in the Supply Chain: The Small Supplier's View," Industrial Marketing Management, 1997, 26 (6), 475-486.
Last modified: September 18, 2007 11:45:32