To Örebro University

The use of ‘Darwinism’ and generalizations of Darwin's idea outside the domain of its traditional biological application are advancing. In the field of industrial marketing, this has appeared mostly in the form of an interest in using biological analogies or isolated parts of a fuller Darwinian theory when theorizing about business relationships. In this article, we combine the general advancements of Darwinism in social science with the recent Darwinian-inspired theorizing on business relationships. The article reviews business relationship studies within marketing that explicitly uses Darwinism and results in the identification of six gaps and directions for future research. The most significant implication of the review is that investigations into the evolution of business relationships should account not only for the mechanism of selection but also for the mechanisms of variation and retention, in order to take proper account of the Darwinian explanatory paradigm. By suggesting ‘generalized Darwinism’ as an overriding framework, we argue that it is time to go from merely flirting with some Darwinian ideas to explicitly exploring the promise of using the Darwinian explanans in research on business relationships. We put forward suggestions on how central Darwinian mechanisms could be warranted and conceptualized in a theory explaining the evolution of business relationships.

We theorize that invention-centric novel firms (ICNF) have the greatest chance to mate with an incumbent business partner when their invention fit with leadership style and the state of the market situation. Two different configurations are proposed both leading to high chance for ICNFs to succeed in business mating: When there is no current dominant design in the market, ICNFs will be more thriving in business mating if they have entrepreneurial leadership and a radical invention. Conversely, where there is a current dominant design present ICNFs are most prosperous in business mating if leadership is conservative and the invention incremental. These two equifinal ways to business mating express the value of holistically investigating configurations including both firm-specific and market-specific conditions rather than study one condition at a time. This claim advances us past the market versus firm debate and elaborates a theory whence greater understanding of business mating is possible.

Purpose: Absorbing knowledge from partner firms is a key feature of marketing relationships. Recent publications have called for more dynamic and cognitive approaches in marketing relationship research. Also, established definitions of absorptive capacities have been questioned. This article aims to address propositions that take these overlooked and questioned elements into consideration, which can help explain conducts and dependencies, and affect relationship durability.

Design/methodology/approach: The authors put forward four propositions by combining literature on interfirm relationships and managerial cognition with evolutionary ideas from marketing and management literature.

Findings: The authors embrace a redefinition of potential absorptive capacity (the disposed capacity to absorb knowledge) and realized absorptive capacity (the absorption of knowledge actually performed). This distinction can, to some extent, be explained by the degree of cognitive attention given to the marketing relationship. Moreover, asymmetrically realized absorptive capacityvis-à-vis a partner substantially influences the dynamics of partners' conduct and dependency, which may vary the risk that the relationship will end.

Practical implications: The propositions illustrate how a motivated partner that gives more attention to the relationship is more likely to absorb more knowledge than its counterpart, which can threaten the durability of a relationship. Thus, managers need to be able to understand possible long-term consequences of the partner's conduct in order to avoid losses of joint strategic resources and relational benefits.

Originality/value: By advocating an evolutionary approach, an impetus for more dynamism in marketing relationship research is presented. This study also shows the importance of including the longitudinal dimension in analysis if one wants to understand change in – and durability of – marketing relationships.