Supplier-perceived value in bigscience-supplier relationships : What can suppliers gain from delivering to big-science organizations?

• Main Author: Xin, Weng
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Uppsala universitet, Företagsekonomiska institutionen 2021
• Subjects: big science organization; supplier-perceived value; business-to-science relationship; B2B; B2S; Business Administration; Företagsekonomi
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-448398

From the perspective of suppliers, this thesis explores what value suppliers can gain from delivering to big-science organizations (BSOs). Inspired by the framework of supplier-perceived value (SPV) by Walter et al. (2001), a new model is developed specifically for the BSO-supplier relationship focusing on the indirect functions, especially in the innovation dimension and the market dimension. Based on a quantitative survey contains 38 big-science suppliers in Sweden, three main findings are identified via the analysis of multiple regression and independent t-test: 1) suppliers are more likely to acquire value from enhanced process-development and promoted influence in the extended customer networks resulting from relationships with BSOs; 2) suppliers with long-term experience working with BSOs are reported to have a higher supplier-perceived value than those in short-term relationships; 3) the mismatch between the performed activities/resources of BSO- supplier relationship and the relatively poor supplier-perceived value. Suppliers are offered with opportunities but meanwhile are largely constrained to benefit from the dyad relationship with a BSO; thereby, the possibility to integrate, transform, and apply the outcome in other spaces of the network beyond the contract with the BSO in the future becomes a critical source of value for suppliers. The implications of this study challenge some prevailing opinions about the value of BSOs and add to our understandings of the supplier-perceived value in BSO-supplier relationships.