No abstract

PurposeBy analyzing organizations as social actors and business relationships as social relationships, sociology can improve business relationship management. This paper aims to explore the issues involved.Design/methodology/approachA business relationship is an interactive exchange between two organizations embedded in a network of business connections. The paper reviews theories of social actions and social actors and the concepts of economic field and embeddedness to illustrate some social dimensions of business relationships.FindingsSocial action and social actor theories emphasize that co‐operation is always encumbered with conflicts, that consciousness about the relationship is fundamental for both strongly and weakly structured actors, and that actors (people involved in a business relationship) always have some freedom of manoeuvre. The concept of economic field underscores the specificity of each business relationship and the critical need for concrete analysis. The concept of embeddedness highlights that no business relationship is possible without personal bonds.Research limitations/implicationsThese are the first results of a deeper and broader research directed towards a conceptual model of business relationship management.Practical implicationsThe paper can help managers to analyze more deeply the social dimensions of business relations with both suppliers and buyers. Consciousness, the ongoing presence of conflicts, the unavoidable role of personal bonds, and interactivity are always relevant in business relationship management.Originality/valueThe paper integrates sociological and business marketing approaches. It applies essential sociological theories and concepts to business relationship management.

No abstract

No abstract

We investigated Csípo-halom, one of the kurgans that served as a burial place in the Hortobágy area of the Hungarian Great Plain. For pedological description and other studies of the protected mound and its surroundings, only a few monitoring drillings were permitted to get soil samples. On the basis of morphological and visual studies, the structure and layers of the mound were reconstructed. The Laboratory of Environmental Studies of the Institute of Nuclear Research at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (INR/HAS) performed radiocarbon measurements of soil samples, applying a bulk combustion pretreatment method. The measured 14C ages of soil samples from reference points, such as the top layer of the mound, the center of mound body, the base layer of the mound, the near surroundings, and the distant surroundings, are in good agreement with the preliminary archaeological concept for this field and give substantial information about the rate of soil generation processes in this area.