Kenneth H. Wathne earned his Ph.D. at the Copenhagen Business School. Prior to joining the faculty at BI Norwegian School of Management, he worked as an Assistant Professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
He has published several highly cited articles in the Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Marketing Research, contributed to book chapters on interorganizational relationships, and currently serves on the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of Marketing, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, and Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management.
Wathne's teaching interests include interorganizational relationships, marketing channels, business-to-business marketing, marketing research and marketing management. He is four-time recipient of the Mu Kappa Tau Marketing Professor of the Year award.
Prior to entering academia, Wathne worked as a project consultant and project manager with the Norwegian Institute for Research in Marketing. Wathne earned his MS in marketing and strategy and a BS in marketing from BI Norwegian School of Management in Oslo, Norway.
Purpose
This paper aims to identify promising areas for future business to business (B2B) governance research.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a theoretical approach.
Findings
Most governance research in marketing is conducted within the context of value chains (Porter 1985). There are great opportunities for governance researchers in marketing to improve the understanding of B2B relationships in problem solving and networking services. Moreover, rapid innovations taking place in networking services are changing the institutional environment across all forms of value creation. This in turn impacts how the nature and governance of relationships in the broader economy are understood.
Originality/value
The literature on B2B relationship governance is primarily rooted in one particular form of value creation, namely, the “value chain” (Porter, 1985). The authors examine whether the current conceptualization of B2B relationship governance is equally applicable for firms that have a different value creation logic and therefore engage in exchange relationships that differ in their object of exchange.
Wathne, Kenneth Henning; Heide, Jan B., Mooi, Erik A. & Kumar, Alok (2018)
Relationship governance dynamics: The roles of partner selection efforts and mutual investments
The article studies interfirm governance in the context of supplier–reseller relationships. Using a longitudinal study, the authors examine the roles of supplier selection efforts and mutual specific investments with respect to (1) motivating a supplier to make incremental investments and (2) safeguarding these investments from supplier ex post transaction costs. The authors also examine the joint effects of selection efforts and mutual investments on supplier ex post transaction costs. From a practical standpoint, the findings suggest guidelines for channel strategy. Theoretically, they provide new insights into relationship dynamics, including evidence regarding the effects of a firm’s governance choices over time.
Specific investments in marketing relationships. Expropriation and bonding effects
40(may)
Wathne, Kenneth; Biong, Harald & Heide, Jan B. (2001)
Choice of supplier in embedded markets : relationship and marketing program effects
65(2) , s. 54- 66.
Wathne, Kenneth H. & Heide, Jan B. (2000)
Opportunism in Interfirm Relationships: Form, Outcomes, and Solutions
64(4) , s. 36- 51.
Stepanova, Anna; Sande, Jon Bingen & Wathne, Kenneth Henning (2025)
When Should Organizations Outsource Problem Solving? Balancing Functional and Technical Requirement Specifications in Public Procurement
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Stepanova, Anna; Sande, Jon Bingen & Wathne, Kenneth Henning (2024)
Organizing Problem Solving in Interorganizational Relationships: The Role of Functional and Technical Requirement Specifications
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Stepanova, Anna; Sande, Jon Bingen & Wathne, Kenneth Henning (2024)
When Should Organizations Outsource Problem Solving? Balancing Functional and Technical Requirement Specifications in Public Procurement
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Wathne, Kenneth Henning; Butt, Moeen & Antia, Kersi D. (2023)
Mitigating Early Franchise Agreement Terminations: The Role Public and Private Ordering
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Wathne, Kenneth Henning; Butt, Moeen & Antia, Kersi D. (2023)
Mitigating Unilateral Relationship Termination: The Role of Franchise System Hierarchy, Reputation, and Regulation
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Wathne, Kenneth Henning (2023)
Pushing the Boundaries of B2B Research
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Wathne, Kenneth Henning; Kumar, Alok & Heide, Jan B. (2023)
Offshore Outsourcing
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Wathne, Kenneth Henning (2022)
Seeking Crisis Recovery In Alliance Rebranding
[Lecture]. Event
Wathne, Kenneth Henning (2022)
B2B Marketing: Research and Teaching in the Post-COVID Era
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Sande, Jon Bingen; Abrahamsen, Morten H., Wathne, Kenneth Henning, Jensen, Henrik & Ghosh, Mrinal (2022)
Relasjonskontrakter i offentlige anskaffelser på e-helsefeltet
[Report Research].
Denne rapporten sammenfatter store deler av forskningen på offentlige anskaffelser og relasjonskontrakter som har blitt gjort ved C3 Senter for fremtidig helse. Rapporten beskriver grunnleggende egenskaper og utfordringer ved offentlige anskaffelser og kontrakter, og hvordan innkjøpere kan analysere og beskrive anskaffelsesprosjekter og transaksjoner med leverandørene. Det utvikles et verktøy for vurdering og overvåking av transaksjonsegenskaper og transaksjonskostnader i offentlige anskaffelser, basert på at kontraktsformer bør tilpasses den enkelte transaksjon og dens egenskaper. Data fra et større datasett identifiserer store og systematiske forskjeller mellom offentlige og private anskaffelser. Offentlige kontrakter i Norge er mer detaljerte enn private kontrakter, og transaksjonene er preget av mindre investeringer, svakere relasjonskontrakter, mindre gjensidig forståelse, og svakere innovasjonsresultater enn transaksjoner mellom industribedrifter i Norge. Rapporten gir en inngående forklaring av hva relasjonskontrakter er, og hva som kjennetegner relasjonskontrakter og to viktige spørsmål som bør stilles av alle som forsøker å benytte seg av relasjonskontrakter. Er relasjonskontrakten tydelig? Er relasjonskontrakten troverdig? Tentative analyser tyder på at relasjonskontrakter mellom offentlige innkjøpere og deres leverandører blir sterkere og mer troverdige når (1) begge parter har gjort store transaksjonsspesifikke investeringer, (2) leverandørens unilaterale transaksjonsspesifikke investeringer støttes av langsiktige kontrakter, og (3) produktkompleksitet og teknologisk usikkerhet håndteres gjennom mer detaljerte formelle kontrakter som spesifiserer blant annet rolle, ansvar, forpliktelser, rettigheter, og hvordan partene skal tilpasse seg uventede situasjoner. Rapporten presenterer et verktøy for å beskrive relasjonskontrakten og den gjensidige forståelsen mellom partene. Rapporten forteller også om vår forskning på innovasjonspartnerskap, der det viktigste funnet er at innovasjonspartnerskapet som prosedyre er et viktig tilskudd til innkjøperes verktøykasse som kan bidra til læring og til mobilisering for systemiske endringer i offentlig sektor. Samtidig har innovasjonspartnerskapet begrensninger, blant annet at prosjektperiodene er svært korte, og at problemene som de forsøker å løse ofte leder fram til mer inkrementelle endringer, snarere enn radikal og disruptiv innovoasjon.
Wathne, Kenneth Henning; Antia, Kersi D., Mitra, Amrita & Mooi, Erik A. (2022)
RECOVERING FROM A BRAND HARM CRISIS IN A MULTILATERAL CO-BRANDING ALLIANCE: THE ROLE OF REBRANDING
[Lecture]. Event
Sande, Jon Bingen; Wathne, Kenneth Henning, Ghosh, Mrinal & Jensen, Henrik (2021)
The role of cross-understanding in complex problem solving in interorganizational relationships
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Sande, Jon Bingen; Wathne, Kenneth Henning, Ghosh, Mrinal & Jensen, Henrik (2021)
The role of cross-understanding in complex problem solving in interorganizational relationships
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Sande, Jon Bingen; Wathne, Kenneth Henning & Ghosh, Mrinal (2019)
A problem-finding and problem-solving perspective to customer solutions: the role of cross-understanding and relational contracting
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Sande, Jon Bingen; Wathne, Kenneth Henning & Ghosh, Mrinal (2017)
Microfoundations of Value Creation and Relational Contracting in B2B Relationships: the Role Cross-understanding
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Sande, Jon Bingen; Wathne, Kenneth Henning & Ghosh, Mrinal (2017)
Microfoundations of value creation and relational contracting in B2B relationships: The role of cross-understanding
