Title: Horizontal interest in industrial purchasing

Authors: Pauliina Ulkuniemi

Addresses: Department of Marketing, Oulu Business School, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4600, 90014, Finland

Abstract: Markets are becoming very complex and dynamic and in such an environment, firms can no longer merely focus their attention on key relationships in their downstream and upstream markets, but instead need to constantly monitor and make sense of the market around them. One area within these markets, that has been rather neglected within the current purchasing research are the other buyers in the market. The purpose of the present study is to examine the forms of horizontal interest in purchasing. The paper aims to answer the question: What are the forms of horizontal interest and how can these be incorporated into the functions of industrial purchasing? The paper applies theoretical knowledge and reports on an empirical case study conducted to address the question. As a result, a two-dimensional typology of the forms of horizontal interest and implications for industrial purchasing are presented.

Keywords: industrial purchasing; supply markets; supplier relationships; software acquisitions; horizontal interest; cooperative purchasing; complex markets; dynamic markets; key relationships; downstream markets; upstream markets; buyers; two-dimensional typologies; ICT; information technology; communications technology; telecommunication equipment; embedded software; procurement management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPM.2012.047171

International Journal of Procurement Management, 2012 Vol.5 No.3, pp.337 - 351

Published online: 16 Aug 2014 *

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