Abstract
In a context of liberalisation, occurring in the European Union, French major electricity users developed a new collective purchasing strategy, based on political sponsorship. The mobilisation of non-business actors as a purchasing strategy, and in particular, the way a business firm managed to obtain the sponsorship of major political actors to defend its interests, retained our interest.<br /><br /> The purpose of this paper is to contribute at analyzing this political sponsorship process. It is based on the in-depth analysis of the purchasing strategy developed by large manufacturers and their professional union to secure the access to electricity and control price risks.<br /><br /> Based on the Industrial Network Approach and in particular, on the strategic positions and identities of actors in the network, our analysis contributes at understanding the process of managing and influencing relationships in turbulent markets and negotiations.