Business service supply and collaboration: the impact of purchasing integration

In recent years, the purchasing of business services has become increasingly relevant for companies' success. Goods purchasing is relatively well understood, but firms still struggle to achieve adequate acquisition of services. The focus of this research is to observe purchaser integration and its impact on collaboration with both internal customers and external service providers (suppliers) when buying services. This empirical study therefore examines in detail different service types occurring as a contingent factor. It employs partial least squares (PLS) analysis - a technique based on structural equation modelling to analyse questionnaires from Switzerland, Germany and Austria. In addition to identifying service type-specific differences, the findings provide a better understanding of purchaser integration and collaboration during the service purchasing process. Several implications are explored that could be used to improve managerial support for purchasing professionals.