The use of procedural fairness in electronic reverse auctions to enhance relationship quality

In this study, the use of procedural fairness by a buying organization in an electronic reverse auction (ERA) is examined. Drawing on the literature, a conceptual model is developed that relates procedural fairness to two key ERA outcomes: relationship quality and quality of the offering. The hypothesized relationships between procedural fairness and quality outcomes are empirically tested through a global field study with 179 procurement professionals in multinational companies, and explored through a supporting field study with 31 sales professionals from supplier firms. The results show that the use of procedural fairness by a buying organization is positively related to relationship quality and quality of the offering, without jeopardizing price savings. In addition, the positive association between procedural fairness and relationship quality is found to increase in the case of a repeat auction. This study contributes to the relationship marketing literature by examining how procedural fairness can mitigate relationship quality concerns in ERA use by buying organizations. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Digitization in B2B Buying and Selling

Business-to-business transactions include several processes that can be digitized by buyers and suppliers. While prior studies have examined the performance impacts of using digital technologies, they have not investigated the alignment of such digitization between transacting parties. In this paper, we empirically examine the use of different market-based digital technologies by buyers and suppliers for these processes, and analyze the extent to which the digitization of different processes is aligned between transacting buyers and suppliers. Our field study is based on surveys of transacting agents in 174 buyer-supplier dyads about their use of digital technologies. The results indicate that there are misalignments for some processes in both the specific digital technologies buyers and suppliers use, and in the extent to which each of them uses digital technologies. By addressing these misalignments, buyers and suppliers could potentially realize greater benefits from digitized transaction processes

Digital innovation in the Belgian insurance market

The insurance industry is changing, due to technology, market, and regulatory factors. Insurance products, processes, and business models are reshaped by rapid technological advances in big data, cloud computing, and Internet of Things. At the same time, consumers have become accustomed to the convenience, personalization, simplicity, and speed of interacting digitally via social media services and mobile applications offered by players such as Amazon, Airbnb, Facebook, Google and Uber. As a result, consumers increasingly expect insurance companies to offer digital services with compelling user interfaces and experiences. As to regulation, the financial services industry is preparing for the implementation of the General Data protection Regulation (GDPR; Effective in May 2018), which gives consumers the right to request their personal data to be made portable or completely and securily deleted. In response, leading insurance companies have started deploying an ecosystem perspective, partnering with firms in and out-side the insurance industry.Accen