Organisational buying is the purchase of goods and/ or services, by one or more individuals acting on behalf of the buyer firm, after a formal or informal consideration of purchase alternatives, and, the integration or use of those goods and/ or services to address one or more buyer firm problems or issues.
Organisational buying accounts for about two-thirds of economic transactions globally. However, organisational buying has traditionally been taught in discipline-specific silos. Organisational buying concepts appear in courses on marketing and sales management, procurement, contract management, supply chain management, operations management, finance, as well as accounting. Moreover, most organisations treat organisational buying activities in a similarly disjointed way.
This book provides a comprehensive overview of organisational buying that integrates perspectives from across a range of disciplines and organisational functions. The primary goal of the book is to develop a holistic interpretation of organisational buying. It covers topics such as:
- Purchase situations.
- The organisational buying process.
- The purchase decision and the value proposition.
- Communications in organisational buying.
- Buyer-supplier relationships.
- Organisational buying capabilities.
- Organisational buying culture.
- Organisational buying approach design.
- Channels of supply.
- Networks and organisational buying.Written in a practical, approachable way the book includes a range of exercises, case examples, learning objectives and discussion questions to support a broad spectrum of organisational buying-related courses.