Strategic decision making in industrial procurement: implications for buying decision approaches and buyer‐seller relationships

Research on industrial buying decisions has developed along two major themes after the publication of the seminal buyclass framework by Robinson et al. in 1967. One stream of research seeks to extend or delimit the framework to a variety of buying contexts and product categories, while the other focusses on various emerging forms of buyer‐seller relationships within industrial buying. In an attempt to integrate these two streams calls for detailed attention to the strategic importance of procurement. Elaborates on the conditions which lend a strategic character to any procurement and makes predictions on the appropriate form used for buyer‐seller relationships under various firm‐specific and environmental conditions. Also, shows that such strategic considerations and variations in buyer‐seller relationships for procurement can be characterized within a modified form of the original buyclass framework. In doing so, reconfirms the robustness of the core propositions of the buyclass framework. Draws some implications for the development of procurement relationships for industrial buyers and sellers.