Processes and integration in the interaction of purchasing and marketing: Considering synergy and symbiosis

doi:10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.07.014

Industrial Marketing Management

Volume 52, January 2016, Pages 74-81

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.07.014 Get rights and content

Abstract

Effective integration of both purchasing and marketing functions is central to effective value creation and alignment of an organization with its business environment. Rapidly changing environments create gaps in the value creation process that compromises the delivery of value to the customer and risk misalignment of value propositions to their needs. Despite the clear imperative for research in this area, the extant literature is partial and delivers limited coherence. Ours is a theoretical article that—in drawing on previous literature—introduces the new work collected in this special issue and considers this against our own empirical evidence. We present a framework that maps out the landscape of internal organizational integration with a particular emphasis on purchasing and marketing integration. Implications for theory and managers are explored.

Section snippets

Introduction & background

In terms of the study's background, marketing and purchasing theory has emerged in recent decades providing both additional insight and alternative perspectives to traditional economic explanations of organization performance (Bocconcelli and Tunisini, 2012, Bregman, 1995, Coviello et al., 2002 Kotler and Levy, 1973, Lindgreen et al., 2013). While this insight and these perspectives originate from different standpoints, commonality exists in efforts to remove boundaries between the organization

The internal dynamics of the firm

Internal dynamics are the contextual factors common within organizations that provide a platform for the processes that take place in the value chain (Bocconcelli & Tunisini, 2012). Naturally, the range of contextual factors is wide. For example, Coviello et al. (2002) and Lindgreen et al. (2013) each identify nine such factors. Our aim within this article is to tighten existing classifications and provide a framework with universal application that articulates the landscape of this field

Managerial approaches to purchasing and marketing co-ordination

The philosophical fault line between transactional and relational approaches to managerial co-ordination has a strong foundation in the marketing literature and is a distinction presented in the present field of internal integration (Coviello et al., 2002, Lindgreen et al., 2013). The relational element of this dichotomy is conceptually broad and lacks consistent representation in the literature, however. We seek to articulate distinct classifications of managerial approaches and we divide the

Discussion and conclusions

In this article, we brought together extant research on internal integration, drew on Industrial Marketing Management's special issue on co-management of purchasing and marketing, and supported our interpretation of the field with a case study. We outlined the internal constituencies of the organization, classified the nature of integration between purchasing and marketing functions, and conceptualized the managerial approaches adopted. The resulting framework provides a reference point in the

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¹: All authors contributed equally.

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Processes and integration in the interaction of purchasing and marketing: Considering synergy and symbiosis

Abstract

Section snippets

Introduction & background

The internal dynamics of the firm

Managerial approaches to purchasing and marketing co-ordination

Discussion and conclusions

Industrial Marketing Management

Industrial Marketing Management

OMEGA: International Journal of Management Science

The Leadership Quarterly

Journal of Business Research

Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management

Journal of Operations Management

Journal of Product Innovation Management

Industrial Marketing Management

Journal of Business Research

Journal of Management

Industrial Marketing Management

Industrial Marketing Management

Industrial Marketing Management

International Business Review

Industrial Marketing Management

Industrial Marketing Management

Industrial Marketing Management

Industrial Marketing Management

Journal of Business Research

Industrial Marketing Management

Industrial Marketing Management

Marketing in the network economy

Journal of Marketing

Exchange and power in social life

Measuring relational norms: some methodological issues

European Journal of Marketing

The relationship between marketing and purchasing for value innovation in business-to-business markets

The IMP Journal

Theoretical perspectives in purchasing and supply chain management: An analysis of the literature

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal

Power, equity and commitment in exchange networks

American Sociological Review