مقاله سال ۲۰۱۶

At the core of all business relationships is value co-creation (Vargo, 2009) and the maximisation of added value through purchased inputs is recognised as the principal role of the procurement professional (Sashi & Kudpi, 2001; Sanchez-Rodríguez, 2009
). Buying decisions are based on expected value consequences (La Rocca & Snehota, 2014) and considerations of value and its appropriation are, therefore, seen to be among the key behavioural influencers of professional buyers (Cox, 2004a; Liu, Leach, & Bernhardt, 2005; Vargo, Maglio, & Akaka, 2008). Nevertheless, the anatomy of specific value propositions remains unclear (Skålen, Gummerus, von Koskull,
& Magnusson, 2014). Value is recognised as being multi-faceted (AarikkaStenroos & Jaakkola, 2012) and socially constructed (Helkkula, Kelleher, & Pihlstrom, 2012 } ). Value is taken to extend beyond the simple rationalisation of utility (Sanchez-Fern

andez & IniestaBonillo, 2007) and not all aspects of value are considered to be externally observable (Helkkula et al., 2012). However, Moller € (۱۹۸۵) and Cronin (1994) note that not only are these interactions inherently complex but that they are also, due to both commercial and personal confidentiality, extremely difficult to penetrate. Harwood (2002) similarly observes that issues associated with commercial confidentiality frequently create barriers to research access.

Despite these difficulties, there are persistent calls for further exploration of the influence of value perception on actual buyer behaviour (Gronroos € & Voima, 2013; Payne & Frow, 2014). Such demands originate from both marketers who want to understand how customers perceive value (Flint, 2006) and from buying organisations seeking to develop policies and procedures that maximise the capture of perceived value in a competitive environment (Terpend, Krause, & Dooley, 2011). Among these calls, Baumann and Le Meunier-FitzHugh (2015) suggest that research should use extant conceptualisations of value to explore practice rather than attempting to further deepen theoretical abstraction, and advocate a shift towards more readily understood and useful notions of value perception. The need for future, empirically based, research into customer value has also been highlighted by Paton and McLaughin (2008), Squire, Cousins, and Brown (2009), Johansson and Jonsson (2012) and Spina, Caniato, Luzzini, and Ronchi (2013).

onsequently, the objectives of this paper are threefold. Firstly,to develop extant qualitative methodologies in a manner that is capable of penetrating the complex commercial interface between buyers and sellers. Secondly, to empirically identify, within the context of an exploratory case study, the dominant patterns of buyer value perception. Thirdly, to consider how the results of this exploratory study might impact on the direction of future research and managerial thinking. To achieve these objectives the paper initially provides a brief overview of the varying perspectives of buyer value perception. This is followed by a description of the research design, which includes details of participant recruitment, data collection, data analysis and the presentation of results. The paper concludes by reporting the research findings, discussing the research contribution and signposting potential directions for future research.