Purpose - This study aims to formulate recommendations for business-to-business (B2B) researchers, with the potential to increase the extent to which B2B research is relevant to managers.

Design/methodology/approach - These recommendations are derived from and inspired by the grounded theory methodology.

Findings - In this article, we argue that conceptualizations which are potentially relevant to managers are those that discover new perspectives, simplify complexity, enable managers to take action and have an instant grab. To accomplish this as researchers, the authors emphasize fostering a beginner's mind, creating umbrella models, increasing the level of abstraction of concepts and finding the core process in data.

Originality/value - In this article, we translate the basic principles within the grounded theory methodology into more general recommendations that can be used by B2B researchers.