The emergent role of value representation in managing business relationships

Abstract

This paper explores value processes, their effects, and their management in business relationships. Over time, scholars progressively moved their interest from the value of the objects exchanged to the value of business relationships. However, how value is related to interactive processes that characterize business relationships still remained unclear. With this scope, the paper brings to the fore recent studies on the role of actors' perceptions of value and the interactive features of the business context. The empirical research involves 77 interviews carried out over two years with actors internal and external to the Mikron Tool's business network, a Swiss leader in manufacturing high-precision tools. The study shows that four key value processes – value creation, value communication, value measurement, and value appropriation – determine specific consequences that must be managed to achieve effective business relationships. Moreover, empirical evidences highlight the relevance of value representation in affecting the four value processes. The study contributes to an improved understanding of value management in interactive and interdependent business contexts. Also, it draws attention to the need for a better integration between the traditional economic view of value and recent insights from the fields of organizational psychology and sociology.