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Buyer-supplier integration in project-based industries

Per Erik Eriksson (Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden)
Ossi Pesämaa (Department of Entrepreneurship, Management and Organization, Hanken School of Economics, Vasa, Finland and School of Management, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Karlskrona, Sweden)

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing

ISSN: 0885-8624

Article publication date: 28 January 2013

1903

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to propose and test a buyer-supplier integration model, based on clients' collaborative purchasing practices, in a project-based industry.

Design/methodology/approach

Hypotheses regarding the relationships among the three variables – i.e. incentive-based payment (IBP), partner selection (PS) based on multiple criteria, and joint action (JA) – are tested using structural equation modeling. Empirical data was collected through two survey rounds of 87 and 106 Swedish construction clients.

Findings

The test of the proposed theoretical model receives strong empirical support, indicating that IBP should be coupled with PS based on multiple criteria in order to facilitate JA. Furthermore, it is seen that the occurrence of JA is higher in 2009 than in 2006 and that this is achieved through increased use of IBP.

Research limitations/implications

The hypothesized and tested model provides a theoretical contribution, indicating how to facilitate buyer-supplier integration in project-based industries. In future studies it would be useful to adopt a multiple-informant approach, also including suppliers as respondents in order to capture their views on integration.

Practical implications

An important managerial implication is that public clients need to improve their understanding of how to design bid proposals and evaluate bids based on multiple criteria instead of lowest price, without infringing public procurement acts.

Originality/value

This paper offers unique contributions by addressing a gap in the relationship marketing literature and a lack of quantitative studies of buyer-supplier relationships in project-based industries.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Received 15 September 2010Accepted 27 January 2011The authors would like to thank the Swedish Construction Clients Forum (Byggherrarna) and its member organizations for helpful assistance in collecting the empirical data. Financial support was received from the Development Fund of the Swedish Construction Industry (SBUF) and the Research Fund of Handelsbanken in Sweden. The authors also like to thank the faculty at Queensland University of Technology for linguistic support and grammar checking.

Citation

Erik Eriksson, P. and Pesämaa, O. (2013), "Buyer-supplier integration in project-based industries", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 29-40. https://doi.org/10.1108/08858621311285697

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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