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The purpose of the paper is to examine how media synchronicity facilitates the emergence of social exchange (i.e. trust and reciprocity) in organizations’ information and communication technology (ICT)-mediated interactions. A model of media synchronicity in organizational social exchange (MSiOSE) is proposed.

The paper has a design and review approach. The theoretical analysis is based on social exchange theory (SET) and media synchronicity theory (MST).

The authors propose that, in general, social exchange benefits from both asynchronous and synchronous communication processes. However, media synchronicity has different boundary conditions (i.e. pros and cons) in relation to the emergence of social exchange, determined in accordance with the mutually interacting patterns of trust and reciprocity predicted by SET. The authors provide testable theoretical propositions to support the analysis.

Social exchange is a critical business factor for organizations due to its well-known positive outcomes, such as the strengthening of social ties. The need for successful social exchange in remote work conditions is particularly emphasized. However, with regard to the communication and behavioral patterns that lead to social exchange via ICT, the theoretical understanding is limited. The study reveals previously unmapped heuristics between social exchange and physical media capabilities. Thus, the study's propositions can be used to study and analyze social exchange in the ever-changing media landscape. As a practical contribution, the study helps organizations to improve their communication strategies and use of ICT.

This paper aims to assess the effects of explicit partner brand mentions (as opposed to a mere partnership mention) in communications by brand allies on consumers’ purchase intention and willingness to pay for an innovation, as mediated by the perceived relational embeddedness of the allies and their respective perceived corporate credibility. In Study 1, the authors investigate the effects of (reciprocal) explicit brand mentions by both allies (as opposed to by a single ally) and further test whether explicit brand mentions moderate spillover effects from the ally. In Study 2, the authors investigate the effect of reciprocity of explicit brand mentions and whether this is moderated by a company’s experience.

The authors conduct two online experiments. Study 1 (N = 216) is a four-level between-subjects experiment (single communication by Partner A with explicit brand mention, single communication by Partner B with explicit brand mention, explicit brand mentions by both allies and mere partnership mention by both allies) where participants judge a social alliance related to a new tablet. Study 2 (N = 376) builds upon these findings in a 4 (explicit brand mentions by both allies; mere partnership mention by both allies; explicit brand mention by Partner A, mere partnership mention by Partner B; explicit brand mention by partner B, mere partnership mention by Partner A) × 2 (Partner A experience: established vs startup) between-subjects experimental design for a co-created battery.

Spillover effects from one ally to the other are stronger with explicit brand mentions than with a mere partnership mention. There is no added value of two allies communicating over one, provided that both partners explicitly mention their partner brand. However, when allies do communicate separately, it is crucial that an explicit brand mention is reciprocated. This effect is explained by an increase in the perceived relational embeddedness of the partners, which in turn positively influences their corporate credibility. This effect does not differ depending on a company’s experience.

This research is one of the first to study effects of how a brand alliance is communicated and extends previous studies on the effects of communication about brand and co-creation alliances by demonstrating that communications moderate spillover effects, that brand mention reciprocity is crucial, and by introducing the concept of perceived relational embeddedness.

Behavioral effects of contextual factors that organizations subject to daily life and social dynamics of ongoing organizational life are conveyed to interactional context. It is considered as a form of coorientation blending organizational and individual ethics in relational form. This study aims to examine well-known effects of ethical leadership on unethical behaviors in interactional context. Sequentially related mediator effects of leader member exchange and symmetrical communication in this relationship are empirically explored.

Survey is applied to 494 personnel from 29 large companies. Obtained survey data is analyzed by confirmatory factory analysis, and hypotheses are tested for serial mediation by structural equation modelling with bootstrapping procedure.

Study proves the impact of interactional context on organizational constructs. It is demonstrated that individual behaviors are influenced by interactional, dynamical, contextual and social factors. Study finds that leadership effect can be empowered by socialization processes. Quality of social relationships and social interactions; socializing impact of symmetrical communication can foster ethical management. Interactional context can facilitate organizations’ adaptation to changing conditions.

A human is a relational being. They cannot act in vacuum, rather, act in ongoing context of relationships. Taking account of relational aspect of individual–organizational interaction, this study contributes to literature by proposing a definition of interactional context and by exploring the impact of interactional context on organizational behaviors. Also, the impact of ethical leadership on unethical behaviors is empirically explored in relational dimension which seems to be neglected by ethics literature.

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to demonstrate an understanding of:

Understand the complex and nuanced nature of relationship marketing.

Define the relationship dimensions in human relationships and the variables relationship marketing which develop the customer–company relationship.

Develop a conceptual understanding of how these dimensions and variables build customer–company relationships.

Understand how the key characteristics of social media can be leveraged to build customer–company relationships.

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a systematic literature review of studies addressing relational quality in public–private partnerships (PPPs). The ambition of this study is twofold: first, to present more clarity regarding the definition of the concept. Second, to develop a framework that explains the antecedents, characteristics and outcomes of relational quality in PPPs.

A systematic literature review of 99 academic articles, which were analyzed and coded on the definition, characteristics, antecedents and outcomes of relational quality.

The study shows that trust, communication, commitment, openness and reciprocity are considered core aspects of the concept. The analysis further identifies important antecedents (e.g. shared values, leadership) and outcomes (performance, innovation) of relational quality in PPPs. The findings result in the development of a framework on relational quality in PPPs to be used for further research.

The findings indicate that relational quality is valuable for the functioning of PPPs, but the current focus of this review excludes studies addressing relational quality in other types of collaboration and public–private exchange. The lessons from these research fields might further improve people’s understanding of relational quality.

Practitioners should pay attention to relational quality in long-term PPPs. Among others, (process) management activities might contribute to relational quality as it stimulates communication and openness.

The presented framework explaining antecedents, characteristics and outcomes of relational quality allows for more structured use of this concept in future research.

This paper aims to analyse the impact of an intra-team conflict on the social relations within a team. The team conflict was triggered by a strike action which separated the team in two groups, the strikers and the worker, who continued to work. After the strike was settled, all had to work again cooperatively. This paper analyses how the strike action affects work and private social networks among workers.

The authors combine a qualitative ethnographic approach with quantitative network data.

The authors find that the strike action led to a separation between the former group of strikers and non-strikers. While the subgroups become more cohesive and their social network density increased, the links between both groups diminished.

This study reveals that strikes and the accompanying separation of the workforce can improve social relations within the team, if individuals behaved alike during the conflict.

For managers, the results raise questions concerning typical managerial behaviour during strikes, as managers frequently trigger separation by trying to convince some individuals to continue to work. Instead, groups may even improve their performance after a strike, if they were allowed to behave alike by all joining the strike or refraining.

This study is the first to analyse social relations after a conflict. The authors combine qualitative and quantitative data and show the evolution of a social network after a strike. Moreover, they separate private communication flows and work-related communication and show that both networks do not necessarily evolve equally after a conflict.

Drawing on the social presence theory, this study aims to explore how supplier–customer social media interactions influence supplier observers’ trust in the customers and what mechanisms contribute to variation in trust experience.

A total of 36 semi-structured interviews were conducted with Chinese suppliers using WeChat for business-to-business interactions. Data were analyzed in three steps: open coding, axial coding and selective coding.

Findings reveal that varied trust is based not only on the categories of social presence of interaction – whether social presence is embedded in informative interactions – but also on the perceived selectivity in social presence. Observer suppliers who experience selectivity during social and affective interactions create a perception of hidden information and an unhealthy relationship atmosphere, and report a sense of emotional vulnerability, thus eroding cognitive and affective trust.

The findings contribute new understandings to social presence theory by exploring the social presence of interactions in a supplier–supplier–customer triad and offer valuable insights into business-to-business social media literature by adopting a suppliers’ viewpoint to unpack the mechanisms of how social presence of interaction positively and negatively influences suppliers’ trust and behavioral responses.

Numerous companies have launched brand pages (BPs) on social networking sites to enhance customer-brand communication, cultivate the customer-brand relationship and promote brand loyalty. This study aims to investigate how BP affordances support social commerce.

The study devises a theoretical model linking the proposed BP affordances (visibility, selectivity, persistence and interactivity) to three customer values (relationship quality, brand experience and smart shopping feeling [SSF]) to encourage brand loyalty and BP endorsement on the part of the customer.

Data collected from 591 respondents support all proposed hypotheses. The model explains high variances in brand loyalty and BP endorsement, indicating that relationship quality plays a more salient role in producing brand loyalty, while SSF plays a more important role in eliciting BP endorsement.

The study is unique in four ways. First, drawing on the lens of affordance, it proposes specific affordances for BPs and offers empirical results for their applicability. Second, by incorporating CDL into the research model, it illuminates the high explanatory power of these proposed BP affordances on the three customer values. Integrating the S-O-R model with the affordance perspective and CDL provides a more complete picture of the BP phenomenon. Third, it extends the reach of existing work by examining BP endorsement in social media as a dependent variable beyond brand loyalty, with SSF included as another source of values to shed more light on the relationships depicted in the model. Fourth, by taking trait competitiveness into account, it sheds further light on relationships between customer values and BP endorsement.

Networks are increasingly recognised as being important to successful marketing amongst small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). The purpose of this study is to investigate the structure and content of network relations amongst SME clusters, and explore the link to marketing performance.

Following a review of the literature on SME networks and marketing performance, case study analysis is performed on four SME clusters in the Greek agrifood sector.

Analysis finds that the configuration of horizontal relationships between producer SMEs has little bearing on marketing performance, unless also accompanied by strong vertical connections between key members of the SME cluster and other actors in the supply chain. The disposition of these key members towards information‐seeking and contact building outside their SME clusters is also identified as important.

To improve marketing performance, leaders in SME clusters should focus on building strong vertical relationships in the supply chain, and encourage knowledge gathering from external market contacts.

Unlike many studies of SMEs, networks and marketing performance, this research investigates the networking phenomenon at the level of whole SME clusters, rather than at the level of individual SME owner‐managers.

There is growing scholarly interest in the use of penalty in employment contracts which reduce employees' pay if the employee's performance does not meet a pre-specified performance threshold. Prior accounting research has focused exclusively on the effect of penalty on employee performance. In this study, the authors extend earlier research by examining how penalty affects the employers' wage offers. Prior research suggests that employers' generous wage offers in employment contracts are normally translated as trust by employees who in turn reciprocate with higher effort. The authors present a theory that predicts penalty reduces employers' wage offers. Then, the authors propose unrestricted communication between employers and employees as a potential moderator for the negative effect of penalty on trust and reciprocity.

The authors implement a controlled lab experiment with a 2 × 3 experimental design (Penalty: Present and Absent; and Communication: None, One-Way and Two-Way).

The authors develop their predictions by utilizing insights from motivational-crowding and organizational communication theories. The authors hypothesize and find evidence that employers' ability to penalize employees can reduce employers' motivation to offer generous wages. As a result, reduced trust demotivates employees to provide high effort. However, the authors find that a two-way communication moderates the negative effect of penalties by restoring trust, thereby, increasing reciprocity. Finally, the authors find evidence that relationship-oriented messages explain the moderating effect of communication.

This study is subject to limitations inherent in all experimental studies. The decisions in the study experiment are less complex than those found in practice. Moreover, there are significantly higher costs and potential benefits to shirk on effort in practice. The authors encourage future research on other organizational features that would influence the generalizability of their theory and results. Nonetheless, this study makes an important contribution to the literature on trust, reciprocity, gift-exchange contracts, managerial controls and communication.

This paper has several important implications for theory and practice. The authors show that the presence of penalty may not automatically result in increasing employees' effort level, contrary to traditional economic theory predictions. This effect is driven mainly by the crowding out effect of a penalty on employers' desire to signal trust. Therefore, the presence of an open communication channel may become an important tool to reverse the psychological effect of reduced trust when penalty is present. Therefore, the study's findings contribute to the trust–reciprocity literature on how management control system influences employers' and employees' behavior. These findings are especially germane given the trend in the workplace toward establishing open communication at different levels within the firm hierarchy. The study also contributes to the literature on trust–reciprocity as critical informal controls and social norms in accounting practices (Bicchieri, 2006; Stevens, 2019), shedding light on how firms may influence employees' reciprocity in management control practices and induce them to act in line with the firm's objectives by opening communication channels.

Prior accounting research document that penalty in employment contracts increases employee performance due to loss aversion. The study, however, demonstrates that the positive effect of penalty is not sustained in a gift-exchange contract. Specifically, the study's experimental results provide evidence that the availability of penalties can psychologically change the way employers perceive their decisions on offering generous wages (i.e. trust) and consequently reduce employees' reciprocation of high effort levels. Yet, the authors propose a two-way communication as a restorative mechanism for the lost trust. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.