ABSTRACT
Organizational buying is often supposed to be more rational and less emotional than consumer purchasing behavior. There are very few cases where an industrial purchasing decision is made by only one person. In general, members of a decision-making unit (DMU) tend to be more risk-averse than do consumers. This is because the Buying Center members have more to lose in the event of a wrong decision: for a consumer, the main risk is financial, and even that is limited since most retailers will replace or refund goods purchased in error. Determining the relative power of each member of the DMU for each purchasing situation is a difficult task. Organizational factors derive from the corporate culture, as well as from the strategic decisions made by senior management within the firm. The structure of the organization falls into two categories: the formal structure, which is what shows on the organization chart, and the informal structure, which is actually what dictates staff behavior.
