Purpose The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the development of research based on the IMP approach during the four decades since the inauguration in 1976. The paper presents a network analysis of IMP research based on one of the central IMP frameworks: the ARA model....

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of uncertainty in purchasing and supply management, and the changes of this role over time. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a literature review of the development of purchasing and supply management over time and how...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse the shifting perspectives on the organising and the managing of “distribution”, characterised as channels, systems or networks. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a review of previous research, identifying...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an historical account of the evolution of the purchasing and supply management (PSM) field from the perspective of resource interfaces between buying firms and their suppliers. This historical account is then used as a platform to develop a...

Purpose – Previous studies of innovation policy claim that there is a mismatch between the underlying assumptions of these policies and the reality of how firms involved in innovation operate. The purpose of this paper is to deepen the knowledge of actual innovation processes in order to...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse how theories evolve within scientific fields: why they receive attention and why they eventually become less attractive. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a literature review and focusses on the theoretical structure developed by...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the phenomenon of customer-supplier interaction and integration from a resource perspective. In economic terms, a fish may be seen as a more or less homogeneous resource. If the herring is seen as a homogeneous resource, a market should be the...

Purpose Behind the simple connotation “business exchange” a complex empirical phenomenon can be observed, including using, producing and developing activities, taking place in different contexts, influenced by ideas stemming from both practice and mainstream economic thinking. The purpose of...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the roles of deals in innovations processes, based on the definition of a deal as the interaction of social-material value-creating processes with money-handing processes. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a study of the historical...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to argue that if the authors want to understand the role of heaviness, space and journey in innovation, the authors have to start with the interaction itself, that is the exchange process taking place between economic actors. Three major aspects will be...