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Purpose COVID-19 has dramatically changed how people live, socialise and think about their future. The disruptive shock that hit societies all over the world had a significantly negative impact on businesses, creating not only economic discontinuity but also uncertainty and disorientation. This special issue on COVID-19 aims to phrase the pandemic crisis and its impact on how to do business. Design/methodology/approach The authors follow MacInnis’s (2011) suggestion that a conceptual article sees what others have identified in a new or revised way. Findings The authors develop the crisis management framework. The authors acknowledge that disruptive events may be repeated, and their consequences will have long-term and permanent impacts. These aspects highlight the need for a systemic approach in which the focus is not limited to an analysis of the cause of the crisis and ways of solving it but includes the paths through which the business, economic and social systems evolve because of the crisis. Practical implications Managerial policies, business models and practices that have been effective up to now will probably no longer work. Beyond this backdrop, the articles compiled in this special issue aim to help set the agenda for post-COVID business research Originality/value The authors identify four primary themes captured by these articles: strategies, capabilities, organisational transformations and value processes. In their entirety, they represent pieces of a conceptual puzzle that do not provide knowledge of “hard facts” but rather a “soft interpretation of how to approach the “new normal”, i.e. a new social and business context.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the main drivers of change in the relational approaches adopted in business-to-business (B2B) companies as an effect of the digital transformation processes boosted by COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach The methodology includes a qualitative study based on an abductive approach. Twenty-eight semistructured interviews and two focus groups have been carried out with sales and marketing professionals from different industries. Findings The research defines a conceptual framework that describes what the main changes of B2B relational approach are in a context affected by the pandemic, as well as its effects. The framework is constituted by three dimensions, namely, efficiency of the interaction, coordination and digital trust, and seven subdimensions. Practical implications This research also contributes to managerial practice, defining some directions to be fulfilled in a business context affected by the COVID-19 emergency to improve efficiency, coordination and trust. Originality/value Academic literature has greatly analyzed the transformation of the B2B scenario; less studies have explored how the relational approach is changing due to the digital acceleration caused by COVID-19 pandemic.

The selling practice is facing an unprecedented process of change that is redefining the logic of value co-creation and disrupting the nature of B2B relationships across several industries. This phenomenon is well-known in managerial practice but under-investigated at a theoretical level. Sales literature aligns on acknowledging that selling and value co-creation unfold within broader service ecosystems. However, the changes occurring in sales have been predominantly studied by focusing on the single elements affecting them. Based on a qualitative study of 48 sales experts, this research draws on the service ecosystem theory to offer a holistic perspective of the factors driving the transformation of selling for value co-creation. The proposal from the study is that value co-creation through selling is a systemic and multi-actor phenomenon, including two antecedents: Hybridization of salespeople and Digital ecosystem empowerment, two boundary conditions: Multi-actor integration and Acceleration, and 23 sub-dimensions driving change in selling. The study also provides guidance for managerial practices, which is crucial due to the high failure rate of attempts at transforming sales.

Purpose This study aims to offer a conceptualization of sales transformation, a phenomenon that is redefining the role of salespeople and the nature of Business-to-Business (B2B) relationships while disrupting the selling logics across a variety of industries. Design/methodology/approach Through a two-stage approach, the authors propose and test a conceptual model of sales transformation. The authors conducted 20 interviews and two focus groups with sales directors and managers. The authors then surveyed directors, executives and managers in the sales area (n = 190) and tested a reflective–formative hierarchical model using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings Sales transformation is a multidimensional construct that includes four higher-order dimensions, namely, people, digitalization, integration and acceleration, and 16 sub-dimensions. These dimensions simultaneously contribute to the sales transformation phenomenon that is conceptualized as a systemic process. This study also offers a measurement tool to assess the degree of sales transformation and enhance the value generated through sales. Originality/value Although many companies are facing challenges stemming from the process of sales transformation, most studies have only focused on micro-aspects of this transformation. This study provides a holistic view of sales transformation aimed at understanding the complexity of this phenomenon by adopting a macro-level perspective on the different dimensions that contribute to its occurrence and development.

The sales function is experiencing a process of transformation developing across different industries and company types. This transformation redefines the role of salespeople and organizations within the broader service ecosystem by introducing new technological applications and enhancing relationships with customers, internal and external stakeholders. As many companies are facing challenges related to sales transformation, this phenomenon requires further investigation from a practical and theoretical standpoint. This paper proposes a theoretical framework to understand the nature and the dimensions contributing to sales transformation. Based on thirty in-depth interviews and two focus groups, the study identifies four dimensions of sales transformation (1) People, (2) Digitalization, (3) Integration, (4) Acceleration and discusses fifteen factors driving this phenomenon. The study offers insights on relevant factors for successfully implement sales transformation within companies and enhance the value generated through the sales function.

In recent years, the context of B2B relationships has changed rapidly with the advent of new technologies that are reshaping the space dimension of business interactions and the time frame in which they occur. Notwithstanding the magnitude of this evolution, the literature only partially captures the implications of value creation in the B2B digital context, leaving the contextual nature of value to remain vague and described mainly at an abstract level. This lack of a micro-foundation of value creation in context also makes its management exceedingly difficult. This study proposes a conceptual model that explains value creation in the digitally interconnected B2B business environment. Our analysis of 34 qualitative interviews with B2B managers showed the importance of a granular examination of value creation in context by identifying its dimensions and processes. At the same time, we showed the need to combine a micro theoretical focus with the transition to a more holistic and systemic view.

PurposeThis paper aims to deal with the concepts of “institutions” and “institutional logics” in the context of business-to-business (B2B) marketing systems and uses institutional theory as a framework to look at value co-creation.Design/methodology/approachBy integrating the literature on value co-creation, institutional theory and institutional entrepreneurship, the paper argues that the boundaries of B2B marketing systems are continuously reshaped through legitimation processes occurring through actors’ institutional work, thus making co-created value the only legitimate value.FindingsThe paper proposes a conceptual framework and furthers the conceptual development of value co-creation and augments the literature on service-dominant logic and the notion of co-created value by assuming a legitimacy-based B2B market systems perspective.Practical implicationsThis paper presents a number of propositions that serve to illustrate several managerial implications. These arise from organizations co-creating value by conforming to the various institutional logics that maximize their legitimacy.Originality/valueThe paper makes a contribution by developing a critical theoretical framework based on the application of institutional theoretical constructs/concepts (e.g. ceremonial conformity, decoupling, considerations of face, confidence and good faith).

In this commentary we explore a set of paradoxes in digital services that we call Truth versus Lies, Long Term versus Short Term, Fair versus Unfair, Humans versus Machines, Return versus Risk, Coo...

The importance of the fair appropriation of co-created value in business relationships has been widely emphasised in the literature. However, in business relationships, value can be both co-created...

The interactional, interdependent, and dynamic nature of value co-creation has made value management in business relationships a particularly challenging issue for both academicians and practitioners. In addition, studies on this topic have mostly focused on managing value co-creation in isolation from the wider relational context without completely capturing the influence of other value processes on value co-creation. This paper examines the broader picture of value co-creation management by providing a model based on interlinked value processes, namely, value communication, value appropriation, value measurement, and value representation. We adopted a qualitative approach based on 86 interviews with managers of both customer and supplier companies, which operated in different industries. Results showed that the management of value co-creation implies considering complex patterns of interconnections with other value processes. In particular, the study will shed light on the centrality of value appropriation to co-create value and on the importance of value representation to coordinate ideas and enable future co-creation opportunities.

Digital technologies automating marketing and sales activities are rapidly spreading. The adoption of Sales & Marketing Automation (S&MA) systems allows companies to improve their marketing campaigns, track their customers’ journey and generate real-time insights to respond to customers more efficiently and effectively. The Covid-19 pandemic has further increased the importance of S&MA as customers have massively shifted towards digital channels to interact with businesses and purchase products and services. In this paper, we investigate how S&MA generates value for companies in the post-Covid-19 scenario, adopting the perspective of the buyer organization. Based on insights generated through a qualitative and quantitative research, we propose a conceptual model explaining the value drivers of S&MA in terms of benefits and sacrifices. Our research highlights that a mere focus on the technological side of these platforms limits the assessment of value generation as it is crucial to also consider customer-centric, operational and integration-based value drivers. By segmenting the S&MA value perceptions of different companies, this research also provides guidelines to develop, promote and implement S&MA solutions for buyers and vendors operating in B2B.

This article advances a conceptualization of service innovation as socially constructed through resource integration and sensemaking. By developing this view, the current study goes beyond an outcome perspective, to include the collective nature of service innovation and the role of the social context in affecting the service innovation process. Actors enact and perform service innovation through two approaches, one that is more concerted and another that emerges in some way. Each approach is characterized by distinct resource integration processes, in which the boundary objects (artifacts, discourses, and places) play specific roles. They act as bridge-makers that connect actors, thereby fostering resource integration and shared meanings.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of proto-institutions that are new institutional subsystems that subsequently affect the current institutional arrangements in the evolution of service ecosystems. Design/methodology/approach To shed light on the mode of action of proto-institutions, the authors investigate the changes of three service ecosystems in Italy: the health care ecosystem, the food-supply ecosystem and the urban mobility ecosystem. Findings First, the paper elucidates how changes of service ecosystems are triggered by megatrends that are external to specific service ecosystems. Second, the study empirically shows how service ecosystems and their institutional settings change through the establishment of proto-institutions. Originality/value Responding to recent calls to investigate in more detail how actors challenge dominant social patterns and to conduct research to better understand how changes at the level of individual actors may lead to shifts within overall service ecosystems, this paper is one of the first to empirically study the relationships between phenomena that are external to service ecosystems, the emergence of proto-institutions and the resulting changes of institutional arrangements.

Purpose Digitalization is one of the most important phenomena that characterize the last decade – not only in business-to-consumer markets but also in business-to-business as well. The advent of digital technologies has multiplied the number and type of touchpoints between actors, thus generating new spaces of interaction where cross-boundary movements are frequent and traverse physical and digital contexts. All these elements, in turn, produce a higher need for coordination in business relationships. By using the concept of boundary objects, the purpose of this paper is to understand the main functions of boundary objects to coordinate business relationships across digital and physical contexts. Design/methodology/approach The empirical research is based on two case studies where the role of boundary objects is particularly emphasized: Salesforce.com and 3DiTALY. 27 qualitative interviews with key referents have been carried out. To analyze data, the authors applied a constructionist perspective based on Carlile’s (2004) framework of transferring, translating and transforming knowledge across boundaries. Findings The study will identify six functions that boundary objects play in coordinating business relationships across physical and digital contexts. It will also show the relevance of a mental network space of shared understanding to enable changes in the relational network space. Practical implications This study makes concrete the abstract idea of boundary objects. Therefore, it sheds light on the opportunity of managing strategically boundary objects in order to improve their effectiveness in digital environments. Originality/value The study will contribute to IMP research on b-to-b relationships by showing that, in digital contexts, boundary objects are key to coordinate interaction in space and cross-boundary movements. The study will show that once considering a digital context, the traditional functions of boundary objects in terms of transfer, translation, and transformation can be further declined into sub-functions. The study will also provide important managerial implications on how boundary objects can be strategically used by companies to increase the effectiveness of their business relationships.

Many scholars have recognized the negative consequences that arise from establishing and developing business relationships. Such consequences are also known as the dark side of business relationships. It has been stated that the dark side of business relationships limits value co-creation, if not destroying value entirely. At any rate, its wider effects on value processes beyond value co-creation still remain underinvestigated, with scant empirical evidence to date. This study aims to shed light on the implications of the dark side of business relationships for five value processes - namely, value co-creation, communication, measurement, appropriation, representation -. The empirical research analyzes 32 interviews with business-tobusiness managers in customer and supplier firms. Results from the study show that all value processes present a dark side and that their effects are interconnected. It thus also highlights the need for systematic and coordinated managerial actions aimed at managing such effects.

Business markets are characterized by interdependences between business actors. How these actors make sense of such interdependencies is a matter of both theoretical and practical importance. Research on cognitive foundations for competition in business markets, based on organization and strategic management, has evolved considerably since the 1980s. Also, researchers on business markets that are based on marketing and adopt a network perspective, have become increasingly interested in cognition and sense-making over the last two decades. The concepts network pictures and network understanding have been in focus for this research, which has resulted in a demand for improved clarity of the interplay between cognition, action and outcome, as well as for a stronger integration between parallel research developments from related disciplines and research approaches. A better understanding of how individual and collective views are developed is also required. This Special Issue, originated in the network perspective of business markets, is aimed to address these issues.

This article explores the role of symbols in value cocreation in order to develop a deeper understanding of how actors communicate, interact, and reconcile perspectives as they integrate and exchange resources to create value for themselves and for others. We draw on a service ecosystems approach to value cocreation and propose a conceptual framework that highlights varying views of value and articulates the way in which value cocreation results from the integration of resources and interactions among multiple actors. We argue that symbols guide actors in enacting particular practices that enable the cocreation of shared meanings, which help actors determine the value of current and future interactions. In this way, symbols support the coordination of interaction, the communication of information, the integration of resources, and the evaluation of value, among actors. We provide an empirical example of our conceptual framework as supporting evidence for the role of symbols in value cocreation and point toward directions for future research.

Recent developments in management have highlighted the need for research on corporate sustainability strategies at the value chain level and in particular in the context of franchising. Although franchising is a widespread phenomenon, there is little empirical evidence of how companies approach the issue. By employing a multi-method research approach, this study explores the importance that franchisors assign to sustainability and the way they deal with it. Our findings show that franchisors adopt three main different sustainability strategies, with an increasing relevance of social sustainability as an enabler of environmental sustainability. The study sheds some light also on the interplay between the franchisor–franchisee relationship features and the company's approach toward sustainability. Preliminary propositions are presented as a starting point for further research in this area.

“Combining the Social and Technological Aspects of Innovation: Relationships and Networks” was the title of the 28th IMP Conference held in Rome, at Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in 2012. The relevant topics emerged during the Conference could be synthesized in: Network structure and its dynamics; Understanding Interaction; Actors: identity and role; Solutions and Value Creation; and Business Behavior in Networks. Analyzing the several papers presented the following issues were raised: what is the link between past tradition in IMP studies and innovative insights from the IMP conference held in Rome? which are the spaces for future research they open up? We propose some suggestions.

Service innovation has often been conceptualized as a linear multistage development process within a main innovator system. In this logic, innovation is communicated through certain channels over time, and adopters play a key role in the process of innovation diffusion. This study moves away from this conceptualization and proposes service innovation diffusion (SID) as an emergent process of co-construction and sense-making by companies, customers and other partners. Such actors enact practices by interacting and integrating resources in a social, economic and cultural context. In particular, thanks to the analysis of ten case studies, we identify specific practices of SID in which actors make sense of and share meanings about innovation, both individually and collectively. These practices enable confidence in service innovation, creation of shared meanings among actors and leveraging of actors’ competencies. The study also highlights the dual role of users, who can simultaneously act as adopters and rejectors.

Several interpretations converge in defining innovation networks as formed by heterogeneous actors, mainly identified in universities, research centers, and business companies. While the issue of actors' heterogeneity has generated active debate in strategy and organization studies, there has been little discussion so far in exploring the role of this diversity in innovation networks. Drawn from previous literature, we identify six attributes of actors' heterogeneity which seem to matter for the development of collaborative innovation: goals, knowledge bases, capabilities and competences, perceptions, power and position, culture. This paper is aimed at pursuing issues in need of further investigation. In particular 1. how the interplay of diverse actors' attributes shapes the interaction process in the development of collaborative innovation; 2. if and how combinations of their attributes are more likely to generate certain consequences in interaction; and 3. the degree to which heterogeneity is preferable to homogeneity for the effectiveness of innovation networks. In a recursive relationship, we also call for more research on the mechanisms that lead actors' attributes to change as an effect of interaction as well as on the interaction capabilities actors apply to manage heterogeneity.

Our research deals with the role of actors in change in business relationships and networks. In this study, we explore how cognitive elaboration of experience of a relationship affects the relationship development. The link between behaviors and cognitive elaborations has been the object of recent research in marketing, but little attention has been given to the issue of cognition and behaviors when actors interact in business relationships. Given the role of relationships and their dynamics for the development of business networks, we believe that the issue deserves more attention. Also, compared to the interest in the space dimension of business networks, i.e., network pictures, perceptions of time have been under-investigated. We report findings from 84 bilateral interviews with managers involved as customers or suppliers in 21 relationships with ICT Security at two points in time. We collected their interpretations and reinterpretations of past developments, outcomes, and desired outcomes of the relationships in which they were involved. Our data suggest that the link between managers' cognitive elaborations and relationship dynamics is less direct than commonly assumed. We argue that evolution of a relationship cannot be explained by individual interpretations of the parties involved in the relationship; a preliminary finding is that actors' intentions appear more to shape the interpretations, rather than the contrary.

Combining resources to develop complex solutions (e.g., products or services) involves a varied set of business actors. Research tends to assume that actors are more or less autonomous in combining the resources they use. Presenting findings from a study of the construction of the first two pre-discharge homes for patients with cognitive and motor disabilities, we show that the autonomy of the single actor in combining resources is limited and that resource combinations are collectively enacted. Consequently, the features of the emergent resource combinations depend on the set of actors involved. We also argue that each actor takes part in resource combination both as provider and as user of resources; the two roles imply different perspectives that lead to different focal points which, in turn, impact how resources interface. The two roles orient the conduct of parties and, as confronted in business relationships, they shape the development of business relationships and resource combinations.

A growing body of scholars are advocating a better understanding of how value is created in business networks, rather than merely in business relationships or at the level of single actors. Among such networks, innovation networks, i.e. the configurations of strategic entrepreneurial nets aimed at improving the effectiveness of innovation performance, have come under scrutiny in the business marketing literature. However, research that explicitly connects value considerations with innovation network configurations is still in its infancy, with empirical evidence being notably scarce. This study is aimed at identifying if and how network configurations affect value constellation aspects in business networks, in terms of value recipients and value outcomes. We interviewed key informants representing 46 high-technology entrepreneurial firms co-located in an innovation network (Daresbury Science and Technology Park — UK). Our study identifies that different network configurations can co-exist in the same overall network; these, nevertheless, are not alternative independent structures, but rather they interact with each other through actors spanning their boundaries. Our study thus provides an understanding of network configurations relating to specific value consequences, but also provides evidence relating to the interactions between different configurations. By doing this, we establish a bridge between a business marketing and a strategy perspective on value in networks. Important managerial implications and implications for policy makers also emerge from our study.

‘Alignment’ and ‘misalignment’ are terms commonly used both in strategy and in marketing. In B-to-B marketing, in particular, researchers investigated alignment/misalignment between customers and suppliers and recently discussed the effects of misalignment. Research in this field remains however fragmented. There is ambiguity about the objects to be aligned, the processes that characterize their change, the effects on the relationship development and the methods used to assess them. In general, the empirical research that has examined the two concepts in business relationships is limited. In this study we will develop a theoretical framework to assess alignments/misalignments in parties' interpretations of a problem and its solution for the customer, in order to address the following questions: How and why do alignment and misalignment change over time? When can misalignment be positive for the relationship development? We use data from a longitudinal study involving 84 customers and suppliers in the ICT Security Industry. The first finding is that there are no patterns in how alignment changes, but there is a slight tendency toward misalignment over time. Second, change in the alignment is mostly linked to parties' perceptions of the available resources and how these resources are combined, along with parties' interpretations of critical events. Finally, the research suggests that when parties are aware of misalignment, when misalignment is perceptual and when there are no external constraints to action, the effort to align practices produces positive effects, even when misalignment persists.

Purpose– The aim of this paper is to explore the role of actors’ heterogeneity and the context of interaction on collective innovation.Design/methodology/approach– By using the six sources of heterogeneity identified by Corsaro et al. (2012) – goals, competences and skills, knowledge bases, power/position, perceptions and cultures – the authors describe the cases of two consecutive projects – ESASIM and NeWTeC – developed within Kilometro Rosso Science Park. The collaborative innovative outcome (simulation software) developed in the first phase was subsequently applied by each actor in its specific context. At the macro level, the authors define the processes that describe the role of actors’ heterogeneity in both the contexts of innovation development and application; at the micro level, the authors shed some light on the role of the single actor acting simultaneously as a provider and as a user with respect to different contexts.Findings– In this paper, the processes through which actors’ heterogeneity and the context of interaction influence the development of innovation (collective/macro-network level) and contribute a better understanding of collective innovation from a perspective that involves each individual actor (single-actor/micro level) are determined. These two phases are labeled in terms of “decontextualizing” and “recontextualizing”, through which it will be recognized how the process of innovation depends on the social context and by the business activities that take place between the organizations. In the paper, term actor is used to refer to organizations taking part in the innovation networks as represented by their key referents.Research limitations/implications– Further research on this topic could explore not only the single sources of actors’ heterogeneity but also patterns of them and their effects in the different contexts. In addition, looking at the micro level, it would be interesting to understand if, in certain specific phases of innovation development and implementation, one of the roles – provider or user – prevails over the other and which effects it generates.Practical implications– This case study has important managerial implications. First, by better understanding the role of actors in innovation networks, companies could improve their networking strategies and, consequently, increase the likelihood of their solutions satisfying the needs of the different stakeholders. Second, the management of actors’ heterogeneity seems strictly related to communication practices. As a result, it would be interesting to develop communication training programs addressing companies located in science parks, built around the profiles of the actors’ features, characterizing a certain project and envisioning potential contexts for the development and application of the project outcome. Due to the variety of actors involved and the changing nature of the contexts in which they operate, standardizing communication practices could, in fact, be less effective. Finally, we also see implications for the management company of the science and technology park, which should think in a more comprehensive way about the different sources of actors’ heterogeneity and their potential consequences once they build interorganizational collaborations and thus interdisciplinary teams.Social implications– Using the Intellimech case, the role of actors’ heterogeneity and the context interaction in innovation networks, with respect to two different levels of analysis, is explored. On the collective-macro level, the set of actors in the network was considered; on the micro level, each single business actor as part of the wider network is concentrated upon.Originality/value– This paper positions in this debate and, in particular, attempts to understand if and how actors’ heterogeneity and the context of interaction influence innovation networks. In effect, while the literature includes sporadic references to the role of the two elements, they have not yet been jointly considered. To reach this goal, two levels of analysis were adopted: a macro network level considering the set of business actors collectively and a micro level looking at the single actor as part of the wider network. Empirically, this paper will describe the case of two projects developed within Intellimech, an innovation network located at Kilometro Rosso Science Park, an aggregation node of relationships and connections around innovation purposes.

This paper explores value processes, their effects, and their management in business relationships. Over time, scholars progressively moved their interest from the value of the objects exchanged to the value of business relationships. However, how value is related to interactive processes that characterize business relationships still remained unclear. With this scope, the paper brings to the fore recent studies on the role of actors' perceptions of value and the interactive features of the business context. The empirical research involves 77 interviews carried out over two years with actors internal and external to the Mikron Tool's business network, a Swiss leader in manufacturing high-precision tools. The study shows that four key value processes – value creation, value communication, value measurement, and value appropriation – determine specific consequences that must be managed to achieve effective business relationships. Moreover, empirical evidences highlight the relevance of value representation in affecting the four value processes. The study contributes to an improved understanding of value management in interactive and interdependent business contexts. Also, it draws attention to the need for a better integration between the traditional economic view of value and recent insights from the fields of organizational psychology and sociology.

As portfolio models have evolved in the area of business marketing scholars have turned their attention from traditional product-based and transaction-oriented portfolios to portfolios based on business relationship considerations. However, the conceptualization of relationship portfolios has remained vague, and the applications of these analyses in business practice are quite limited. In a parallel stream of studies, the Industrial Network Approach (INA) has increasingly explored the concept of relationship value and highlighted the need to take into consideration the interdependent and dynamic features of business relationships as well as the phenomenological and situational nature of value perceptions. Although judgements in terms of relationship value applied to a set of business relationships are foundations of portfolio investment decisions, the connection between the two streams of research has not yet been explored in depth. This study introduces five critical elements of relationship value stemming from INA that have important consequences for business relationship portfolio management. Developing the concept of Relationship Value Portfolio provides the foundation for a discussion about the need to integrate the two fields of research – namely, relationship value and relationship portfolios – into a more grounded conceptual framework. This framework allows for propositions to be developed, which contribute to enriching the theoretical debate on both streams while offering important implications for managerial practice.

In recent years, there has been increasing interest among business-to-business marketing scholars in the processes of managerial cognition. In particular, actors' network pictures, defined as the cognitive representations of managers' business surroundings have attracted much attention. However, there has so far been no empirical research on the impact that network pictures have on managerial behavior. The purpose of this paper is therefore to understand if and how specific pertinent network picture characteristics — namely power, dynamics, broadness, and indirectness — are associated with different behavioral choices, i.e. networking strategies. Based on an experiment with 445 Executive MBA students, all international managers across different industries, we find that managers' choices when managing business relationships, their strategic actions, are affected by the way they perceive their surrounding business network. However, amongst the different theoretical models of networking activities tested, only the power dimension showed significant associations with all four network picture characteristics. This study represents the first to empirically study the connection between cognition and behavior in business-to-business markets, as well as one of the few to apply an experimental design to study a business-to-business marketing related phenomenon. Also, it paves the way for future understanding of the association between network picture characteristics and networking strategies in interaction between actors.