Services' Creation of Value in Supplier-Buyer Interactions (Tedarikci-Alici Etkilesimlerinde Hizmetin Deger Yaratimi)

Abstract

important order winner than the product quality. Yet differentiation via services dimension is not an easy concept to grasp. Firms often perform services according to the norms they have established over years of experience. Though, the breadth of experience commonly varies from one firm to another. Therefore, norms adopted for services vary, too. A norm considered for a specific service in one company might not exist at another company, or even if exist could be underestimated. When placed in the context of complex supply chains, this presents a supplier with often buyers that have different services' norms. A certain aspect of a supplier's service might be deemed superior at one buyer, while normal or even inferior at another buyer. Therefore, provision of services in supply chain management presents a promising research area. There is a need to understand if supplier's provision of services is capable of generating superior or inferior perceived buyer value. For a firm to gain and retain value additive beneficial relationships with its buyers, its offer should often involve some social values (something that will make buyer's life a better one) either by clearly identifying the needs of its buyers or by outperforming what other suppliers already do. Suppliers demand more information on sophisticated norms and specifications of their buyers to formulate their services. This research attempts to shed the light on the issues discussed, and also uncover the possible causes of superior perceived buyer value creation upon supplier's provision of services in supply chain. An exploratory research model has been developed by the aid of an analogy from Snell's Law of the physics as services creation of value has an instantaneous nature like that of the passage of a beam of light from one medium to another one. Two propositions had stemmed from the exploratory research. Firstly, lower operational medium on supply side is likely to cause inferiority in perceived buyer value for an encounter. Secondly, higher operational medium on supply side is likely to cause superiority in perceived buyer value for an encounter. A panel of experts had been devised to confirm usefulness and meaningfulness of the developed model. The research process for the panel of experts was a qualitative technique based on an interpretive orientation. Participants included 9 provincial individuals. In all, there were 19 interviews, involving 9 individuals. In four instances more than one person participated in an interview. Thirteen of the interviews were face-to-face, and three were conducted by telephone. Interviewees confirmed the model by the practices they are involved with in the industry, as well as with the exemplifying issues they have presented. No changes were requested for the developed exploratory model. The main contribution of this research endeavor to academia is the developed exploratory model, which explains creation of superior perceived buyer value via provision of services in a supplier-buyer interaction. Therefore, reference disciplines, including supply chain management and services have received contribution. High levels of services are often costly for suppliers to adopt for the entire buyer base due to two major reasons: the unnecessary high costs incurred for buyers who were not necessarily expecting such high services for value creation, and the dramatically raised expectations which will set the base for all forthcoming services of the supplier that'll force the supplier to perform an ever higher levels of services. Developed model facilitates detection of possible opportunities to improve service levels through which a supplier can create superior perceived buyer value.

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Keywords: Supply chain management, supplierbuyer

JEL Classification: M10