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The purpose of this paper is to develop a typology of heuristics in business relationships. We distinguish between four categories: (1) general heuristics used in the context of a business relationship but that may also (and are often) used in other contexts; (2) relational context heuristics that are typically used in a relational context; (3) relational information heuristics that rely on relational information and (4) genuine relational heuristics that use relational information and are applied in relational contexts.

We draw on existing literature on heuristics and business relationships to inform our conceptual paper.

We apply this typology and discuss specific heuristics that fall under the different categories of our typology. These include word-of-mouth, tit-for-tat, imitation, friendliness, recognition and trust.

We contribute to the heuristics literature by providing a novel typology of heuristics in business relationships. Emphasizing the interdependence between heuristics and business relationships, we identify genuine relational heuristics that capture the bidirectional relationships between business relationships and heuristics. Second, we contribute to the business relationships literature by providing a conceptual framework for understanding the types of heuristics managers use in business relationships and by discussing examples of specific heuristics and how they are applied in relational contexts.

We contribute to practice by providing a simple framework for making sense out of the “universe” of heuristics for business relationships.

Our paper provides a novel typology for understanding heuristics in business relationships.

This study examines the impact of inter-organisational justice (i.e. distributive, procedural and interactional) in the buyer–supplier relationship on supply risk and, in turn, on a firm’s marketing and financial performance.

A structured survey was administered both online and in-person to Jordan-based manufacturing companies. The 137 responses received were analysed using partial least structural equation modelling.

The study found that while establishing both procedural and interactional justice in the relationship has a negative impact on supply risk, promoting distributive justice, surprisingly, has no impact. Moreover, supply risk was found to be detrimental to the firm’s marketing and financial performance.

This study considers only the direct role of inter-organisational justice in reducing supply risk. Future research could enhance our understanding of this role by exploring the underlying mechanisms and conditions that could govern it.

Managers can alleviate supply risk by ensuring procedural and interactional justice in the relationship through involving suppliers in the decision-making processes, consistently adhering to established procedures and communicating transparent and ample information.

Addressing supply risk can help in maintaining community resilience and economic stability.

The study highlights inter-organisational justice as a new approach to mitigating supply risk. Moreover, by examining how supply risk can affect a firm’s marketing performance, it also highlights a new implication of supply risk. Furthermore, by exclusively examining the impact of supply risk on a firm’s financial performance, the study provides a more nuanced interpretation of the effect of supply risk and how it can be reduced.

Process mining (PM) has emerged as a leading technology for gaining data-based insights into organizations’ business processes. As processes increasingly cross-organizational boundaries, firms need to conduct PM jointly with multiple organizations to optimize their operations. However, current knowledge on cross-organizational process mining (coPM) is widely dispersed. Therefore, we synthesize current knowledge on coPM, identify challenges and enablers of coPM, and build a socio-technical framework and agenda for future research.

We conducted a literature review of 66 articles and summarized the findings according to the framework for Information Technology (IT)-enabled inter-organizational coordination (IOC) and the refined PM framework. The former states that within inter-organizational relationships, uncertainty sources determine information processing needs and coordination mechanisms determine information processing capabilities, while the fit between needs and capabilities determines the relationships’ performance. The latter distinguishes three categories of PM activities: cartography, auditing and navigation.

Past literature focused on coPM techniques, for example, algorithms for ensuring privacy and PM for cartography. Future research should focus on socio-technical aspects and follow four steps: First, determine uncertainty sources within coPM. Second, design, develop and evaluate coordination mechanisms. Third, investigate how the mechanisms assist with handling uncertainty. Fourth, analyze the impact on coPM performance. In addition, we present 18 challenges (e.g. integrating distributed data) and 9 enablers (e.g. aligning different strategies) for coPM application.

This is the first article to systematically investigate the status quo of coPM research and lay out a socio-technical research agenda building upon the well-established framework for IT-enabled IOC.

This paper aims to extend insights about the relationship between inter-organizational collaboration and approaches to control from the perspective of decision-makers. We investigate the relationship between approaches to control and intended forms of integration between actors responsible for solving the complex problem of integrated person-centered care for elderly with diverse and significant needs.

The empirical study is based on a content analysis of contractual agreements. We have analyzed a total of 118 collaboration agreements and associative documents between all Swedish regions and municipalities.

The study shows that intended integration is subject to remarkable variation in intended forms of inter-organizational collaboration in this Swedish case. The paper illustrates that decision-makers’ intentions with proposed collaboration in each given context are important for the chosen approach to control. Regardless of intended forms of integration, our study suggests that an imminent soft approach to control is expressed alongside limited signs of hard control. Various forms of intended integration can be managed by the two approaches simultaneously insofar as the agreements appear to have a two-sided purpose.

Our paper proposes an empirically driven taxonomy of intended forms of integration initiatives. The taxonomy provides resources for studies about how collaboration can be managed when it is stipulated by national legislation but local self-governance gives actors considerable freedom to decide on how to organize and manage services. By presenting the taxonomy and relating this to approaches of control, our iterative study builds on and adds to a recent stream of research arguing that the relationship between collaboration and approaches to control may by fuzzier and more complex than originally thought.

Despite the unparalleled importance of value within healthcare, value-based models remain underutilised in the procurement of medical devices. Research is needed to understand what factors incentivise standard, low-priced device purchasing as opposed to value-adding devices with potentially higher overall health outcomes. Framed in agency theory, we examine the conditions under which different actors involved in purchasing decisions select premium-priced, value-adding medical devices over low-priced, standard medical devices.

We conducted 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects scenario-based vignette experiments on three UK-based online samples of managers (n = 599), medical professionals (n = 279) and purchasing managers (n = 449) with subjects randomly assigned to three treatments: (1) cost-saving incentives, (2) risk-sharing contracts and (3) stronger (versus weaker) clinical evidence.

Our analysis demonstrates the harmful effects of intra-organisational cost-saving incentives on value-based purchasing (VBP) adoption; the positive impact of inter-organisational risk-sharing contracts, especially when medical professionals are involved in decision-making; and the challenge of leveraging clinical evidence to support value claims.

Our results demonstrate the need to align incentives in a context with multiple intra- and inter-organisational agency relationships at play, as well as the difficulty of reducing information asymmetry when information is not easily interpretable to all decision-makers. Overall, the intra-organisational agency factors strongly influenced the choices for the inter-organisational agency relationship.

We contribute to VBP in healthcare by examining the role of intra- and inter-organisational agency relationships and incentives concerning VBP (non-) adoption. We also examine how the impact of such mechanisms differs between medical and purchasing (management) professionals.

Societies depend on interconnected infrastructures that are becoming more complex over the years. Multi-disciplinary knowledge and skills are essential to develop modern infrastructures, requiring close collaboration of various infrastructure owners. To effectively manage and improve inter-organizational collaboration (IOC) in infrastructure construction projects, collaboration status should be assessed continually. This study identifies the assessment criteria, forming the foundation of a tool for assessing the status of IOC in interconnected infrastructure projects.

A systematic literature study and in-depth semi-structured interviews with practitioners in interconnected infrastructure construction projects in the Netherlands are performed to identify the criteria for assessing the status of IOC in infrastructure construction projects, based on which an assessment tool is developed.

The identified assessment criteria through the literature and the practitioner’s perspectives results in the designing and development of a collaboration assessment tool. The assessment tool consists of 12 criteria and 36 sub-criteria from three different categories of collaborative capacity: individual, relational, and organizational.

The assessment tool enables practitioners to monitor the status of IOC between infrastructure owners and assists them in making informed decisions to enhance collaboration. The assessment tool provides the opportunity to assess and analyze the status of collaboration based on three categories (i.e., individual, relational, and organizational).

This study explores the influence of organizational structure on relationship formation and tacit knowledge sharing within a family business context.

Utilizing a single case study approach, data were collected through interviews and questionnaires from 12 participants at a family-owned advertising and communication firm in Beirut, Lebanon.

The research highlights the critical role of organizational structure in enhancing organizational effectiveness through knowledge transfer. It underscores how both intraorganizational and interorganizational ties influence knowledge sharing processes and demonstrates the varying impacts of tie strength on tacit knowledge distribution.

This paper contributes to the literature by examining the interdependence between organizational structure, tacit knowledge transfer and tie strength in family businesses. By analyzing these elements across internal and external boundaries, the study offers a fresh perspective on network dynamics. The research highlights that traditional definitions of network ties may not fully capture the unique environment of family firms, where structural nuances impact knowledge sharing and performance. Practically, the findings provide actionable insights for managers to design organizational structures that optimize tacit knowledge flow, fostering innovation and competitiveness. This work challenges existing frameworks and offers guidance for improving knowledge management in family businesses, supporting sustainable growth and success.

The aim of this research is to explore how a programmatic multi-project context influences project-based firms (PBFs) in organizing their relations with other PBFs and suppliers in a project-based industry.

A multiple case study research is conducted. Data are collected from two case studies in the construction infrastructure sector. Eleven interviews with contractors and other suppliers are the primary source of data collection. The data are complemented by procurement documents and expert consultations.

The findings show that within a programmatic multi-project context, PBFs settle relations with (1) key partners for program management capacity, PBFs establish relations with (2) main contractors to divide projects and (innovation) tasks, and PBFs intensify relations with (3) suppliers to ensure continuity and expertise.

The study contributes to the body of project management literature by exploring PBF’s relations with other PBFs and suppliers in a multi-project context. Based on empirical data, the study provides a distinction in layers presenting distinct levels of PBF’s supplier relations. This layer structure provides an excellent starting point for future studies exploring the program perspective of PBFs in the integrated supply chain.

Given the increase in programmatic multi-project context for project-based domains, discussed in both literature and practice, this study explores the effect of programs on relations of PBFs with other PBFs and suppliers. The study distinguishes PBF’s relations with the different suppliers in three layers and discusses the characteristics of these relations.

While size asymmetry in buyer–supplier relationships has been studied in non-disruption contexts, this research explores how supplier size influences positive and negative supply chain disruptions. Anchoring on the commitment-trust theory (CTT), we explore buyer commitment as a mediating variable and examine how buying firms' mediated power usage depends on different supplier sizes and types of supplier-induced disruptions.

Through two scenario-based behavioral experiments, we discover different patterns in buyers' use of mediated power, contingent on the types of supplier-induced disruptions.

In negative disruptions, buyers prefer more mediated power with large suppliers to control uncertainties, using reward or coercive power strategies. In positive disruptions, we find opposite results, indicating different buyers' perceptions and actions are contingent on both the supplier size and the types of disruptions. These findings underscore the complex interplay between supplier size, buyer commitment and mediated power strategies, revealing that disruption type significantly shapes buyer responses.

This paper extends the CTT framework by considering new antecedents and outcomes. We also provide a more comprehensive understanding of buyer behavior when facing positive and negative supplier-induced disruptions. Our study has limitations. Through vignette-based behavioral experiments, there is a risk that scenarios may not accurately represent real-life situations and that decision-making dynamics could be oversimplified. Future research should incorporate nuanced measurements and conduct additional qualitative research for a comprehensive understanding.

This study enriches the understanding of the buyer-supplier relationship by expanding the CTT framework for a more comprehensive picture. We also offer nuanced insights into size dynamics and disruption types, emphasizing tailored strategies in supply chain management. The findings underscore the importance of understanding these nuances to employ tailored strategy in a business-to-business (B2B) context, as mediated power is contingent on multiple factors.

This paper aims to identify how a public client’s use of control systems (process, output and social control) affect innovation possibilities in construction projects.

Semi-structured interviews about six infrastructure projects were conducted to identify respondents’ views on innovation possibilities. These possibilities were then analyzed from an organizational control perspective within principal–agent relationships between the Swedish Transport Administration (STA) and their contractors.

How the client uses control systems affects innovation possibilities. Relying on process control could negatively affect innovation opportunities, whereas output control could have a positive influence. In addition, social control seems to have a weak effect, as the STA appears not to use social control to facilitate joint innovation. Public clients must comply with the Public Procurement Act and, therefore, retain the requirements specified in the tendering documents. Much of the steering of the execution is connected to the ex ante phase (before signing the contract), which affects innovation possibilities in the design and execution phases for the contractor.

This study was conducted with only one client, thus limiting its generalizability. However, the findings provide an important stepping stone to further investigation into balancing control systems and creating innovation possibilities in a principal–agent relationship.

Although public procurement has increasingly been emphasized as a major potential source of innovation, studying how a public client’s use of organizational control systems affects innovation possibilities in the construction sector has received scant attention.