System supplier's customer strategy

The article addresses the management of dynamic customer relationships in large-scale, complex system business. It combines the existing knowledge on system business, high-tech services and buyer–seller relationships with an international multiple case study. As a result, we produce a framework model, which provides the answers to the following critical questions: What are the key activities through which a system supplier provides value for the customer? What are the system supplier's roles for the customer? How does the customer's strategy and capabilities influence the customer's need for the supplier's activities and its evaluation of potential suppliers? And, how does the stage of the supplier–customer relationship and the system's technology cycle influence the customer's perceived need for the supplier's activities? In sum, the framework model provides a major theoretical contribution to more profoundly understand and manage complex system supplier–customer relationships.