A critical realist perspective in relationship value creation

Abstract

This document presents the application for a fellowship for Research Internship Abroad, to be held from 01 October 2014 to 31 January 2015 at the Nottingham Trent University - England, under the supervision of Professor Michael Ehret, from the College of Business Law & Social Sciences at Nottingham Business School. The doctorate research (FAPESP 2013/21113-8) is currently in the third phase of the project, which corresponds to the qualitative interviews involving focal companies and their suppliers. This phase aims to investigate how does the intrinsic value creation and spillover occur, from the supplier's perspective, ie, what are the attributes and resources present in the buyer prior to the beginning of the relationship, that can benefit the supplier as soon as the first dyadic transaction is done. The focal companies (buyers) were chosen due to their reputation and business potential, and due to some characteristics in their relationships that cover a broad spectrum of value sources from the suppliers' standpoint. The completion of the internship at a business school enables a wide range of opportunities for collecting data from a local focal company, which will become one of the multiple case studies planned in the doctorate project. Professor Ehret's academic background will bring some important contributions to the development, mainly related to the coding and the data analysis approaching the critical realism paradigm, with positive consequences in the process reliability. At the same time, Professor Ehret will provide some interesting opportunities to broaden the network with students, faculty members and outside researchers. (AU)