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The purpose of this article is to review the emerging literature of services business markets (SBMs) from 1974 to 2007 and analyse main themes that indicate the development of the literature. It also aims to provide an introduction to the special issue on services business‐to‐business markets by examining the context.

The literature of SBMs from 1974 through 2007 was searched in relevant databases. The articles were analysed using Glaser's grounded theory. The constant comparison method was used with in vivo coding to reveal themes in the literature. These themes were then analysed contextually.

The literature revealed seven themes which followed a trajectory from implicit to explicit consideration of SBMs, as well as to multi‐ and cross‐disciplinary focus with integration of variables from consumer services marketing. The landscape for SBMs has become blurred due to deregulation, globalisation and information technology, particularly the internet and e‐commerce. The complexity and diversity of the literature reflects this new, blurred reality.

This research is limited to indicative literature about SBMs as an introduction to the special issue on services business‐to‐business markets. The literature would benefit from a full critical review and research agenda.

The integration of theories coupled with the focus on specific service sectors and contexts, provide useful, applicable and transferable concepts which may be helpful to managers who are working in new contexts.

This article surveys the emergence of the literature on SBMs and defines its trajectory, themes and characteristics. It provides a useful background for academics and practitioners who would find a guide to the fissiparous literature on SBMs useful.

The purpose of this article is to investigate trust in financial services business markets.

The article provides qualitative research, based on 147 in‐depth interviews with corporate bankers and their clients.

The article finds that perceptions of trust and the operationalisation of trust were asymmetrical across the dyads and segments. Small companies were more trusting than large corporates. Bankers used calculative and operational trust and were cynical about their counterparts' trustworthiness. Bankers were quick to eliminate clients from their portfolio who did not, in their view, provide full disclosure of pertinent facts.

There may be different findings for other cultural contexts and financial service industries. The article encourages research in other contexts and industries and provides a platform to encourage this.

The article provides guidelines for bankers and their clients to understand the importance of trust in their relationships, and to understand how it is operationalised differently by the counterparts.

There are few studies of trust in either services business markets, or financial services business markets. Therefore, this article makes a valuable contribution. It also provides a critical review and integrates the literature on trust as applied to financial services business markets.

Focuses on large corporates’ expectations of service delivery from their bank(s). Identifies some of the constituent elements of quality operational service, and assesses their significance in the large corporate segment. First, the literature on marketing of financial services in business‐to‐business markets, service quality and relationship management is discussed. Glaserian orthodox grounded theory was used in a pilot study to identify the key elements of perceived service quality on behalf of the large corporates. This formed the basis of the research methodology. A number of elements of operational quality service are identified. They can be grouped as reliability, assurance, empathy, responsiveness and proactivity. Concludes that banks must monitor and manage functional elements of service delivery in relationship seeking accounts. They should also divide their products into relationship specific weightings.

Reviews the existing literature on the marketing of financial services to businesses. There are three principal aims: to anatomise differences within the literature in conclusion and methodology; to problematise these divisions; and to provide an approach which reconciles difference, rather than stumbling over it. The literature is divided along epistemological, methodological, perspective and market lines. Through analysis, a perspective has emerged which understands these divisions as complementary, and significant in the development of the literature. This development is characterised by an increasing examination of specialist contexts, and the utilisation of more rigorous empirical research methods. This in turn not only increases the coherence of the literature, but also its predictive, transferable and nomothetic value. The examination of the development and characteristics of the literature has been used to develop a research agenda.

The purpose of this paper is to research the development of services business relationships between a global telecommunications provider (the supplier) and the divisions of a multinational utilities company (the buyer), which was undergoing a de‐merger into strategic business units.

The paper is a case study, supported by grounded theory.

The paper finds that the supplier used strategic relationship management, relationship specific investment and adaptation, and service quality, proved during exploratory exchanges, to establish its credibility with divisions of the buyer's network. Purchases were based on four criteria: cost, quality, relationship management and technological capability. Each division of the utility company (the buyers) tested the relationship and service quality credentials of the service provider. The buyers confirmed information from the network on the aptitude and commitment of the suppliers to its clients. Long‐term contracts followed.

Research in other service sectors would be useful. Comparative case studies would be of value to provide influencing successful relationship development.

The practical implications of the paper are: the long‐term strategic relationship vision; total customer focus; relationship development efforts must be responsive to potential customer needs, purchase strategies and time scales, willingness to assume risk; the demand to establish relationship and service credibility prior to extensive exchange requires relationship specific investments by the supplier; and empowering relationship management staff.

There are few studies of relationship development in multinational services businesses in networks, and this research helps to fill this gap.

In 1997, in this journal, Elizabeth Sheedy published a paper investigating exchange relationships in derivative markets. This paper was significant for two reasons. It was the first article to consider the marketing of these important financial instruments. Second, her article set out a forceful argument that relationships in this context were breaking down, and that the advantages associated with a relationship model of exchange had not appeared, and indeed had to some extent facilitated the series of well publicised derivative disasters. In this paper, the authors respond to Sheedy’s call for further research through an empirical examination of the over‐the‐counter equity derivatives market in the USA and Britain, arguing that while relationships in this market do, to a limited degree, exhibit characteristics atypical of wider financial services contexts, the relationship paradigm continues to be relevant, and indeed inherent, to over‐the‐counter derivative exchange.

This paper presents a conceptual analysis of time within a business‐to‐business financial services context. No study has attempted to do this in the financial services sector. We discuss the methodological debate, literature on temporality and multi‐disciplinary conceptualisations of time. Time as it operates in business relationships is also considered. We analyse effect and problems of the present, past and future in business relationships, and evaluate how these critical temporal junctures affect exchange, relationship development, and the internal and external effectiveness of companies. The paper concludes with a discussion of the resolution of the conflicts which arise out of different temporal perceptions and needs, an examination of those conflicts, and managerial applications for effective management of the alignment of time between interacting organisations.

London securities houses wish to improve equity securities marketing to institutional fund managers following major changes in the regulatory environments. There is a lacuna in the literature. Senior level respondents on both sides, from New York, London, Hong Kong and Toronto, participated in research to explore the nature of the marketing relationship. Results show that the industry is characterized by extensive technological development and increasing use of quantitative data but is driven by personal relationships. In addition to factors recognized in the literature (reciprocity, trust, comfort, reliability), these relationships are characterized by: long “development” lead time before pay‐off; consistent daily maintenance by seller; durability; personal relationships being the dominant factor; people being more important than the company they work for; independence from time, place, or distance barriers, important for the globalization of financial services; non‐transferability, the bond being between individuals, not organizations; and an independence from tangible evidence (contrary to industry expectations). Highlights managerial implications for the industry and presents guidelines for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how and why business firms, both as suppliers and as customers, make specific adaptations to their products and processes to meet the particular requirements of another firm with which they are transacting business.

The paper is based on qualitative interviews with key decision makers in international services business‐to‐business organisations.

The results show that adaptations cover many areas within a company, and that the explicit costs and benefits of adaptations were calculated only to a limited extent. The paper shows that most of the suppliers investigated make adaptations to meet market and customer requirements, whereas customers make adaptations following an explicit relationship management approach.

Specific adaptation by one firm for another in the context of long‐term buyer‐seller relationships is an everyday fact of life and clearly of importance to the understanding of business marketing strategy. This aspect of business‐to‐business marketing deserves greater research attention.

Managers often have a narrow view of adaptation as the alteration of tangible factors, in particular the product or the production process. By taking a broader view of adaptations – to include personnel/human resources, behavioural and organisational structure changes – managers would open up a wider repertoire of strategies for relationship management, to the benefit of their firms.

Although adaptations are important for competitive success in business‐to‐business markets, the main types of adaptations, their costs and benefits, and the motivation of companies to make adaptations, have been subject to relatively little research, a gap, which this paper seeks to address.

Banks’ structural re‐organisation with centralised units for increased efficiency, technological advances, product diversification, and strategic initiatives to provide multiple products through “deep” multi‐channel access, have challenged the relationship banking model at the heart of bank‐company interaction. Paradox‐ically, while improving the quality of transactional service, the “deep” relationship interface has under‐mined the relationship manager role and caused confusion and antagonism among customers. The negative result is that customers have a more aggressive, trans‐actional approach to purchasing decisions. The banks need to compromise between trans‐actional and relational effort, and the “deep” multi‐channel service delivery interface must have a re‐invigorated relationship manager if banks are to retain their competitive advantage.