Business-to-business marketing: organizational buying behaviour, relationships and networks 155
time pressure. Perceived risk and purchase
situation have been discussed previously. Time
pressure refers to the possibility that decisions
may need to be made within a time limit. Sheth
(1973) suggests that the shorter this time limit,
the more likely that the decision will be made
autonomously. Company factors include com-
pany orientation, company size and central-
ization, the influence of which has already been
discussed.
Structure and methods for problem
solving
The decision makers’ psychological world and
the various product and company variables will
lead to the buying task being solved by a
particular method. Sheth suggests that these
methods can be summed up as either joint or
autonomous decision making. Joint decision
making often results in conflict between the
decision makers, and the third stage of Sheth’s
(1973) model concentrates on the reasons for and
resolution of this conflict. Conflict may stem
from:
(a) Disagreement on expectations about the
suppliers or their products.
(b) Disagreement about the criteria with which to
evaluate suppliers or products.
(c) Fundamental differences in the buying goals or
objectives among the members of the buying
centre.
(d) Disagreement about the style of decision
making.
For each of the bases of conflict the following
forms of conflict resolution may apply:
(i) Problem solving. Increased search for
information and further deliberation about
existing information. This additional
information is then presented in such a way
that conflict is minimized.
(ii) Persuasion. An attempt is made to show the
dissenting members how their criteria are
liable to result in corporate objectives not
being fulfilled.
(iii) Bargaining.The fundamental differences
between the parties are conceded and a
decision is arrived at on a ‘tit for tat’ basis.
This will either result in a compromise or
else allows an individual to make the decision
autonomously in return for some favour or
promise of reciprocity in future decision
making.
(iv) Politicking and backstabbing. These, according
to Strauss and Sheth, are common methods
of problem solving in industrial buying.Situational factors
Sheth (1973) argues that organizational buying
decisions are often determined by ‘ad hoc’
situational factors and not by any systematic
decision-making process. Thus, specific deci-
sions are a result of certain environmental
considerations, such as price controls, the eco-
nomic environment, strikes, promotional
efforts or price changes. These factors can often
intervene between the decision-making process
and the final decision.
Sheth’s model is not intended to be defini-
tive, but offers a framework which draws
attention to the dynamics and complexity of
organizational buying and presents the rele-
vant factors in a systematic way. The model
concentrates on the internal workings of the
buying process, does not incorporate external
influences and tells us nothing about the
relationship between the constituent parts. In
discussing the situational factors, Sheth wrote:What is needed in these cases is a checklist of
empirical observations of the ad hoc events
which initiate the neat relationship between the
theory or the model and a specific buying
situation.We should note here that a universal buying
process does not exist and the model’s value
lies in its application to particular buying
situations or organizations. In this manner it
can contribute towards a better understanding
of the complexities of organizational buying
behaviour.