Opportunity Development for Ongoing Business Relationships

Seizing the opportunity often takes the key role in innovation, change and long-term success in business. The opportunity is, in that respect, something valuable occurring in the market which can be discovered and put to use by a company with the capability to do so. For a company, this means being active in the market and employing the entrepreneurial function to realize the opportunity and to change its operations accordingly. We argue that certain opportunity development can only be achieved through ongoing business relationships. Opportunity development means change in business relationships. Continuous change in ongoing business relationships is thus fundamental for opportunity development. But opportunity development is also contingent on input from the wider network of business relationships. Without change induced by the network connection, the ongoing business relationship risks stagnation and becoming routine, making opportunity development impossible. Against this background, the purpose of this chapter is to expand on the continuous opportunity development process in ongoing business relationships. More specifically, the aim is to explore the links between connection and change that provide the basis for opportunity development for the ongoing business relationship.