Buying Business Services

Description:
Purchasing is a function of growing interest and importance within most companies and organisations. We also live in a society where services are being produced and consumed as never before. This book aims to discuss the procurement of services in the context of the company as a whole, looking at both the integration of purchasing within the companies flow of activities and the system of supply chains, which can affect the conditions for purchasing behaviour.

Review:
'...altogether a good textbook...recommended reading for all Supply Chain Professionals...' (Newsletter of the European Supply Chain Forum)

Table of Contents:
Foreword Acknowledgements About the Authors PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 The Increased Importance of Buying Services The service society Services defined Development of the purchasing function Buying business services Summary and book overview 2 Business Services, their Providers and Customers Types of business services Types of business service providers Types of business service customers Different forms of business services Conclusions PART II: BUSINESS SERVICES AS FUNCTIONS AND ACTIVITIES 3 Business services in terms of activities, resources and actors Services described as activities and functions The A--R--A model Allocation of activities between actors Conditions for allocation of activities: production technology Analysing and changing activity structures Buying business services as resourcing Activities, resources, actors and the concept of Supply Chain Management Conclusions 4 Outsourcing and insourcing of functions and activities Some illustrations of outsourcing and arguments for favour and against Strategic aspects Performance aspects Organizational aspects Deliberate versus emergent outsourcing Summary checklist Conclusions 5 Buyer--Supplier Interaction in Business Services Exchange Processes Exchange processes between buyer and seller Describing and understanding business interactions The nature of exchange processes in relation to the type of business service The complexity of the service and the type of problem solution The type of service application Basic services versus problem--solving services -- a comment Conclusions 6 The Impact of E--commerce E-- commerce -- a definition Some key benefits of ICT Enabling techniques The potential of e--commerce Basic forms of e--procurement E--commerce and the interaction patterns between actors E--commerce and the impact of patterns of division of labour along supply chains E--commerce and its' likely impact on different kinds of services Barriers to exploiting e--technology Conclusion PART III: APPLICATIONS: THE PROCESS OF BUYING BUSINESS SERVICES 7 Specifying Business Services Purchasing as a rational decision process Service Level Agreements: a way of specifying business services Methods for specifying business services Business service quality Quality deviations: when routines no longer work Service quality assurance Conclusions 8 Selecting and Evaluating Business Service Providers The Importance of Supplier Selection and Evaluation A model for data capture Evaluation models Prerequisites for a relationship: a matter of fit Specific aspects to consider when the supplier is a service provider Conclusions 9 Contracting Business Service Providers: Pricing, Negotiations and Payments Pricing principles Cost--based pricing Market--based pricing Value--based pricing Interrelations between the three price elements The impact of negotiation strategies payment Principles Conclusions PART IV: REFLECTION 10 Transaction--oriented and Related--oriented purchasing Transaction oriented purchasing philosophy Relationship--oriented purchasing philosophy Efficiency in supplier relations Purchasing philosophy and buying business services Purchasing philosophy and the use of ICT Variations on the theme transaction vs. relation--oriented purchasing strategy Combining different approaches Conclusion 11 Buying business services: the market perspective versus the network perspective Outer context: markets vs. networks Purchasing in a market environment Purchasing in a network environment Two main categories of networks Characterizing network structures Networks of activities, actors and resources The fundamentals of network structures Networks as force fields Networking to influence network structures and processes Creating and designing supply structures Markets and networks combined Conclusion 12 Summary The contents Finally References Index

Author Biography:
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.