The purpose of this paper is to identify and explore important value‐creation initiatives in buyer‐seller relationships (BSRs).
Following a literature review and the presentation of an appropriate conceptual framework, an exploratory study of 14 BSRs in a variety of European industries is undertaken using in‐depth semi‐structured interviews with key informants.
The findings justify a distinction being drawn between two types of value‐creation initiatives: those that are important in transaction‐based arrangements (in which efficiency is paramount); and those that are important in interaction‐based relationships (in which effectiveness is paramount). Of the ten value‐creation initiatives identified in the literature review, seven were found to be of importance in the BSRs of the present sample.
Despite genuine attempts to select a heterogeneous sample, most of the data did come from sellers. Future studies could look more deeply into buyer data to explore these issues in BSRs.
The paper provides managers with practical guidance on the selection of appropriate value‐creation initiatives in various types of BSRs.
The paper reports the first known empirical study of value‐creation initiatives in BSRs.
