Perceptions of buyer-buyer relationships in a successful and an unsuccessful purchasing group: evidence from a case study

Purchasing groups are viewed as an appropriate organisational
concept to enhance purchasing’s performance. They can, for instance, be used to bundle purchasing volumes and generate additional savings. This paper wants to make a first step towards the analysis of inter-personal relationships within purchasing groups in the private sector. It examines how the perceptions of these buyer-buyer relationships differ between a successful and an unsuccessful group and how these differences affect success or failure. The questions are investigated using the case study method. The interaction and network model are used as a conceptual framework for the analysis.
Exploratory evidence suggests that major differences exist in the buyers’ perceptions of relationships between a successful and an unsuccessful group. Overall, in contrast to the successful group, the unsuccessful one failed to develop long-lasting relationships characterised by routinised exchange episodes, institutionalised behaviours and adaptations among its buyers. These variations affect mutual expectations amongst buyers and finally influence success or failure of a purchasing group. It is, therefore, suggested that managers of purchasing groups should actively steer not only the relationships of a purchasing group towards its suppliers but also the relationships among buyers within a group.