Chapter 2 The Traditional Perspectives on Professional Buying Behaviour
2.4 Empirical Studies of Buyer-Seller Interactions
Sheth (1973:50), Crow, Olshavsky and Summers (1980:34) and Leonidou, Palihawadana and Theodosiou (2006:147) recognise the considerable amount of extant empirical research on the policies and practices of professional buyers. It is also acknowledged that several different approaches have been taken in conducting business related research projects (Jankowicz, 1995:172;
Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and Lowe, 1991:33), that these approaches have been diverse (Bryman and Bell, 2003:4) and also occupy the entire continuum of
68 available research methods (Gill and Johnson, 1997:172). Therefore, a review of a selection of published empirical research papers, whose focus is the interaction between professional buyers and sellers, is likely to inform any proposed work within the subject area.
2.4.1 Recurring Areas of Research Focus
While the research questions posed by those investigating professional buying have been both diverse and multi-faceted, there are a number of recurring themes. These include the strategic role played by procurement in delivering a competitive advantage to their organisations (Carr and Pearson, 1999:498;
Jap, 1999:462 and Sánchez-Rodríguez, 2009:163) and the exploration of the nature of the relationship between buyers and sellers (Ganesan, 1994:1;
Cannon and Perreault, 1999:445; Walter, Ritter and Geműnden, 2001:366 and Leonidou, Palihawadana and Theodosiou, 2006:155). Several researchers have focussed on the temporal aspects of these relationships (Narayandas and Ranagan, 2004:64 and Ryu, Park and Min, 2007:1228). A further topic of investigation has been the nature of the business processes that are utilised by organisations in order to procure the goods and services they require (Verville and Halingten, 2003:593 and Howard and Doyle, 2006:266).
Alternatively certain researchers have focussed on the nature of conflict and the associated conflict resolution techniques that are applicable in the relationship between buyers and sellers (Mohr and Spekman, 1994:140;
Kumar, Scheer and Steenkamp, 1995:348 and Reid et al. 2004:236.) 2.4.2 The Research Designs Utilised
There are two basic strategy clusters pursued by those researching in a business context; Qualitative Strategies and Quantitative Strategies, although developing strategies that bridge the clusters is also possible (Bryman and Bell, 2003:25). Qualitative research is characterised by data which is sensitive to the social context in which it has been generated (Easterby- Smith, Thorpe and Lowe, 1991:22; Mason, 2002:3 and Bryman and Bell, 2003:14), by seeking to discover how people understand a situation and how that understanding guides their actions, through the linking of the accounts they give (Jankowicz, 1995:173) and by broadly rejecting the norms of natural science (Bryman and Bell, 2003:14). Quantitative Strategies assume that reality exists in a manner that can be measured by objective methods
69 (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and Lowe, 1991:22; Jankowicz, 1995:174 and Bryman and Bell, 2003:14). The significance of data generated through the use of Quantitative Strategies lies in the aggregation, range or comparison (Jankowicz,1995:174) and the collection of this data embraces the practices and norms of natural science (Bryman and Bell, 2003:14).
Interestingly, a review of the strategies adopted by researchers active in the area of professional procurement shows that while qualitative investigations appear to have recently gained in popularity (Verville and Halington, 2003;
Narayandas and Ranagan, 2004 and Howard and Doyle, 2006), there is a strong research emphasis on more quantitative approaches as demonstrated by the work of:
Metcalf, Frear and Krishran (1992) Mohr and Spekman (1994)
Kumar, Scheer and Steenkamp (1995) Carr and Pearson (1999)
Cannon and Perreault (1999) Jap (1999)
Mudambi and Schrűnder (1996) Walter, Ritter and Geműnden (2001) Reid et al. (2004)
Leonidou, Palihawadana and Theododiou (2006) Plank Reid and Newell (2007)
Ryu, Park and Min (2007) Sánchez-Rodríguez (2009)
Srinivasan, Mukherjee and Gaur (2011).
Despite being used more frequently, certain of those who have chosen to adopt quantitative methods observe that the use of qualitative methods may have, in fact, increased the wider understanding of the phenomenon being observed (Carr and Pearson, 1999:515 and Sánchez-Rodríguez, 2009:170).
Reviewing the adopted research designs gives an insight into the methodological decisions encompassed. Most of the researchers whose papers were reviewed limited their data collection to only one half of the trading dyad;
Mohr and Spekman (1994:140
70 Kumar, Scheer and Steenkamp (1995:351
Mudambi and Schrűnder (1996:123 Carr and Pearson (1999:498
Cannon and Perreault (1999:445
Walter, Ritter and Geműnden (2001:369 Reid et al. (2004:240)
Leonidou, Palihawadana and Theododiou (2006:156) Plank, Reid and Newell (2007:56)
Ryu, Park and Min (2007:1228) Sánchez-Rodríguez (2009:165).
Other researchers collected data from both buyer and seller (Metcalf, Frear and Krishran, 1992:32; Ganesan, 1994:6; Jap, 1999:462 and Narayandas and Ranagan, 2004:65). However, it should be noted that several of those researchers who limit their data collection to one side of the dyad, consider that this may result in an incomplete understanding of the context and, therefore, recommend that further work should include enhancing the research designs to broaden the perspective to include both buyers and sellers (Kumar, Scheer and Steenkamp, 1995:353; Cannon and Perreault, 1999:457 and Leonidou, Palihawadana and Theododiou, 2006:166).
cross-sectional research designs involve collecting data at a single point in time with the objective of comparing two or more variables across different contexts (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and Lowe, 1991:34 and Bryman and Bell, 2003:48). Several of the research reports examined utilised cross-sectional approaches including;
Metcalf, Frear and Krishran (1992:32) Ganesan (1994:6)
Mohr and Spekman (1994:140)
Kumar, Scheer and Steenkamp (1995:351) Mudambi and Schrűnder (1996:123)
Carr and Pearson (1999:498) Cannon and Perreault (1999:445)
Walter, Ritter and Geműnden (2001:369) Reid et al. (2004:240)
Howard and Doyle (2006:269)
71 Leonidou, Palihawadana and Theododiou (2006:156)
Plank, Reid and Newell (2007:56) Ryu, Park and Min (2007:1228) Sánchez-Rodríguez (2009:163)
Srinivasan, Mukherjee and Gaur (2011:268).
An alternative approach described by Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and Lowe (1991:35), Ackroyd and Hughes (1992:85), Bryman and Bell (2003:52) and Mason (2001:31) is longitudinal design, in which sampling is done on at least two separate occasions allowing a passage of time between the sampling events. Although it is acknowledged that longitudinal research designs are more complicated to undertake, they have the advantage that they allow any changes that occur over time to be better understood. Those using longitudinal designs in their examination of buyer-seller interactions include Jap (1999:466) and Narayandas and Ranagan (2004:63).
Jankowicz (1995:169), Mason (2002:46) and Bryman and Bell (2003:170) explain the general advantages of conducting pilots or pre-tests in advance of a subsequent main data collection research phase. These benefits include informing the research question and insuring that the overall research instrument works well. Those research papers that report the use of a pilot phase within their design are Ganesan (1994:6), Mohr and Spekman (1994:141) and Walter, Ritter and Geműnden (2001:369).
A final aspect of research design that emerges from certain of the empirical studies is the use of snowball sampling, which is described by both Jankowicz 1995:157) and Bryman and Bell (2003:105): as using one informant to suggest other significant actors who are relevant to the research topic and who will themselves become informants. Ganeson (1994:6) and Jap (1999:467) both describe using the buyers, from whom they collect data, as a vehicle to select relevant sellers as potential informants to aid the research effort.
2.4.3 The Research Issues Emerging from Empirical Studies
In reporting on the investigations they have conducted, several common themes are indicated by researchers to be suitable topics for further research, potentially because they have not been wholly addressed by their own efforts.
In the empirical studies reviewed the most frequently cited concern, especially by those who have adopted a positivist perspective, was that
72 because of the complexity of the buyer-seller interaction there may be significant influence from factors that do not affect the variables and constants under evaluation. Such potential is recognised by Ganeson (1994:14), Mohr and Spekman (1994:147), Kumar, Scheer and Steenkamp (1995:353), Carr and Pearson (1999:515), Cannon and Perreault (1999:447), Jap (1999:467), Leonidou, Palihawadana and Theododiou (2006:166), Plank, Reid and Newell (2007:62) and Ryu, Park and Min (2007:1231).
Researchers also recognise, that where they seek to develop generalizable findings, these may be compromised by having too few informants (Ganeson, 1994:14; Reid et al., 2004:240; Narayandas and Ranagan, 2004:75; Howard and Doyle, 2006:278), because the informants are limited to a single industry or sector (Metcalf, Frear and Krishran, 1992:42; Mohr and Sparkman, 1994:147; Walter, Ritter and Geműnden, 2001:373 and Verville and Halington, 2003:593) or because the informants may not have interacted at the appropriate organisational level to gather appropriate information on the topic concerned (Plank, Reid and Newell, 2007:62). One final common issue on which researchers report concern is that informants don’t report on actual events, but rather on what they either perceived to have happened, or alternatively, what they would have desired to have occurred (Leigh and Rethans, 1984:25; Reid et al., 2004:243 and Ryu, Park and Min, 2007:1231).
In Chapter 1 it was established that, despite the acknowledged difficulties associated with undertaking professional procurement research, there is a clear need to conduct further investigation into this important area of business practice. While there are divergent views as to the most appropriate direction for such future research, there is a recognised need to better understand what real buyers do in real situations. However, having completed a more detailed literature review in this Chapter three specific and significant gaps in extant knowledge have been identified which are discussed in the next section of the thesis.