Suchergebnisse

Purpose
Recent research suggests that the interest in process-based single-case studies is increasing in business-to-business (B2B) marketing. This paper aims to discuss research validity issues and dilemmas encountered by process-based single-case researchers in B2B marketing.


Design/methodology/approach
This is a methodology paper that builds on an integration of experiences, ideas and literature.


Findings
In the paper, three dilemmas are suggested that researchers need to deal with in process-based single-case research. These relate to the casing process: crafting the case, communicating the case and describing the process of the study. Furthermore, process validation is suggested as a research quality concept concerned with how these dilemmas are handled.


Research limitations implications
Based on the notion of process validation, the authors provide suggestions for how casing, as a process-based single-case approach, can be conveyed and advanced in its own right.


Practical implications
This study can be used to convey insights that can help new and experienced researchers in conducting single-case studies in B2B.


Originality/value
Coping with issues of research quality in B2B marketing is of relevance to researchers dealing with process-based single-case research and process validation issues, as well as to journal reviewers evaluating the qualities of process-based single-case research.

Purpose
A shift in supply management is underway. Nonlinear connections of buyers and sellers in business ecosystems challenge conventional supply management practice. Digital technologies and network connectivity lower the costs of connecting and collaborating with loosely related external parties. This paper aims to explore how this challenges conventional purchasing and supply management (PSM) practice.


Design/methodology/approach
This paper builds on the extended case research method. It is based on a theoretical conceptualization, which is explored through a case study.


Findings
The authors find that both supply management's contribution to value creation, value appropriation and collaborative interfaces change with the emergence of multifaceted business systems.


Research limitations/implications
The paper is developed within a specific industrial context, and the findings are not directly transferrable to other contexts. However, the authors believe that on an analytical level, there is value in transferring the insights into other manufacturing contexts.


Practical implications
Managers must challenge the taken-for-granted thinking that follows from linear supply management practices and start rehearsing the role of PSM when dealing with supplies from business ecosystem lead firms.


Originality/value
This research takes up a novel issue, highly relevant for PSM practitioners as well as for theory. To the best of the authors' knowledge, nothing has been written about the colliding business logics of conventional PSM and that of business ecosystems.

Purpose
This paper aims to identify antecedents for, and consequences of, low-intensity inter-unit conflict in multinational corporations (MNCs). Inter-unit conflict in MNCs is an important and well-researched theme. However, while most studies have focused on open conflict acknowledged by both parties, much less research has dealt with low-intensity conflicts. Still, low-intensity conflicts can be highly damaging – not least because they are rarely resolved.


Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a qualitative approach to understanding low-intensity conflict relying on 170 interviews in four Danish MNCs.


Findings
They describe consequences of low-intensity conflict and identify three types of actions by headquarters' representatives that could lead to the development of low-intensity conflicts, namely, ignoring, bypassing and educating.


Originality/value
Very few studies have dealt with low-intensity conflict – not least in international business research. The authors argue that the study of low-intensity conflict in MNCs can provide relevant, novel knowledge of MNC functioning.