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The paper sets out to examine the validity of Kaufmann and Stern's operationalisation of Macneil's norm theory which they used when creating a set of scales to evaluate the degree of relationality in business‐to‐business (B2B) exchanges. The scales that Kaufmann and Stern developed to measure norms in B2B relationships have been used either directly or with limited adaptation in a large number of papers.

Macneil's work was evaluated and a new set of scales developed and an experiment was carried out to determine whether or not these scales discriminated between relational and discrete exchanges more effectively than Kaufmann and Stern's scales.

The experiment demonstrated that the new scales discriminated more effectively between relational and discrete exchanges than Kaufmann and Stern's scales.

The experiment would ideally have been run using experienced managers rather than students as respondents. However, the advantage of using students was that it was possible to create two groups whose members had attended an identical course on B2B relationship marketing.

The paper demonstrates the importance, when conducting research that uses prior studies, of critically assessing prior theorising and research. The paper questions the validity of Kaufmann and Stern's scales. These scales have, since 1988, been the foundation of a substantial body of research into B2B relationships.

This study aims to examine empirically the existence of four classical and four emerging buyer–supplier relationship (BSR) types and how they differ in terms of behavioral dynamics and performance measures.

This study uses an online survey to collect data from 371 purchasing managers in the USA.

A cluster analysis statistically supports the existence of five of these eight BSR types, including strategic/bilateral partnership, market/discrete, supplier-led collaboration, captive supplier/buyer dominant and captive buyer/supplier dominant BSRs. Further, ANOVA tests show that these five BSRs differ in terms of behavioral outcomes and performance measures.

This study is based on a cross-sectional survey so it cannot examine how these BSR types may evolve over time, and it is not suitable to examine some rare types of BSRs. In addition, this study does not consider contextual factors that may moderate the influence of BSR types on the behavioral dynamics and performance measures.

Managers should consider the potential to be able to develop and enhance a strategic/bilateral relationship with their supply chain partners, which in at least some circumstances can lead to superior performance results. Similar observations can be made with respect to supplier-led and, to a lesser degree, buyer-led collaboration.

Most existing research of the BSR types is largely a product of theoretical classifications, and there is also a lack of research of their performance implications. This study fills these gaps in the literature.

This paper aims to examine the role of social norms of justice and relationalism in salesperson–sales manager relationships, and their role in developing salesforce commitment and turnover.

This study uses structural equation modeling to analyze survey data from 402 business-to-business salespeople.

As discrete foundational norms, distributive, procedural and interactional (interpersonal, informational) justice develop higher-order norms of relationalism, which then reflect on increased commitment and reduced turnover intention of the salesforce. Among the justice norms, interpersonal justice has the strongest impact on relationalism.

The paper shows how each justice norm has a distinct impact in shaping relational norms, and that interpersonal justice has the highest impact. In addition, with enhanced relationalism salespeople become more committed and have lower turnover intentions. Future research could use a longitudinal study, present manager’s side in the model and measure and compare the impact of supervisor- versus organization-focused justice.

To enhance relationalism, and thus in turn increase commitment and decrease turnover intention of salesforce, sales managers should pay attention to the salespeople’s perceptions of justice norms (distributive, procedural, informational and interpersonal justice), especially interpersonal justice, as it has the highest impact on relationalism. The specific ways to enhance justice perceptions are discussed.

This paper is the first to show how each justice norm is unique in its importance to shape the relationship between sales manager and salespeople in a way that increases the quality of relational norms, governing the relational process into a highly committed one. It also shows that among the four justice norms, interactional justice has the highest impact on relationalism. In addition, this is the first study to show that relationalism decreases turnover intention of salespeople.

The purpose of this study is to review the existing typologies of buyer-supplier relationships (BSRs) in the literature, to critically assess their dimensions and underlying assumptions, and to propose a more complete BSR typology and future directions for BSR typology research.

This study takes a conceptual approach in highlighting the limitations of existing BSR typologies and synthesizing their key typology-defining variables when proposing an alternative BSR typology.

The proposed BSR typology is based on alternative behavioral assumptions: bounded rationality and choice-determinism, and uses relationalism, supplier dependence and buyer dependence as the typology-defining variables. This BSR typology captures four prominent BSR types in the extant literature (i.e. market/discrete relationship, captive-buyer/supplier-dominant relationship, captive-supplier/buyer-dominant relationship and strategic/bilateral partnership) and four new BSR types developed in this study (i.e. supplier-led collaboration, buyer-led collaboration, competitive/win–lose partnership, and free will/voluntary collaboration).

The performance implications of the new BSR types have yet to be empirically tested; however, empirical approaches for future research are discussed.

As BSR typology research has been conducted over the years, a thorough review and systematic assessment of the extant research in terms of fundamental assumptions, typology-defining variables, overall progress and limitations becomes an important reflective task in guiding future research efforts toward the collective advancement in this line of inquiry. Departing from the existing literature, this study also uses more realistic BSR assumptions and a more complete set of typology-defining variables in developing an alternative BSR typology, arguably more complete and more theoretically sound than the previous BSR typologies in the literature.

This paper aims to examine the multiplicity of norms in inter‐company cooperation in the context of an SME export group. It will show that the strategic interests of the parties call for more diversity in norms than that identified in existing studies on relational exchange.

This is a qualitative longitudinal case study of a group of five firms. The theory of relational exchange served as the basis for analysis, interpretation, and context of the research findings.

This study shows that both relational and discrete norms are necessary for cooperative groups. Furthermore, the paper argues that companies in cooperation have a shared need to retain a certain degree of independence and to develop normative expectations for autonomy while cooperating. Consequently, it suggests a new category of norms: “norms of moderated autonomy”.

The findings are based on limited case material. Thus, future study is required to examine the validity of the suggestions and their applicability in the context of larger companies.

The study suggests that the parties need to be explicit with their interests that form the basis for the emergence of cooperative norms, and to acknowledge the contingent and conflicting nature of these different normative expectations.

The research focuses on the overlooked topic of the independence and maintenance of autonomy in business cooperation. By proposing a new category of norms of moderated autonomy, the study expands the seminal theory of relational contract.

As part of their jobs, many service employees are required to express certain emotions, such as positive affect toward service customers. Sometimes employees do not actually feel the emotions that they are expressing, resulting in what has been called “emotional labour.” Although a number of scholars have examined how service employees respond to requirements for emotional labour, few have studied how customers respond to employees who are enacting emotional labour ‐ or its opposite, emotional effortlessness. Building from the impression management framework, this paper develops an operationalization of emotional labour and presents hypotheses about consumer responses to emotional labour and emotional effortlessness. It also proposes an adaptation of previous marketing applications of the impression management framework. The hypotheses are then tested in two laboratory experiments. Results suggest that perceptions of emotional effortlessness can have a significant and positive impact on customer evaluations, but only in relational (as opposed to discrete) service situations.

“Quasi‐markets” is the term predominantly employed as a means of conceptualising and describing the market‐oriented reforms primarily, but not exclusively, to the welfare state in the UK. This paper argues that the term, as popularly defined, cannot sustain a suitable analytical frame in the examination of an evolutionary process. In so doing, the paper draws heavily on Thorstein Veblen’s distinction between evolutionary and teleological approaches. The quasi‐markets concept, grounded in Oliver Williamson’s transaction cost economics, is predicated on the existence of “conventional markets”, defined as perfect competition. It is claimed that this renders the term devoid of analytical usefulness. Moreover, by presenting a narrow conception of exchange the quasi‐market terminology tacitly conveys an insipid pro‐market stance.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model of bank advisor/customer relationships and customer saving behavior.

The research is a theoretical review and model development of savings behavior and bank advisor/customer relationships. The review is used for the development of a model of bank advisor/customer relationships, and their effect on savings behavior.

Findings are a model that distinguishes three kinds of exchange (relational, interimistic, and transaction) in between bank advisor and customer. The three kinds of exchange then influence customer savings behavior.

The implications of this research is that it points to that relationship marketing theory can be used in the analysis of how bank advisors influence customer savings behavior.

For regulators and financial services firms, these findings point to how the role of bank advisors for consumer savings behavior can be analyzed. This is important, as much policy work presumes that advisors influence customer savings behavior, but the knowledge base for that presumption needs to be better understood.

The paper contributes toward a better understanding of the social exchange between bank employees and customers as regards savings products.

This paper is original because it includes many theoretical research fields, and because it connects the bank advisor and customer relationship with the customer's savings behavior.

Relationships are socially constructed by companies in interaction. This study explains the dynamic character of business-to-business relationships with the aid of rules theory, a theory borrowed from the communications field. Two forms of rules are identified: constitutive rules guide the interpretation of the other's acts, and regulative rules guide the appropriate response to the interpreted act. Rules theory asserts that companies act as if applying these rules. Relationships provide not only the context in which the parties’ acts are performed but are also the result of such acts. Thus, relationships are potentially reshaped each time one party performs an act and the other party gives meaning to that act and reacts.