Competitive paper accepted for the 23rd IMP Conference, 2007, Manchester INITIATION OF BUSINESS-TO BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS Bo Edvardsson*, Maria Holmlund-Rytkönen** and Tore Strandvik*** * Professor, CTF, Karlstad University, Sweden. Tel +46 54 700 15 57, e-mail: bo.edvardsson@kau.se ** Professor (acting), CERS, Hanken, Helsinki, Finland. Tel +358 9 431 33 396, e-mail: maria.holmlund-rytkonen@hanken.fi *** Professor, CERS, Hanken, Helsinki, Finland. Tel +358 9 431 33 290, e-mail: tore.strandvik@hanken.fi Key words: relationship initiation process, status, converter, inhibitor