The current situation and future conceptualization of power in industrial markets

Abstract

Research Highlights• This concluding paper draws together current themes related to power in business, customer, and market relationships.• The evaluations of the contributions to this special issue seek to rationalize the context of power, from its origins and contributions to the story, current theory, and practice of power in industrial markets.• Future directions for the theory and practice of power in business markets are postulated. 4The current situation and future conceptualization of power in industrial markets AbstractThis article offers overview of research on power in industrial and business markets, conducted through the 10 articles in the special issue. These contributions are catalysts for defining the history, context, current situations, and future developments and prospects for power in the business world. Therefore, this article presents a conceptualization and understanding of power, using the special issue as a lens through which to view past antecedents, present understanding, and future directions. In addition to studies that mine past and present academic and practical rationales for power, the empirically based contributions test and explore power. This article identifies and thematically draws out and labels the principal manifestations across these contributions, to link origins with current principal foci and identify the most likely emphases of theory and practice for the future business-tobusiness arena.

Purchasing Policy or Purchasing Police? The Influence of Institutional Logics and Power on Responses to Purchasing Formalization

“…In particular, it shows that the power distribution between buyers and suppliers is not just bidirectional (Meehan & Wright, ), but multidirectional; suppliers need to manage their relations with both payers and users in the buying organizations, whereas actors in the buying organization need to manage their relations with both suppliers and various counterparts inside their own organization. We thus contribute to existing PSM research by providing a more nuanced picture of the role of power in multifaceted inter‐ and intra‐organizational relationships (Bastl et al., ; Hingley et al., ; Nyaga et al., ).…”

“…Turning to the PSM literature, power has been a recurring theme over the years (Bastl et al., ; Hingley, Angell & Lindgreen, ). French and Raven's () typology of power bases (i.e., coercion, reward, legitimate, referent, and expert power) has a central place in this literature.…”

“…So far, however, existing studies have tended to focus on the macro level, studying regulators, market settings, and industry structures, whereas micro‐institutional arrangements and the processes through which power is maintained are less well studied (Hingley, ; Palmer et al., ). Little is therefore known about the impact of power on inter‐ and intrafirm relations (Bastl et al., ; Hingley et al., ). It has been argued that power is bidirectional and that buyers and sellers might have different perceptions of power.…”

“…Their perceived power has not been explored, however (Meehan & Wright, ). As a consequence, “insider views” on how power is perceived in relational exchanges between buyers and suppliers, and between bureaucratic and operational functions in the buying organization, are missing in the PSM literature (Hingley et al., , p. 229). This is somewhat surprising, as it has been pointed out that what is appropriate for suppliers and buyers to do “depends on the power and leverage circumstance that they find themselves in” (Cox, , p. 346).…”

The Use of Power in Self and Collective Interests of Retailers and Small Apparel Suppliers Relationships.

“…Moreover, the role and significance of power in supply chain relationships have been highlighted by many researchers (Benton andMaloni 2005, Kumar, 2005). However, power is still an elusive concept and the concept of power is still underdeveloped area and its scope is still too narrow (Hingley et al, 2015).…”