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The purpose of this paper is to test the validity and reliability of a META‐RELQUAL construct in Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish business relationships.

A total of 1,500 companies were involved. The Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish sampling frames each consisted of the 500 largest companies based upon revenue across multiple industries. The response rate was 38 percent.

The goodness‐of‐fit measures of the tested measurement model of the META‐RELQUAL construct were all found to be satisfactory within the recommended guidelines. The recommended guidelines for convergent, discriminant and nomological validity, as well as for construct reliability, were all well met. It is concluded that the measurement properties of the META‐RELQUAL construct applied in Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish business relationships indicate acceptable validity and reliability.

The tested META‐RELQUAL construct appears accurate for those Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish business relationships studied, but only further testing and comparisons will verify whether it can be seen as a valid, reliable measurement for other countries and their companies’ business relationships. Suggestions for further research are provided.

This international study is of managerial interest to executives since it provides a framework of constructs to be considered in corporate efforts to maintain satisfactory levels of relationship quality in Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish business relationships. It may also be applicable in other business relationships and in other countries.

This Nordic comparative study of a META‐RELQUAL construct contributes to theory since it outlines a higher‐order construct and measurement instrument benefitting other researchers and practitioners. It appears unique in making an international comparison of a tested measurement model of the META‐RELQUAL construct.

The purpose of this paper is to test a measurement model of a META‐RELQUAL construct.

This study is based upon a survey and random sample of small‐ and medium‐sized companies in Norway. Respondents were contacted by phone and a total of 581 surveys were mailed. In total, 212 surveys were returned generating a response rate of 36.5 percent.

The goodness‐of‐fit measures of the tested measurement model of the META‐RELQUAL construct were all found to be within the recommended guidelines. The recommended guidelines for convergent, discriminant and nomological validity, as well as construct reliability, were all met. It is concluded that the measurement properties of the META‐RELQUAL construct applied in Norwegian manufacturer‐supplier relationships indicate acceptable validity and reliability.

The tested META‐RELQUAL construct appears to be accurate for those Norwegian business relationships studied, but only further testing in other companies will verify its universal application if it is to be seen as a valid and reliable measurement for other companies' business relationships too. Suggestions for further research are provided.

This study is of managerial interest to executives since it provides a framework of constructs to be considered in corporate efforts in maintaining satisfactory levels of relationship quality in business relationships.

The META‐RELQUAL construct makes a contribution to theory since it outlines a higher order construct and measurement instrument for the benefit of other researchers and practitioners in the field.

The purpose of this paper is to test a measurement model of a META-RELQUAL construct based upon South African business-supplier relationships.

Data were collected using computer-assisted telephone interviews. The sampling frame consisted of the top 500 South African companies based on revenue. A total of 232 fully completed questionnaires were obtained representing a response rate of 46.4 per cent.

The findings show satisfactory goodness-of-fit measures for the model tested. All the requirements for convergent, discriminant and nomological validity as well as construct reliability were achieved satisfactorily.

The study provides a framework of constructs that South African business managers need to take into consideration in order to establish and maintain good relations with their suppliers.

This study contributes to theory on relationship marketing and presents the first tested measurement model of the META-RELQUAL construct in Africa.

This study aims to verify whether a nomological framework of antecedents and postcedents to satisfaction is valid and reliable in both purchase and sales business relationships.

In this study snowball sampling was used to identify relevant purchase and sales managers to collect data from two cross-industrial samples in Taiwan pertaining to purchase and sales business relationships.

The results display the validity and reliability of the nomological framework in both purchase and sales business relationships.

This study verifies the results in previous studies based on purchase business relationships and that the framework also appears to be valid and reliable in sales business relationships.

This study provides purchase and sales managers with insights to assess both their firms' inbound and outbound business relationships in purchases and sales.

This study creates a connection between purchase and sales business literature offering opportunities for further research.

The purpose of this paper is to test hypothesized relationships within and between the domains of action and social alignment based on a sales perspective in business relationships.

This study is based on a cross-industrial sample of Norwegian companies consisting of 213 key informants corresponding to a valid response rate of 40.7 percent.

The findings validate that coordination relates positively to economic satisfaction (ES); coordination does not relate to non-economic satisfaction (NES); coordination relates positively to cooperation; cooperation relates positively NES; and cooperation mediates between ES and NES.

This study tests and successfully validates an action and social alignment model based on a sales perspective in seller business relationships, providing additional insights into the field of relationship quality and the sales literature. Suggestions for further research are provided.

According to sales practitioners, the research model makes sense in relation to managerial implications for seller business relationships.

This study contributes to incorporating a seller perspective in relation to existing theory and previous studies on a buyer perspective to quality constructs in business relationships.

This paper aims to conduct a review of the recent literature on inter-firm relationship quality (RQ) in the supply chain (SC) settings.

100 English-language scientific publications on inter-firm RQ, published from 2006 to 2015 were selected and analyzed by using a content analysis approach.

The results of the frequency analysis map the antecedents, dimensions and consequences – particularly the performance and behavioral intentions of collaborating partners – of buyer–seller RQ presented in the current literature. The contingency analysis offers insights into the use of relevant constructs of inter-firm RQ in SCs in the individual papers. A range of research gaps is uncovered.

The category building for the content analysis was based on an RQ framework that focuses on the mediator structure and neglects the effects of moderators.

The developed framework of inter-firm RQ in SCs provides managers with a guide to the relevant influencing factors, evaluation indicators and consequences of the quality of their relationships with SC partners.

This paper provides the first literature review at the intersection of RQ and SC. The research framework developed specifies the use of the previous RQ framework in the business-to-business and SC context. A critique of the existing studies is discussed and the agenda for future research are suggested.

The purpose of this study is threefold: to investigate how relationship quality affects export performance; to see if and to what extent export performance affects exporter satisfaction; and to determine whether exporter satisfaction ultimately affects the expectation of continuing the export-import relationship in an emerging market.

The paper reports the findings of a survey of 185 respondents from the ready-made garments industry in Bangladesh chosen from a convenience sample. The responding exporters were located in Dhaka city or nearby areas. The data were analyzed using the partial least squares technique.

The results support four out of five hypotheses, indicating that there is a significant relationship between exporter relationship quality and financial and strategic export performance. Additionally, a positive relationship between financial export performance and exporter satisfaction and between exporter satisfaction and the expectation of continuing the relationship are shown. No significant relationship between strategic export performance and exporter satisfaction is found.

The findings have practical implications for managers and policy-makers interested in developing effective strategies for building and maintaining high quality export-import relationships, especially in the context of an emerging market.

In order to accomplish the research goal, the main constructs from two influential streams of literature – social exchange theory and the disconfirmation of expectation theory – are utilized. This is new in the context of an emerging economy perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to extend the well-established nomological network of service quality-relationship quality-customer loyalty by introducing service fairness – a distinct service evaluation concept. Specifically, the study aims to investigate the impact of service fairness on relationship quality as a complementary to service quality driver, and the direct and indirect effect of service fairness on customer loyalty in the presence of service quality and relationship quality in a no failure/recovery effort service context.

A telephone survey of a random sample of 408 customers of auto repair and maintenance services was implemented using a structured questionnaire with established scales. Data were analyzed with partial least squares path methodology, a structural equation modeling methodology.

Interactional fairness is the most important formative determinant of customers’ overall fairness perception, followed by procedural and distributive fairness. Relationship quality measured as a higher order construct, made of satisfaction; trust; affective and calculative commitment, is the main determinant of customer loyalty. Also, it partially mediates, along with service quality, the relationship between service fairness and customer loyalty and fully mediates the effect of service quality on customer loyalty. Finally, service fairness has the highest overall effect on customer loyalty.

The sample is industry-specific and this may affect generalizability of findings. Also, the cross-sectional design adopted does not reflect temporal changes.

Interactional fairness is of utmost importance to customers of the investigated industry. So, customers should be fairly treated at every point of contact. Also, service quality is heavily affected by service fairness. Thus, fair service leads to high-perceived service quality. Third, service quality affects customer loyalty only through relationship quality. Only when service quality is coupled by long-term quality relationships, signs of customer loyalty appear. Finally, service fairness influences customer loyalty mainly through service and relationship quality and has the highest overall effect on customer loyalty. So, fairly treating customers is crucial for developing long-term relationships that lead to customer loyalty.

The role of service fairness in the service quality-relationship quality-customer loyalty chain is investigated and using a higher order construct for relationship quality.