The business development manager as a value creation worker

The sales function, called business development management in construction, is located at the front of the front-end of the project. The work of the business development manager is twofold: to secure sales opportunities and to align client needs with firm capabilities through value propositions. The balance between sales role and value related work depends upon the theoretical marketing lens applied. Applying the lens of the service-dominant logic implies the business development manager helps to configure value propositions derived from their work in contacting and understanding potential clients. This work is conceptually part of the co-creation of value and feeds into value realization in two ways: (i) value in use and context as serviced provision during the project lifecycle, (ii) value in terms of benefits and impact post-completion. The empirical examination addresses the extent to which practice aligns with the theorization of the service-dominant logic. Semi-structured interviews across ten different main contractors provide the source of information over the period during the economic downturn. Interpretative analysis is employed. The findings show a low level of awareness of the theoretical scope of the work among business development managers, a lack of support from senior managers and variable involvement at different stages of the project lifecycle. The theory-practice gap is broad and an evaluation of the appropriateness of the theory and practitioner work is provided as a conclusion.