Buying Business Services

Bjorn Axelsson is Professor in business administration at Jonkoping International Business School and Stockholm School of Economics. Finn Wynstra is Associate Professor at the School of Technology Management at Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, and research fellow at Jonkoping International Business School.

• Foreword AcknowledgementsAbout the AuthorsPART I: INTRODUCTION1 The Increased Importance of Buying ServicesThe service societyServices definedDevelopment of the purchasing functionBuying business servicesSummary and book overview2 Business Services, their Providers and CustomersTypes of business servicesTypes of business service providersTypes of business service customersDifferent forms of business servicesConclusionsPART II: BUSINESS SERVICES AS FUNCTIONS AND ACTIVITIES3 Business services in terms of activities, resources and actorsServices described as activities and functionsThe A-R-A modelAllocation of activities between actorsConditions for allocation of activities: production technologyAnalysing and changing activity structuresBuying business services as resourcingActivities, resources, actors and the concept of Supply Chain ManagementConclusions4 Outsourcing and insourcing of functions and activitiesSome illustrations of outsourcing and arguments for favour and againstStrategic aspectsPerformance aspectsOrganizational aspectsDeliberate versus emergent outsourcingSummary checklistConclusions5 Buyer-Supplier Interaction in Business Services Exchange ProcessesExchange processes between buyer and sellerDescribing and understanding business interactionsThe nature of exchange processes in relation to the type of business serviceThe complexity of the service and the type of problem solutionThe type of service applicationBasic services versus problem-solving services - a commentConclusions6 The Impact of E-commerceE- commerce - a definitionSome key benefits of ICTEnabling techniquesThe potential of e-commerceBasic forms of e-procurementE-commerce and the interaction patterns between actorsE-commerce and the impact of patterns of division of labour along supply chainsE-commerce and its' likely impact on different kinds of servicesBarriers to exploiting e-technologyConclusionPART III: APPLICATIONS: THE PROCESS OF BUYING BUSINESS SERVICES7 Specifying Business ServicesPurchasing as a rational decision processService Level Agreements: a way of specifying business servicesMethods for specifying business servicesBusiness service qualityQuality deviations: when routines no longer workService quality assuranceConclusions8 Selecting and Evaluating Business Service ProvidersThe Importance of Supplier Selection and EvaluationA model for data captureEvaluation modelsPrerequisites for a relationship: a matter of fitSpecific aspects to consider when the supplier is a service providerConclusions9 Contracting Business Service Providers: Pricing, Negotiations and PaymentsPricing principlesCost-based pricingMarket-based pricingValue-based pricingInterrelations between the three price elementsThe impact of negotiation strategiespayment PrinciplesConclusionsPART IV: REFLECTION10 Transaction-oriented and Related-oriented purchasingTransaction oriented purchasing philosophyRelationship-oriented purchasing philosophyEfficiency in supplier relationsPurchasing philosophy and buying business servicesPurchasing philosophy and the use of ICTVariations on the theme transaction vs. relation-oriented purchasing strategyCombining different approachesConclusion11 Buying business services: the market perspective versus the network perspectiveOuter context: markets vs. networksPurchasing in a market environmentPurchasing in a network environmentTwo main categories of networksCharacterizing network structuresNetworks of activities, actors and resourcesThe fundamentals of network structuresNetworks as force fieldsNetworking to influence network structures and processesCreating and designing supply structuresMarkets and networks combinedConclusion12 SummaryThe contentsFinallyReferencesIndex

"…altogether a good textbook…recommended reading for all Supply Chain Professionals…" (Newsletter of the European Supply Chain Forum)