The Hidden Layer of Buyer-Seller Relationships

Using social capital theory (SCT), this research conceptualizes trusted advisor relationships (TAR) and empirically tests the implications of such intense relationships on important performance outcomes. Essay 1 was conducted to offer an in-depth analysis of the conceptualization of trusted advisor relationships. A hermeneutical phenomenological approach was used to interpret the data derived from fourteen in-depth interviews with professional salespeople and their business-to-business (B2B) clients. These data supported the development of a conceptual model and definition of TARs. Essay 2 was conducted to explore the measurable components of trusted advisor relationships and solidify an operationalization of the construct for used in empirical research. A pre-test of professional salespeople and buyers allowed a preliminary exploration of constructs representative of the dimensions of SCT across both the business and personal components of B2B relationships. To refine and further test the TAR construct, the main study analyzed data from 181 professional salespeople. Analysis of this data provided a profile of relationship types with high and low levels of social capital across business and personal factors. Essay 3 extended the research in Essay 1 and Essay 2 and focused on two major issues. First, existing theoretical relationships often studied in relationship marketing and sales literature, such as the relationship between economic value and performance outcomes, were assessed in an overall model. This exploration builds on existing models of B2B relationships and explores in an integrative conceptual model the impact of both individual and relationship factors on performance and relationship outcomes. Second, this essay identified how TARs moderate the relationships between the antecedents and consequences of this theoretically grounded model. The essay finds that high social capital relationships serve as a moderating variable impacting the relationships between relationship and individual level antecedents and downstream subjective outcomes measures of interest to managers in practice. Theoretically, the contributions of this research include a better understanding of how social capital derived from business and personal interactions influence business outcomes. Managerially, this research provides more precision in the conceptualization of Trusted Advisor Relationships and generates insights on the positive and negative effects of such intense business and personal relationships

An essay on the dimension and components of customisation in service operations management

There is a scarcity of guidelines that trigger the adoption of Customisation, a concept frequently brought up in Service-related Operations management. This paper suggests a comprehensive framework of the Customisation process and its implications for Service Operations Management. We identify the two most outstanding approaches of Customisation, based upon the concepts of Customers'needings and Wishes. Main differences between them and their respective effects on the design of the Service Operations Strategy are discussed. Second, we identify the four dimensions (Time, Space, Volume and Variety) which explain the two mentioned approaches and that may address the process of implementation of the Operations Strategy

Information Outlook, August 1997

Volume 1, Issue 8https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_io_1997/1007/thumbnail.jp

A new quality theory for UK private housebuilding based on definable quality principles, impression management and the control of cognitive dissonance

Abstract unavailable please refer to PD

The definition, creation, and evolution of buyer-seller relationships

The theoretical and practical importance of relational exchange is well known. However, customers are often annoyed at companies’ relationship building attempts. In addition, the literature has three core problems: (1) the relational concept is not well defined; (2) little research has accounted for relationship dynamics; and (3) relational constructs’ conceptualizations have become ambiguous. The purpose of this dissertation is to build an integrative and comparative framework that not only delineates relationship stages, but also identifies the unique roles of all relational forms (e.g., firm-firm). Specifically, three research questions are addressed: (1) How is a relationship defined? (2) How is a relationship created? and (3) How does a relationship evolve? These research questions are addressed in three essays. Essay 1 develops the relationship definition, creation, and evolution framework based on the field’s 50 most influential articles and validated by survey data from 34 authors. Scholars define a relationship as “at least one interaction with future interactions expected”. Information sharing and cooperation are necessary elements for relationship creation. Correspondence analysis (CA) was used to map 271 constructs to the evolutionary framework. Using data provided from structured interviews, Essay 2 considered one relational form (i.e., customer-retailer) and compared the perspectives of relational parties (i.e., manager, sales-associate, and customer) on the research questions. A relationship is defined as “at least one exchange between parties that share information”. Twenty-one elements are noted as required for relationship creation. Relational constructs were mapped to the evolutionary framework using CA. Essay 3 addressed the relationship evolution question by developing and testing a conceptual model of relational exchange using survey data from 1407 customers in the context of their relationships with a coffee house chain. Respondents were segmented based on their relationship stage, and multi-group moderation analysis was performed. Nine of 41 structural paths are invariant across relationship stages. The essays illustrate the difference in perspectives of academics, practitioners, and customers as it relates to the research questions. Information sharing is noted as a key element of relationships in all essays. Support is also gained for the necessary use of relationship stage as a moderator in relational exchange research

Curbing Broker-Dealers\u27 Abusive Sales Practices: Does Professor Jensen\u27s Integrity Framework Offer a Better Approach?

Retail investors, particularly senior citizens, need competent and careful investment advice more than ever before. Many must rely on the services provided by investment advice providers, including broker-dealers. Regulators have sounded the alarm about sales of risky, complex products to retail customers in search of better returns, especially senior citizens and retirees. Both the SEC and FINRA have identified abusive broker-dealer sales practices as priorities in their examinations of broker-dealers and have brought numerous enforcement actions against broker-dealers for sales practices that harm retail investors. These enforcement actions frequently allege both failures of the firms’ due diligence processes to assure the suitability of recommended investments and failures of the supervisory and compliance systems that are supposed to detect and deter impermissible sales practices. In this essay, prepared for the Wake Forest Law Review Business Law Symposium, Agency Theory: Still Viable?, I explore whether Michael Jensen’s integrity framework, set forth in Werner Erhard & Michael C. Jensen, Putting Integrity into Finance: A Purely Positive Approach (3 March 2013), could provide an effective alternative for improving broker-dealers’ sales practices