The changing role of middlemen - Strategic responses to distribution dynamics

Middlemen in distribution are challenged by considerable changes in their business contexts. The aim of this paper is to explore the consequences of these challenges and identify adequate roles for middlemen in the business reality of today. The paper is based on a case study of a distributor in the mobile phone industry. From being a 'traditional' middleman, this firm evolved into a multi-functional actor involved in various distribution arrangements with its business partners. The functions of the distributor in the case study enabled formulation of generic middleman roles, based on concepts from the industrial network model. These roles originate in the activity and resource layers of the network, while role traditionally is defined in relation to actors. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Inc.