Organisational Buying: A Multidisciplinary Perspective

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.

Daniel D Prior is currently Senior Lecturer in Management at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, based at the UNSW Canberra campus. Daniel also serves as Chief Customer Engagement Officer at Qirx Pty Ltd, an IT Consultancy and Virtualisation company. Between August 2017 and January 2020, Daniel was Professor of Strategic Sales Management at Cranfield University, UK. While at Cranfield, he was the Co-Director of the Centre for Strategic Marketing and Sales, Director of the Key Account Management Best Practice Forum, and Director of the Cranfield Executive MBA. Prior to re-joining academia in 2009, Daniel held roles in industries such as IT, Defence and Professional Services, working for companies such as Acer Computer Australia, Tenix Defence, KPMG Australia, and Orima Research. Daniel obtained his PhD in 2008 from Macquarie Graduate School of Management at Macquarie University, Australia.