ABSTRACT. What difference does the creation of carbon markets make to the network dynamics involved in decarbonising supply chains? Recent work focused on the impact of regional emissions trading schemes (ETS) on network dynamics reports a disjoint between the design of the EU ETS and operating reality, which results in ‘business as usual’ (Veal & Mouzas, 2011; Wright & Nyland, 2017). The focus in this paper is how the forthcoming (October 2023) EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will impact network dynamics through a new iteration of market design for integrating decarbonisation in markets. CBAM is designed to eliminate the current weaknesses in the EU ETS. First, the current auction system of tradeable free allowances will be eliminated over time. Second, CBAM is planned to circumvent the lack of inter-regional ETS linkages, by applying to both imports and exports as a carbon tax, by directly pricing the carbon footprints of cheaper imports into the EU.

ABSTRACT. Industrial actors implement carbon utilization innovative technologies as a respond to the changes in regulation aiming to mitigate climate crisis and strategies for decarbonization of industrial processes. Carbon capturing and utilization (CCU) embrace circulation of carbon dioxide emission processes that transform it into raw materials such has chemicals or gases that can be used as sustainable materials in various industries. The recovering recurring value of CO2 as waste contributes to the Circular Economy facilitation in the industrial markets aiming for sustainable development. However, markets based on the carbon dioxide recovered resources and technologies of carbon capturing, utilization and storage are only in their emerging stage. The factors sharping these markets and specifically a market vision communicated by the companies involved in the value creation of CCU are at the focus on this study. Empirically, this research explores through the qualitative research methods seven value chains of large-sized companies engaged in development of CCU technologies and implement them in their value chains or value chains of other industrial actors. The key findings of this study indicate that markets of CCU have reached the right time for their development due to tightened European regulators for the emission treatment, societal demand for decarbonization and high demand for sustainable chemicals and fuels production. Despite this empirical study is delimited to the Finland`s market context, the results may be of interested to the industrial actors of other Nordic countries facing similar regulatory changes as well as international businesses, policymakers and societal actors interested in strategies for sustainable development.

ABSTRACT. Digital servitization has emerged as an important stream of research (Gebauer, Paiola, Saccani, & Rapaccini, 2021; Marcon et al., 2022), mainly because it paves a promising avenue for firms to gain sustainable competitive advantage in the face the booming digital economy driven by the diverse applications of IoT, AR/VR, Cloud Computing, and AI technologies in a variety of sectors. The use of digital technologies in servitization facilitates the formation of boundary-crossing linkages that allow different actors (or stakeholders) to contribute their resources, such as complementary assets, to co-create the solutions which enhance the customer’s value-in-use. As a result, digital servitization often takes place in the contexts characterized by collective actions by a network of actors (Sklyar, Kowalkowski, Tronvoll, & Sörhammar, 2019); known as platform ecosystems (Kretschmer, Leiponen, Schilling, & Vasudeva, 2022; Thomas & Ritala, 2022). Despite the increased knowledge of servitization, within which the importance of multi-actor interaction is highlighted (Story, Raddats, Burton, Zolkiewski, & Baines, 2017), less is understood with regard to the interaction among legally autonomous and hierarchically independent actors that drives the development of digital servitization underpinning a platform ecosystem. Towards this deficiency, this research aims to address the following research question: How is digital servitization of a platform ecosystem realized through the collective actions across boundaries that are aligned by the servitizing firm? This question is looked taking from an interaction perspective that forms our understanding of collective actions (Chou & Zolkiewski, 2018; Håkansson & Ford, 2002), in which the involved perform specialized activities using resources on which others are dependent. This interaction perspective is integrated with the digital servitization literature to build our theoretical framework. Then, the question is empirically investigated through a case study of a chained accommodation service in China, which is characterized by an Internet-based and unmanned service platform. This platform results from the technology-enabled collective actions of three main groups revolving the servitizing firm, including the property owners, the customers, and the contractual housekeepers. The case findings enable us to develop theoretical as well as managerial implications that expands the knowledge concerning digital servitization.

ABSTRACT. This study explores the future of Sweden's electric utility network and its transition towards sustainability and resilience by combining traditional scenario analysis with foresighting, an anticipatory, non-predictive approach. The research focuses on potential disruptive innovations and changes within the industry, such as increased electrification, electromobility, and advances in grid infrastructure, using a Delphi study. This approach involves gathering expert opinions from various stakeholders, including industry, academia, and government experts, to anticipate multiple future scenarios and better prepare for potential challenges and opportunities. The interconnected nature of the electric utility network and the relationships between various actors play a critical role in shaping the industry's future. Foresighting allows stakeholders to anticipate and prepare for disruptive changes, such as the increasing role of prosumers, local microgrids, and novel value propositions. By employing the Delphi methodology, the study systematically gathers and synthesizes expert insights, offering a comprehensive understanding of the electric utility network's future development. The findings highlight the importance of improving end-customer relationships and enabling the use of prosumer products and services. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the need to address existing challenges within the Swedish power grid and increase transmission capacity to support the introduction of new technologies and a more efficient and sustainable energy system. By integrating the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) network perspective, the study demonstrates that foresighting is more effective in accounting for exceptional events and non-linear growth patterns in the electric utility market. The results also provide insights into the emergence of new business models and the role of emerging technologies, such as energy storage, in shaping the future of the electric utility network.

ABSTRACT. The purpose of this research is to discover the role of IMP tools in the business education of a Central-European Country, more precisely of Hungary. The choice of Hungary is interesting because of that naturally the teaching language is Hungarian, what limits the direct spread and utilization of English textbooks and literature in the business education. Our research question is how do IMP tools be present in the Hungarian business education? The Hungarian business higher education is the context of this exploratory research. Qualitative research design is applied. The basic data collection was eight in-deep professional interviews with experimented and active B2B lecturers in different Hungarian universities. All interviewees have several years of business experiences (between 4 and 17 years) and long or very long business marketing teaching experiences (between 4 and 27 years). Based on the interviews B2B marketing is taught at relatively few universities in Hungarian economic higher education. However, where they teach business marketing, or one of its subfields, the instructors are open to the IMP approach. Among the instructors interviewed, the IMP is known almost unanimously. The knowledge about IMP, including the two classic IMP models (Axelsson 2010), already has a very different depth. Overall, we can say that the IMP idea has touched the Hungarian teachers teaching B2B marketing, but this theory, primarily due to the lack of a suitable textbook in Hungarian, has not yet permeated education. Among the IMP tools, the Interaction Model and the ARA Model are present, primarily in master's education. Special Track: IMP Tools

ABSTRACT. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is permeating through all processes in many organisations, especially in business marketing activities. From intelligent dashboards that display KPIs that suit best the objectives of the organisation, to algorithms that advice sales people on how to organise their customers’ visits (Davenport & Miller, 2022). Research reports from jobs that AI will help create (Wilson, Daugherty, & Bianzino, 2017), to jobs that it would take from humans changing the ways organisations work (Kolbjørnsrud, Amico, & Thomas, 2016) to hybrids where both humans and algorithms (intelligent assistants) work in collaboration (Anderson, Rainie, & Luchsinger, 2018). It is on this hybrid arena where our research focuses. The level of advancement of artificial intelligence permits the creation of robots with abilities beyond those previously know. New technologies are changing the very nature of IT moving it from a mere enabler of information management to a more active participant in the organisation life. Human-machine interactions can mirror human-human interactions due to the algorithm’s capability of making the human feel its social presence and become a trusted party, mimicking the forms of presenting information that only the human brain was thought to be capable of (Arel, Rose, & Karnowski, 2010). The behavioural and cognitive capabilities of intelligent assistants are anthropomorphised by the human party causing the impression of being another human. Veres (2017) argues that the fact that we can talk to intelligent assistants, that they understand our mannerisms and behaviours, will shift dramatically how humans and computers interact. We find this not only plausible but showing its first signs on the roles that AI is taking with organisations. One rather significant to business marketing is the emerging presence of AI in the buying centre. The concept of the buying centre has been recurrent in the business marketing literature. The focus has been on the industrial buyer’s behaviour, from Wind and Webster Jr (1972) highlighting that buying decisions were not confined to only one dimension such as price, total cost, reciprocity, or ego enhancement, but a combination of factors in which users, deciders, influencers, and buyers have interest and influence decision making and define the boundaries of the organisation (Mattson, 1988). Johnston and Bonoma (1981) augment arguing that the relevant characteristics of buying centre members are group cohesiveness, autonomy, intimacy, polarisation, stability, and flexibility. The introduction of an intelligent assistant to the group raises again the questions that inspired organisational behaviour research in early years, moreover when recent contributions such as Huber and Kleinaltenkamp (2020) develop the idea of the business user centre arguing that actors follow multiple goals on the individual and collective levels, combined with Sheth (1996) whom among other things argues that organisation buying behaviour has changed because of the attempts to understanding and influencing consumers to customers. Our research studies how the participation of AI affects not only buying organisation behaviour, but also evaluation of the value in use of purchases of products and services as experienced in the user centre. We found that firms are conducting initial attempts to draw on algorithms’ information to make purchasing decisions, but also that our informants referred to algorithms as if they were human members of the group, whose knowledge and judgment weights significantly in the purchasing decisions of the organisation. We aim to develop an enhanced typology that incorporates new dimensions of the decision-making process, where the boundaries of the organisation are less defined as intelligent assistants are capable of utilising information from much broader ranges than humans, to construe with higher degree of certainty consumers’ behaviour and interest and incorporate them decisions of whom and what an organisation should buy.

ABSTRACT. The challenges posed by the current sustainability crisis require innovation and active involvement of various market actors to shape more sustainable markets. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how this collective market shaping takes place in sustainable innovation context through a multi-actor engagement perspective. We combine insights from sustainable innovation, market shaping, and multi-actor engagement research as we investigate a qualitative case study about shaping markets for new type of eco-cement made from industrial side-streams. The preliminary findings show that there is a need to find a balance between complementary forms of multi-actor engagement. In particular, we find deliberating, lobbying, and collective unlearning as the critical forms of engagement to shape markets in a stable and conservative market setting characterized by high lock-in. Moreover, we find that unlearning is needed not only on organizational level, but also on a networked level, to gain systemic outcomes. However, before this collective unlearning can happen, the actors must address and produce shared understanding about future technological and market trajectories, through deliberating and lobbying. By investigating the ways in which network actors can engage others in the market shaping process, this study offers much needed insight for management of multi-actor engagement to advance the shaping of sustainable markets. Achieving a critical mass of actors, who are willing to support and drive change in a particular direction, will help companies and policy makers to increase the effectiveness of their market shaping activities and tackle the sustainability challenges, especially within traditional, carbon and resource-intensive industries, affecting sustainable development and society at large.

ABSTRACT. The debate is heated on how we can come to terms with the congestion and over-consumption in the world. Business life’s response includes co-creation as a main argument. Sustainability requires that parties collaborative join forces, it is suggested. But what does the literature say on the matter? The paper systematically reviews past research that connects sustainability to external parties and develops a typology of sustainability and external parties. The paper points out how external parties are connected with different roles related to three approaches to sustainability: (1) the reactive, legitimising approach whereby others place pressure on the firm; (2) the proactive, market-positioning approach whereby the firm tries to attract others through marketing itself as sustainable; and (3) the proactive, idealistic approach, whereby the firm is driven by sustainability ambitions. It is only this last approach that contains the collaboration with external parties. The paper importantly contributes to past research by connecting sustainability to external parties and pointing out how the focus on co-creation is overemphasised as ideal relative to the literature. Put differently, the paper questions why research is extensively focused on legal adaptation rather than interactional approaches in sustainability research.

ABSTRACT. In considering interactions in networks, servitization strategies tend to focus on a two-party network: the manufacturing firm and its suppliers (Kopecká, 2013), or the focal firm and the end users (de Lille, 2014). In our research, we engage in a three-party servitization strategy, from the OEM (Original Manufacturing Company) to the Business-to-Business (B2B) customer to the end user (Adrodegari, 2021; Bakir et al., 2021; Bluemink et al., 2021). In our research we use the needs and requirements of the end-user of an industrial network as the driving force The main research question of our research is: ‘How can an Original Equipment Manufacturer design a servitization strategy for the end-user? Our research contributes to the body of knowledge on how to design and implement so-called ‘overarching servitization' strategy, impacting changes in the networks and the interactions within. In this paper, we report on the part of the research that is oriented on the organisational change in the innovation process of the OEM, related to the network development of overarching servitization relations both to customers and end-users. Here we observed a knowledge gap in the role that ‘outside in thinking’ could play in creating overarching servitization strategies in the OEM. To fill this gap, we developed a strategic design methodology (Simonse et al., 2015) grounded on a scoping literature research and action research (Coghlan, 2019). We used three Action Research Cycles to know the current innovation process, to add on outside in exploration phase, including the end customer and to design interventions to build the strategic service roadmap for the OEM. In our research, we involved employees and users whilst developing the overarching servitization innovation process for the OEM in the network.

ABSTRACT. The purpose of this study is to develop a theoretical framework that elucidates the variations in solutions for addressing the needs of "shopping refugees" in the Netherlands and Japan at a macro level. We have coined the term "shopping refugee" to refer to individuals who are over 65 years old, lack a driver's license, and reside more than 500 meters away from grocery stores, resulting in challenges in accessing essential daily goods. According to estimates from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (2017), the number of shopping refugees in Japan ranges from 3.5 million to 7 million. In contrast, the Netherlands does not formally recognize the concept of shopping refugees; however, with nearly 3.5 million people aged 65 or above (comprising 20.0% of the population), this demographic group is likely to encounter difficulties in fulfilling their shopping needs. This study focuses on discerning the divergent approaches employed in both countries to address these challenges. Specifically, the Netherlands adopts solutions that encourage individuals to relocate and utilize delivery services such as Uber, which can be categorized as a "servitization" solution. In contrast, Japan pursues alternative strategies that involve the transportation of goods and rely on public subsidies, grants, and volunteers, thereby referred to as a "public" solution. Although these solutions may overlap to some extent in practice, our aim is to develop a theoretical framework that elucidates the underlying reasons for these divergences. To construct this theoretical framework, we place emphasis on macro-level interactions among social structures, resource allocations, and the extent of dependence on government. We intend to conceptualize these interactions comprehensively in this paper.

ABSTRACT. Digital Servitization (DS), beyond representing an opportunity for manufacturers in B2B to be innovative, challenges them in managing new touchpoints, meant as the digital and physical spaces where buyer-supplier interactions happen. The proliferation of touchpoints is redesigning customer interfaces, demanding for the involvement of increasing and varied resources. In the attempt to expand knowledge on the nature of interfaces derived from DS and its underlying touchpoints and resources, this study empirically compares two manufacturing firms that successfully adopted a DS strategy: a ‘product provider’ and a ‘solution provider’. The adopted theoretical framework for data collection and analysis is the Resource Interaction Approach (RIA), which helps to untangle the complexity of DS interfaces with a focus on the necessary resources. The investigation reveals how DS entails complexity. It derives, on the one hand, from the consistent number of resources it calls for, their digital and nondigital nature, and their increasing intensity along the Customer Journey. On the other hand, achieving DS is jeopardized by the proliferation of touchpoints and their dynamic purpose. Building on the emerging empirical evidence, the study theoretically contributes to expanding knowledge on customer interface, touchpoints, and underlying resources in DS, while providing insights for managers involved in this process.

ABSTRACT. Efficient lead generation and qualification through objective criteria for lead quality assessment is necessary to ensure sales productivity in today`s business-to-business (B2B) environment. Despite its importance, research on the topic is scarce and does not reach consensus regarding lead quality indicators. Buying behavior characteristics and in particular, information search as a central buying activity provides signals of interest in a seller’s offering. Hence, scrutinizing the link between organizational search aspects and sales lead qualification can help develop the quality of sales leads. Digitalization makes this connection even more relevant as buyers have access to a vast amount of information in real time, and their search patterns become transparent through data traces. Sales managers can use analytics to translate the data into useful information for lead qualification. In this paper we ask: how can the digital traces of organizational buying center members be utilized for buying process identification and sales lead qualification? We build a conceptual framework that aims to define search patterns, in terms of source, content or intensity of search through the interplay of organizational buying situations, phases in the buying process and buying center member roles. These, together with specifics of digitalization shall be linked to lead qualification. We conduct a semi-structured literature review to find insights from existing B2B buying behavior research that help detail further the facets of the proposed conceptual framework. Our findings give a broad understanding of the types of sources that impact the buying process and a few indications of content and search intensity patterns, as functions of buying situation characteristics. Further research is necessary to explore search patterns and dynamics by buying center members, in a digital context. No research so far links these topics with data analytics and sales lead qualification.

ABSTRACT. Digital technologies have changed both conduct and performance of business-to-business (B2B) relations in the last decade. With the increasing spread of Internet of Things (IoT) compatible production and distribution facilities the more fundamental component of the relations, the value proposition by itself is a challenge. Relating to this, the roles within a supply chain might change fundamentally. Framed in the Service Dominat (S-D) Logic, this study addresses the common purpose of value (co)creation by clarifying what the beneficiaries (e.g., buyers of manufacturing sites that are continuously sending and receiving digital messages) perceive as additional value of joint value creation in the digital age. In ongoing business relationships, a multitude of interactive contacts between a manufacturer and a buyer takes place. New technologies may raise buyer concerns about whether the original relationship conditions are still valid and can be relied upon. This study provides evidence on the attitude of B2B customers active in Poland regarding co-creation of value in disruptive projects and provides scientific and managerial recommendations to overcome the significant lack of knowledge in IoT-related business opportunities. Based on a case study incorporating qualitative CATI interviews, our findings indicate the following: The willingness of buyers to co-create value is still limited. An early involvement of all actors in interaction processes – e.g., development of service business models - may prevent manufacturers from creating severe obstacles for their customers to co-create value.

ABSTRACT. This paper explores the interplay between marketing automation and business relationships in the case of programmatic advertising. Specifically, it investigates the business-to-business side of programmatic advertising and adopts the IMP approach to the study of new digital environments, rather than traditional manufacturing or service settings. The paper shows how marketing automation relates to business relationships by delving into actors, activities, and resources in a highly automated, data-driven context. We argue that, in the case of programmatic advertising, marketing automation does not call for substituting relationships, while it splits business networks into two levels, namely transaction and interaction. Hence, we argue that there is still space for interaction even in what seems fully automatized. This study contributes to the debate on marketing automation and the implications in terms of the substitution of humans and personal relationships, and to the debate on programmatic advertising, by taking into account the business-to-business dimension, while previous studies had a consumer marketing approach. It also advances the IMP perspective that can be valuably adopted even for the study of digital, highly automated environments.

ABSTRACT. Sustainable business-to-business (B2B) branding, although being important for companies and their survival in turbulent times, has not been researched enough. Current understanding of the phenomenon stems from a single-firm orientation, where sustainability and branding are perceived to be in a full control by the management of each company. Sustainability and branding are also studied as two separate and conflicting activities, former being non-profit and latter profit oriented. Recent studies are, however, starting to recognize the importance of stakeholder influence on sustainable B2B branding. To respond to both theoretical and empirical needs, this paper introduces a novel concept of Network Reputation (NR) as a shared value assessment of sustainable B2B branding efforts of business partners, at a specific point in time, from a stakeholder perspective. NR can be either planned, by being an outcome of a stakeholder-oriented strategy for sustainable B2B branding efforts and/or affected by unforeseen events followed by reactive and responsive stakeholder actions. Both processes can also unfold side by side over time. The paper contends that companies need to be aware of sustainable branding standpoints of their partners, as those will exert a shared influence on their NR in B2B markets. This study contributes to the emerging B2B marketing literature by emphasizing the importance of a stakeholder perspective on sustainable B2B branding.

ABSTRACT. In this research we are interested in how industrial B2B brands utilize the emerging concept of carbon handprint (CH) to communicate on their sustainability actions. The importance of B2B firms’ capability to effectively communicate their sustainability practices is increasing as sustainability is emerging as a determining factor in buyers’ purchase decisions. Yet, research on how to strategically communicate sustainability in B2B context is scant. So far, majority of B2B brand communications concerned with sustainability have tended to focus on demonstrating awareness of the negative effects of companies’ products and services and introducing efforts that are being taken to be less unsustainable. Yet, while companies are also increasingly engaging in actions that can be regarded as positive for the environment, knowledge regarding how to communicate on positive sustainability actions is lacking.

The carbon handprint approach presents itself as a promising tool for communicating on positive sustainability actions, as it allows companies to communicate on the benefits of their products and services for their customers. By treating CH as a frame of sustainability, i.e., a socially constructed entity that is negotiated and contested in interaction, our research aims to answer the research question “How industrial firms utilize the carbon handprint approach to strategically communicate their sustainability actions?”

The study’s empirical material consists of documentary data representing external communications of six Finnish industrial brands, and news articles regarding these companies. Additionally, the study also utilizes expert insights regarding the utilization of CH in the form of meeting notes, interviews, and presentations. Our findings show that companies utilize CH in a multitude of contexts to 1) to establish credibility, 2) to educate the receivers of the communications, and 3) to establish mutual benefits. Through utilizing CH, companies justify their sustainability claims, moving communications of sustainability actions from vague claims into concrete statements.

ABSTRACT. Acknowledging that micro-organisations can make significant contributions to the economy, the context of branding in micro-organisations has not received the same attention as branding in larger organisations. This may be partly due to challenges in branding in micro-organisation where there are resource constraints, with processes subsumed in fuzzy internal and external resource exchanges. To unpack these sporadic branding processes, we adopt a network approach to examine how owner-managers in micro-organisations harness and utilise their network to acquire resources to help with their branding and, in particular, brand equity. Combining Resource Dependency Theory (Pfeffer and Salancik, 1978), strength of ties (Granovetter, 1973), along with network structure (Burt 1992) as theoretical foundations, we unpick the interactions between owner-managers (ego) and network connections (alters). We present 5 case studies based on independent retail businesses, constructed through multiple interviews with owner-managers and related social media and website findings to show that network actors contribute to brand equity in micro organisations. However, that resource dependence mitigates resource flows as the influence of the owner-manager (ego) within the network grows. Strong multiplex interdependent ties prove to be critical in the embryonic stages of the brand, replaced by weaker supply chain ties as the brand develops. Whereas dense network structures support the brand in the early stages of growth, structural holes offer access to distant cliques as the network grows and develops. We, therefore, conclude that the actions of the owner-manager relative to the development of the network are closely associated with the availability of resources to build brand equity in micro-organisations and should be viewed contemporaneously as the conceptual “Networked Brand Equity” rather than as discrete entities.

ABSTRACT. This paper first presents a critique of the deployment and impact of systematic review methodologies in business-to-business (B2B) marketing scholarship during the past thirty years. Literature reviews are an essential feature of academic research because, fundamentally, the advancement of knowledge must be built on prior existing work, and to push the frontiers of knowledge, we must be clear as to where these frontiers are presently situated. Literature reviews can be undertaken through two broad approaches. First, through a subjective approach based on a qualitative narrative analysis of the literature and, second, through an objective approach based on a quantitative systematic analysis. Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages and therefore, should be seen as being complementary in discovering emerging trends in article and journal performance, authorship, and research patterns, to help gain an understanding of the evolution and intellectual structure of fields of study. Whilst systematic reviews have been increasingly deployed in leading business and management journals, they are still relatively new in marketing journals with the earliest paper evidenced in a B2B marketing journal in 1992. We argue, therefore, further, and deeper systematic analysis of this situation seems appropriate and timely. Using academic databases, the findings reveal the recent substantial increase in, as well as the prominent authors engaging with, the deployment of systematic review methodologies. However, whilst the number of systematic review publications has begun to increase in recent years, arguably, many continue to be poorly undertaken and reported due to a lack of rigorous protocols. Therefore, the paper second represents a call-to-action for B2B marketing scholarship to engage further with systematic review protocols to understand the breadth and depth of existing bodies of work and hence identify relevant gaps in knowledge that can be explored further.

ABSTRACT. The purpose of this paper is to review literature from 2000 to 2022 on business-to-business (B2B) influencer marketing to consolidate the concepts and inform further research on how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can use influencer marketing as a tactical tool. Most studies on influencers and influencer marketing treat the topic from a business-to-consumer (B2C) perspective (Hudders et al., 2021) or as a phenomenological study of influencers in general (De Veirman et al., 2019). However, the growing impact of influencers calls for a systematic literature review on what is known on the B2B side and how B2B influencer marketing can be implemented by SMEs. The results of the review demonstrate 7 research streams that can be placed under B2B influencer marketing as an umbrella concept: customer references, opinion leaders, referrals, advocacy marketing, managed word-of-mouth (WOM), web communities and endorsements. The analysis suggests that there is vast knowledge on B2B influencers in an analogue, non-digital environment, at the early stages of commercialization. However, the role of influencers in the later commercialization stages, including mass marketing in a digital format, is little documented. The results indicate a need to develop coherent conceptualization and accumulate research that would strengthen the understanding of B2B influencer marketing and how it can be used as a tactical tool by SMEs. The study concludes with implications for further research and proposals for further synthesis with innovation commercialization theory.

ABSTRACT. The firm is not an independent entity striving for survival in a faceless and hostile environment. Instead, it often operates inside intricate cooperation-based business networks. The firm keeps some suppliers and customers at arm's length distance, but more importantly, cooperates with several partners via lasting, close, and complex relationships. Firms collaborate extensively and are thus interdependent units, in contrast to the basic assumptions of the dominant view of strategy (e.g., cutthroat competition and zero-sum games). An alternative, relational conception of strategy (focused on inter-firm cooperation and positive-sum games) is in demand. In this respect, any firm's (co-developed) strategy meets a twofold purpose: firstly, the (reactive) adaptation of the firm to a largely anonymous and unresponsive business environment and secondly, the (proactive) shaping of a full-faced changing and co-opetitive business context, made up of several counterparts with which the firm has a relationship, whether that be cooperative, competitive or purely transactional.

ABSTRACT. Taking a resource interaction view this paper assesses logistics network for sustainable bioplastics production. Our research question is how this approach can aid in assessing sustainable logistics networks for bioplastic material innovation. Sustainability is addressed from two angles. First, we analyze a case within a market that promotes sustainability: bio-based plastic materials. Secondly, we focus on the sustainability of logistics by considering different options for organizing biobased plastic production. By conducting interviews with stakeholders involved in bioplastics production, we mapped out the flows, processes, resources, and actors of the network to identify possible solutions for sustainable network configuration.

The findings indicate that the most crucial logistics flows occur in the beginning of the supply chain, where feedstock volumes are high, and the durability of the bio-based material is low. Thus, the network configuration and resource interactions between feedstock providers and bioplastic production have the greatest impact on reducing the costs and environmental impacts of logistics in the network. We investigated three sustainable logistics network configuration alternatives.

This study contributes to research on resource interaction and logistics solutions for biobased production, while also shedding light on the challenges associated with using biobased feedstock to achieve sustainability goals. We propose that the resource interaction approach can aid in assessing sustainable logistics networks through its essential idea to interact among organizations to combinate, re-combinate and co-develop different resource aspects more profoundly, pointing out possible trade-offs and interaction between diverse options. Overall, the need for high feedstock volumes (in this case potato peels and their water content) makes logistics a critical issue when evaluating the network configuration.

This research is relevant to scholars, and professionals who are interested in the circular economy, resource interaction, and sustainable logistics networks. Additional research is necessary to assess how the participating business units and relationships would adapt to these various network configurations. In addition, the systematic interaction of resources deserves further attention in future studies.

ABSTRACT. Despite a far-reaching scholarly discussion about sustainability in research on marketing and management, business relationship studies have fallen short of integrating sustainability in their agenda. We utilize the what, ought-to and how-to of business relationship interaction to unveil potential sources of unsustainability in it. We identify and describe six such sources of unsustainability which can serve B2B marketing scholars as starting points for defining, analyzing and leveraging sustainability in and of business relationships.

ABSTRACT. In recent years, the concept of sustainability has become increasingly important in the business world, with companies striving to reduce their environmental footprint and promote social responsibility. As such, sustainable innovation has emerged as a key strategy for companies to create and deliver products and services that are less harmful to the environment while also generating profits. However, the literature on sustainable innovation has mainly focused on the benefits of such innovation, leaving a gap in knowledge regarding the potential drawbacks on business relationships and networks associated with the development of sustainable innovation. To address this gap, this paper draws on IMP literature to explore the "dark side" of business relationships, including relationship termination and interdependence resulting from relational ties. By utilizing a case study from the textile sector, the paper aims to identify the potential lights and shadows effects of sustainable innovation on business relationships and networks as well as the impact that the burdens of business interaction may have on innovation itself. In particular we focus on in a company’s investments to improve products’ traceability. The case study approach allows for an in-depth understanding of how different actors in a network interact and impact one another, providing valuable insights into the potential drawbacks of sustainable innovation. The findings of this paper will contribute to a better understanding of the problematic effects of sustainable innovation on business relationships and networks. By identifying the drawbacks of sustainable innovation, with a focus to traceability, companies can take steps to mitigate these effects and promote healthy business relationships. This paper highlights the importance of considering the variety of effects of sustainable innovation on business relationships and networks and provides a foundation for future research in this area.

ABSTRACT. While conflict is often discussed in business relationships, in terms of reasons, resolutions, and consequences, we know less about how a conflict plays out in a relationship. Through capturing discursive strategies used by conflicting parties, this paper creates understanding for how conflicts on relational levels may both escalate and deescalate during the course of a conflict, and may move from individual over organizations to relationship and network levels, in how parties beyond the conflict are blamed or used as components to declare power. Building on the conflict of a divesting party and an acquirer in a private-public merger, this paper identifies different discursive strategies as escalating or deescalating the conflict. Five blaming strategies were identified; decoupling, empowerment, superiority and dedication as direct and indirect strategies. The paper contributes to past research through providing a micro-level account on conflicts that helps us to, through discursive strategies, capture the conflict as a process that escalates and deescalates not only in terms of its severance but also in how various parties become included as blaming and power-enhancing parties.

ABSTRACT. The common view to date is that interactions and exchanges in B2B relationships are predominantly rational in nature, yet humans are involved in these interactions and they often include emotions and rationalisations during exchanges. However, research on the impact of emotions in B2B relationships is only recently gaining interest. Even less knowledge is known on the role of emotions in problematic B2B relationships facing dissolution and less again on emotions during the recovery of B2B relationships. This paper explores the influence of emotions on the sub processes of relationship recovery, itself an under researched area. We examine the discrete emotions displayed at each stage of the recovery process and show the emotions evident in B2B relationship recovery and what roles these emotions play in the B2B recovery process. This study views emotions as an inherent part of all healthy human beings, critical in how we interpret and navigate our surroundings. Thus, the context and the situation trigger and shape human emotions. This study is exploratory, using an abductive research approach and narrative interviews of owner-managers of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). These narratives are about business relationships that were in danger of ending, but instead were restored. The stories were told without the interviewer asking anything about the emotions that were involved, thus, their verbal expression are natural parts of the stories recounted. The findings show that negative emotions are mostly triggered by the reasons the relationship runs into severe troubles or unsuccessful attempts of recovery, and positive emotions are mostly triggered by successful renegotiation among the parties involved and in undertaking recovery actions. Emotions are short lived, they consist of an evaluation of the current situation and bodily sensations and tend to guide subsequent actions in recovery. This paper contributes to the literature by offering insights into the specific emotions most prominent in B2B recovery.

ABSTRACT. Informal networking - the process of creating and maintaining informal ties – is an important business strategy of entrepreneurs. Unlike traditional networks, which can be constrained by institutional norms, informal networks outside hierarchical or organisational structures are fluid and dynamic in the way they can be mobilised when a problem arises, making them an important facilitator of innovation. Informal, socially situated sites of interaction are associated with offering opportunity for relationships with people from divergent backgrounds and experiences. This paper expands and contextualises perspectives on the dynamics of business relationship initiation through informal networking within a technological entrepreneurial community by considering: i) if, and how, ties are formed through regular interpersonal interaction at, and as a result of attending, informal social events outside a workplace environment; and ii) whether regular engagement at a socially-situated site of interaction triggers, advances or inhibits interdependent social exchanges of resources and support. Using local, in-person technology or ‘tech’ meetups as a point of entry to the community, the paper focuses on actors at an individual or micro-level, exploring the sub-processes underlying the shaping of social bonds ‘in the making’ and taking into account the activities, routines and resources associated with those bonds. The results show that informal interactions are an effective starting point for business relationships, and informal settings can act as a socio-contextual enabler of social capital by connecting actors from a diverse range of backgrounds and experience levels, hence enhancing innovation capabilities.

ABSTRACT. The article focuses on the transformation of interpersonal Business-to-Business relationships during the Corona pandemic where companies used digital platforms more extensively as a basis for interaction with customers. Based on a qualitative case study in the Danish food industry we investigate the effects of the digital transformation in the three different settings: where one company adapts customers' existing products, another company develops new products and product lines together with customers and the last company develops on customers' overall product portfolio and approach to (sustainable) business. Our study reveals differences in the patterns of interaction due to the transformation of the communication platform. We provide insights on the possibility to have success in canvassing and developing products in collaboration with customers, but also show that it is more difficult to demonstrate and gain extra innovative commitment through an online format.

ABSTRACT. This study utilizes the IMP perspective to study how the implementation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) adds value to the video game industry’s (VGI) network. In this exploratory paper, we introduce three cases from the industry to showcase how NFTs were adopted by both mainstream and independent video game developers to enhance value of existing games or to create new experiences. Furthermore, we show that these activities have insofar failed not only due to the recent crypto market crash but also other reasons such as lack of player interest, hacks, and unethical behaviour from the developers. The paper combines IMP’s ARA model (the discourse on resources and resource interfaces), value creation, proposition and capture in networks, as theoretical background to explain the problems faced in implementation of NFTs in VGI. The authors propose a methodology for further research on NFTs in VGI, which combines a multi-case study, consisting of in-depth interviews with network actors, and Nethnographic approaches (e.g., discourse analysis of online forums) to study video game communities. We posit that this research will contribute to theory by introducing the NFTs as a novel resource to the IMP body of literature in relation to how value is proposed, created, captured and shared by actors. We also propose a future framework for value creation associated to other Web3 technologies such as blockchain. On the managerial level, we aim to create a framework that would inform the decision making of video game developers in adoption of NFTs for both mainstream (by using NFTs as value-enhancing resources) and independent developers (NFTs as value-creating resources).

ABSTRACT. In this paper, the authors aim to connect two concepts: digital transformation and business relationships. Through a systematic literature review (SLR) we are looking for an answer to the following research question: How to describe the interconnection of digital transformation and business relationships? The research has several drawbacks. One is that, to the best of our knowledge, neither of these two concepts possesses exact universal definitions in the literature. Another barrier is that even if authors do not use these terms in their papers, some aspects of the content of their research might support the topic. We followed PRISMA (Liberati et al, 2009) as a widely used research method in SLR (Petticrew and Roberts, 2006). In this paper, our experiences with the method and the results of the review are reported. Our SLR contributes to and advances the body of knowledge about the interconnection of digital transformation and business relationships by evaluating and comparing the related literature. Dimensions of the interconnection of the two concepts are identified. The triggers for digitalization lay in the digital capabilities and readiness of the actors. Another group of dimensions correlates with the management of the business relationships strategically, concerning value co-creation, relationship quality, and performance; and regarding the used tools, namely social media or different forms of Industry 4.0 technologies.

ABSTRACT. This research focuses on industrial firms in global networks facing pressure for change towards more sustainable business and operations. Our context is forest-technology business and more specifically companies offering forest machinery technologies. Theoretically the study draws from the process of legitimation in the context of global supply networks. The study is qualitative processual case study with a focal company, a forest machinery engine manufacturer initiating a change towards sustainability in its global network. The FMT companies need to make sense of changes in the regulations, mindsets, markets, and product life cycles, and consequently, motive the necessary stakeholders to move along with them. We are interested in the collective process of legitimation, that is, how various actors authorize, justify, explain, and empower sustainability within their network. Thus, our research question is How can firms legitimate collective change in reluctant global networks? Our results indicate that rhetoric, symbolic, and behavioral strategies were used to legitimate sustainability in the network, behavioral strategies being the most credible ones.

ABSTRACT. From a network perspective, the internationalization process is a gradual process that emphasizes the development of interorganizational relationships. Firms can identify and develop opportunities through these relationships. This paper aims to understand how the relationship with government agencies affects the internationalization capability of the firm. Through a case study approach, this paper contributes to deepening our understanding of how relationships with government bodies promote the development of capabilities that facilitate the development of initial international relationships by startups.

ABSTRACT. Business networks are constantly emerging, which affects activity links, resource ties, and actor bonds. The processes that drive network stability and change are diverse. Hence, the dynamic in the network depends on exogenous or endogenous factors. Hakansson and Snehota (1995) refer that change occurs due to a combination of actors, resources, and activities, and the actors’ actions according to the firms’ collective organization. Thus, belonging to a business network entails creating, appropriating, and destroying value over time. The notion of value can be seen not only as an outcome that results from the actor’s interaction but also as a drive and a process to obtain, for example, a specific resource. Since the economic crisis in 2010, several exogenous or endogenous factors affected the retailers and wholesalers from the Portuguese pharmaceutical sector. These factors are profoundly changing the business relationships in a market usually seen as “immutable”. Over time, new actors emerged, broadening the scope of their activities, and promoting stability in the business network while challenging the immutable and inducing change.

ABSTRACT. Knowledge integration (KI), i.e. applying new combinations of knowledge, constitutes an increasingly important aspect of acting in industrial environments characterized by specialization. One such industry is construction, where the distribution of specialized knowledge across different actors (e.g. developers, architects, contractors, installation companies etc.), demands integration of different knowledge to finalize the product. In addition, along the construction process, operations are carried out at different times and under different contractual arrangements, which affect the actors’ pursuit for economic benefits. In this paper, we explore the requisites for KI based on the actors’ respective “economic logics” of how to make use of various resources in the pursuit of economic benefits in such a setting. In IMP, KI is part of mutual adaptation processes of physical and social resources through interaction over time. However, in temporary organizations, such as construction projects, time and thus longer-term interaction is limited. The success of a specific project instead depends on the participating actors’ willingness and capacity to cooperate temporarily. We argue that this willingness and capacity depends on the conditions of integrating knowledge based on the different economic logics of the participating actors. In IMP, this means that the different actors have different incentives, possibilities and restraints in activating and combining resources as well as the knowledge about them, for the sake of achieving economic benefits. Earlier KI literature has investigated how to combine different actors’ specialized knowledge in more efficient ways, whereas the incentives for cooperation between economic actors, has been given less focus. The purpose of this paper is to explore the conditions for KI in temporary networks by looking into the economic logics of different actors. We do so through a case study of four major hospital construction projects in terms of how KI relates to carrying out the projects.

ABSTRACT. Construction as an industry has by many scholars been seen as a conservative industry, one where innovation and learning from projects to projects is especially difficult. This study aims to investigate how disparate actors within a large construction firm interact and adapt in order to achieve change. From the decentralised nature of construction we find that projects and the central organisation can act as separate actors needing to take heed of each other and the different needs in the different organisations. The innovation in focus is the flying of drones at construction sites, enabling e.g. measurements that might take days to be done in mere hours and the taking of photographs and videos for documentation or PR. The drones have, as opposed to what is often seen in construction, successfully been implemented and have grown steadily in use. At the same time however, aspects of the construction industry which are seen as slowing down the diffusion of innovations can be identified in this case as well. The case shows how the interplay of disparate actors within the decentralised organisation was needed for the fortuitous development of the drones but also the need for the permanent actor to develop relationships with the temporary project actors in order to successfully diffuse an innovation.

ABSTRACT. Since the turn of the millennium, business-to-business services have garnered increasing attention (Wirtz and Kowalkowski, 2022) particularly with respect to the process of servitization (Raddats et al., 2019). In mapping the theoretical landscape of servitization Kohtamäki et al., (2021, p.3) state that: “At the core, servitization is about the transition from product to service logic, often involving a complex integration of product-service-software systems, where the ideal–typical form of service logic can be understood as a customer paying for the realized value in use.” However, much of this research takes a manufacturer’s perspective and fails to acknowledge other actors needed to successfully realize value (Story et al., 2020) or how product-service-software systems are designed to ensure smooth and seamless customer experiences across a network of actors (Zolkiewski et al., 2017, Witell et al., 2020). This research explores of how different actors develop innovative solutions that enable customers to garner greater value in use via services offered in a network and how a network approach to developing services underpins good service experience. In this work-in-progress paper we explicate our conceptual framework and plans for data collection.

ABSTRACT. The actual manufacturing environment is characterized by an increasing complexity: pandemic, lack of raw materials and intermediary goods and expensive cost of energy are only some of the main constrains. In particular, raw materials’ sectors are facing innovation challenges focused on the necessity to be able to respond quickly and efficiently to the growing sustainability need and, consequently, to nowadays problems of shortage of materials, increase of prices and sustainability issue with new products and offering solutions. This study is focused on the comprehension of the goals that energy-intensive companies involved in the production and processing of raw materials have set for sustainable innovation development and how that affect their market strategies. In developing our research we have focused on shared as well as different practices between businesses to shed light on how they are approaching sustainability awareness initiatives, understand how they set priorities for long-term success, and consider the adjustment to their market strategies. Thus, the research questions are: Given the 2030 Agenda, which are the key issues faced by energy-intensive companies involved in the production and processing of raw materials? and, in particular, as far as concern market strategies, how are these companies facing the interplay between strategies of sustainable innovation development and companies’ main business relationships? We leverage on the ARA model to understand and interpret the results of our research. This research wants to improve the knowledge about the level of sustainability implementation and awareness among major energy-intensive companies in Italy that produce and process raw materials through a marketing perspective.

ABSTRACT. This paper focuses on efforts to develop sustainable solutions in business networks. The main issue addressed in the paper is how companies manage interdependencies when making such efforts. Based on a case study taking its starting point in a retailer and its efforts (internally and together with other actors) to make their packaging solutions more sustainable, we inquire into the challenges involved. The case illustrates different perspectives and concerns among firm-internal functions and how these relate to interaction with different suppliers, the multiple performance aspects involved in addition to sustainability, which can be tackled in different ways, and connectedness in terms of other relationships related to the direct relationships with the suppliers. The paper concludes by problematising approaches to studies of sustainability efforts in business networks.

ABSTRACT. This paper investigates how non-business actors embedded in business networks are critical to promoting and developing adaptative processes toward sustainability practices within the industry. Non-business actors have a vital role in establishing and developing B2B networks. One important non-business actor is the Trade Association (TA). Research on TAs is scarce in business and management, and at the best of our knowledge, inexistent regarding the role of TA toward sustainability. The paper follows a qualitative investigation, conducting a case study research. We use the case of the Portuguese footwear industry as the unit of analysis. Sustainability is one of the main strategic objectives for the Portuguese footwear industry in the following years. Our findings discuss the TA's role as a relevant sustainability driver. We found that TA promotes a resilient innovation, entrepreneurship and service ecosystem.

ABSTRACT. Business relationship is the most central concept of the business network approach. The business network approach has recently been facing heavy criticism for its possibility to generate new theoretical propositions. To handle this type of situations new ontological distinctions are commonly needed. The purpose of the paper is two folded: First: I intend to explain the substance ontology that underlies the view of business relationships in the business network approach. Second: I aim to elaborate on what new questions we could ask if we moved towards seeing business relationships through a process ontology. To achieve the purpose, I am using literature on substance and process ontology as method theory to contribute to the domain theory (i.e. the business network approach). This paper first contribution is that it makes clear that the business network approach has a foundation in substance ontology. Second it contributes by providing a first glance of business relationship from a process ontological point of view and what new questions that such perceptive might open up for.

ABSTRACT. Complexity is a prominent feature of the study of Business-to-Business markets and organisations. This quest to compete and lead in a complex environment require organisations to be responsive to change. We set out to explore the nature of this complexity and consider how B2B organisations may embrace a complexity-driven approach that leads to the adoption of Complexity Leadership Theory (CLT). Our approach focuses on a theoretical framework illuminate various aspects that potentially influence the adoption CLT. We employ complexity theory as a theoretical lens that incorporates complex adaptive systems to engage with CLT. The outcome of our conceptualization attempts to be sensitive to the notion of interaction and interdependence as important features of B2B networks.

ABSTRACT. The purpose of this systematic literature review is to describe inter-organizational trust in different angles starting from definition; differentiation from cooperation, confidence, predictability; describe factors of trustworthiness; process of trust development and finally describe the consequence of trust. We follow 7-steps approach typology in our systematic literature review performing both backward and as well forward-looking searching to find the articles and publications which contributed to the subject. The finding of this literature research paper clearly suggests that inter-organizational trust has an essential effect on business relationships and clear connection and path to the performance of global business network. Trust enables transparent communication between network partners, which is important to enhance supply chain performance and at the same time reduce the behavioural uncertainty among the party. This goes way beyond the case-by-case interactions like negotiations or other transactions between the partners and suggest a development process overtime with history and future expectations. Reviewing the publications through shows a trend of separating static and dynamic trust, even though this is not explicitly defined in the papers. These two basic approaches can also be distinguished as the company or so-called egocentric trust which typically has static characteristic and the relationship centred trust interpretation with dynamic characteristics. This later one can be considered as inter-organization trust which main moderating factor is independency between partners developed overtime by sharing resources and assets. This finding is relevant to us to reveal and point out a research gap of relationship centric dynamic trust definition. Even though there are countless egocentric trust related publications, there are very limited publications available on relationship based, intercedence driven inter-organization trust. Similarly, there are also limited publications available to address the characteristics and determinants of toxic mistrust in the business relationships and the moderating role of interdependency.

ABSTRACT. Collaborative innovation networks as an evolving stream of research in the B2B literature, has received increasing attention in the B2B relationship literature and is highlighted as one of the most important external predictor of firms’ new product development performance. This study extends this important research stream and re-examines the relationship between collaborative innovation networks and new product performance. Drawing on employing the dynamic capabilities perspective and organisational learning theory, we hypothesise the moderating effects of dynamic capability and success traps on the relationship between collaborative innovation networks and new product performance. We used a survey of 209 Iranian manufacturing firms to examine our research hypotheses. Our findings suggest the presence of an inverted U-shaped relationship between collaborative innovation networks and new product performance. Further, our results depict that while high levels of dynamic capability (the accumulation of absorptive and transformative capabilities) steepen the curvilinear relationship between collaborative innovation networks and new product performance, low levels of dynamic capability flatten this relationship. Our findings also confirm the concurrent effects of dynamic capability and success traps and suggest when, and under what levels of these factors, collaboration with network partners could be beneficial for the focal firm’s new product development.

ABSTRACT. The objective of this study is to undertake a re-evaluation of the IMP marketing strategies framework developed by Håkanson in 1980. In pursuit of this objective, the study aims to elucidate the concept of the "reverse relationship process" within the context of new product development in a Japanese company. The framework delineates marketing strategies that a selling company can adopt based on the degree of their relationships with customers. These marketing strategies are contingent upon two distinct customer problem-solving needs: general and specific problem-solving needs, respectively. Each of these needs can be further categorized into low and high levels, resulting in the identification of four recognized marketing strategies: low price (low-low), customer adjustment (low-high), product development (high-low), and customer development (high-high). The development process of IMP marketing strategies is underpinned by two fundamental assumptions. The first assumption pertains to the evolution of relationships, wherein problem-solving abilities progress from a low level to a high level. The second assumption posits that each marketing strategy achieves equivalent performance. In contrast to above, Hirose Electric Company, a developer of electric connectors and related products, exhibits a unique approach to its product management and development. Interestingly, Hirose Electric refrains from customizing connectors even during the customer development stage, instead opting to sell them as standardized products to all customers. Eventually, Hirose Electric discontinues the production of these products once they become commoditized. While this product development process can be perceived as a reverse relationship process, the efficacy of the IMP marketing strategies framework remains intact. Although the application of this framework to interpret marketing strategies is relatively uncommon among researchers, it holds significant potential for summarizing a more comprehensive range of marketing strategies.

ABSTRACT. This paper examines how the interplay between buyer-supplier trust and relationship-specific investments affects product innovation. Based on transaction costs economics (TCE) and resource based view (RBV) it is argued that trust encourages investments, which, in turn, affects product innovation. Methodology: To support theoretical contributions, this study uses survey data from 179 small- and medium-sized Polish manufacturing suppliers of high-tech products. The questionnaire was designed to collect information on dyadic relationships between suppliers and key foreign customers from suppliers’ perspective. A structural model proposed for this study was tested by multiple hierarchical linear regressions, which included a number of control variables to improve model fit. Findings: It was discovered that relational trust and relationship-specific investments have mutual positive impact on each other and individually contribute to a firm's innovativeness. However, once both trust and investments were included in the model, only the latter showed significant effect. Practical implications: Establishing a trusting relationship is beneficial for supplier’s innovativeness, but the actual effect of trust is easy to misinterpret. Suppliers need relationship-specific investments if they intend to develop new products for their key foreign customers, as the presence of trust is not sufficient without a decision to commit resources. Managers should therefore focus on forming genuine relational connections that would create a supportive environment for investment-related decision processes and allow companies to become more innovative. Originality: This study is the first to provide quantitative insights into the dimensions of dyadic buyer-supplier relationships and product innovation outcomes of Polish manufacturers. It also unveils new details on the impact of trust on innovation by showing a positive association between trust and relationship-specific investments.