Smyth, H (2016) The business development manager as a value creation worker. In: Chan, P W and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 32nd Annual ARCOM Conference, 5-7 September 2016, Manchester, UK.
Abstract
The sales function, called business development management in construction, is located at the front of the front-end of the project. The work of the business development manager is twofold: to secure sales opportunities and to align client needs with firm capabilities through value propositions. The balance between sales role and value related work depends upon the theoretical marketing lens applied. Applying the lens of the service-dominant logic implies the business development manager helps to configure value propositions derived from their work in contacting and understanding potential clients. This work is conceptually part of the co-creation of value and feeds into value realization in two ways: (i) value in use and context as serviced provision during the project lifecycle, (ii) value in terms of benefits and impact post-completion. The empirical examination addresses the extent to which practice aligns with the theorization of the service-dominant logic. Semi-structured interviews across ten different main contractors provide the source of information over the period during the economic downturn. Interpretative analysis is employed. The findings show a low level of awareness of the theoretical scope of the work among business development managers, a lack of support from senior managers and variable involvement at different stages of the project lifecycle. The theory-practice gap is broad and an evaluation of the appropriateness of the theory and practitioner work is provided as a conclusion.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | business development manager; co-creation of value; service-dominant logic; project lifecycle; value propositions |
| Index terms: | practitioner, value creation, marketing, firm capability, business development, co-creation, low level, main contractor, manager, value-in-use, interview, service-dominant logic, project lifecycle |
| Subjects: | measurement and scaling, economic development, design process, financial and cost management, data collection methods, organization, project completion, business, practitioner |
| Topics: | Design Practice, Cost Management, Business Strategy, Project Management, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Sustainability |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here