Managing value appropriation in buyer-supplier relationships: The role of commercial decision resources

The resource-based view explains firms' value appropriation in buyer-supplier relationships by pointing to sustained differences in economic efficiency across firms. Firms with more efficient resources create more value than competitors, which in turn provides a “protective cushion” against competition. However, just as firms may differ in the economic efficiency of their resources and in the value they create, they may also differ in their information processing and how successful they are at value appropriation. Building on the literature on decision-making under uncertainty in psychology, I argue that firms may increase their value appropriation in exchange relationships by investing in commercial decision resources that allow for more effective information processing in commercial decisions. Examples of commercial decision resources include IT-based systems for product costing and tracking customers/competitors, the design of commercial organization, control systems, and commercial experience and skill.