Conclusion
We develop a taxonomy containing four buyer sensemaking investment/supplier collaboration profiles that categorizes the likely combinations of sensegiving and sensemaking activities of FLEs in complex procurements. This interplay also relates to three sensegiving supplier roles (“confidence builders”, “competent collaborators”, and “problem-solvers”), with these evolving dynamically during implementation. These findings support a conceptual model of the apparent linkages between sensemaking, sensegiving and buyer firm absorptive capacity in complex procurements. Given these observations, the study is among the first to address sensemaking, sensegiving and absorptive capacity in complex procurement contexts. The findings have the potential to influence the actions of FLE managers when making decisions about the time and resources they invest in FLE sensemaking activities, noting that these ultimately affect the absorptive capacity of the buyer firm as a whole.
