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The first and most basic issue is the position and role of Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) research in relation to contemporary economic research, where the authors raise the issue of phenomenon-driven theory development. The discussion hinges on the methodological implications of phenomenon-driven research and emphasizes the interplay of phenomena in focus, theory development and methodological approaches. Two approaches identified in a natural science field, depicted as image- and logic-based research, are used to examine research on business relationships, networks and interactions. The authors argue that the bulk of IMP studies has taken the image-based approach which, in the natural sciences, is considered to produce as hard facts as logic-based (theory testing) research. The detailed images (pictures) of the business landscape that IMP research has produced must be taken as seriously as any quantitative study of the same landscape. Greater awareness and more discussion of the ontological and methodological issues in researching the business world are needed.

A special type of interaction and relationship exists between owners and public companies. Applying the business relationship perspective to owner relationships has some interesting implications. Contemporary theory assumes that the role of the owner is mainly providing financial resources (funding). Taking the business network perspective, the owner’s relationships are also important as these influence and shape interaction patterns including business relationships and thus the business network. Prior research has shown that the owner – especially if it is a business unit – can be directly involved in both the choice and development of specific customer and/or supplier relationships. These influences from owners can be much more important for the development of the company in question than providing financial resources. One consequence of applying this relationship view on ownership is that it offers the possibility of discussing public ownership in a similar way as private ownership.