An Examination of the Evaluative Criteria of Industrial Buyers: Implications for Sales Training,

Employs conceptual contributions from management, work networks, and organizational buying behavior research, and presents the results of a study which integrates these contributions through an internal marketing exchange model. Specifically, network analysis is used to describe purchasing workflow patterns within a single industrial firm. Both prescribed networks (i.e. hierarchical level departmental membership and product purchasing assignment) and emergent networks (i.e. position on the organizational boundary and centrality links within the firm’s buying system) are investigated. In addition, the position of a particular buyer is discussed in terms of his positional role within the organization’s internal marketing exchange system. Results provide implications for purchasing managers and organizational buying researchers, and directions for future research are discussed.