Customer-Supplier Relationships in B2B

This book explores customer-supplier relationships in B2B markets focusing on interaction between parties. Drawing on three fields of research studies of relationships in marketing, social interactionism in sociology, and sense-making in social psychology the author explores the concepts and roles of actors in business relationships and how the behaviour of actors within an interaction affects the development of those relationships. Based on a review of prior research and an original empirical study, the author argues that the presence of continuous close relationships between the customer and supplier organisations bestows features of a business network on B2B markets, with distinct interdependencies and ubiquitous interactions. Exploring buyer-seller interactions, the author contends that actors mutually perceived identities continuously emergent and relationship-specific are the main factor in the development of business relationships and discusses the implicationsfor management practice and research.