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The literature on managing inter‐organisational relationships typically suggests managing these relationships based on the formalised exchange of information across the organisational boundary with due respect to trust build‐up through successive interactions. The purpose of this paper is to argue that a focus on trust reduces the flexibility and accessibility of resources and hence ruins the advantages of inter‐organisational relationships. The paper focuses on power as a means for absorbing uncertainty when managing inter‐organisational relationships.

The paper is based on findings from a case study of inter‐organisational relationships. Governmentality is used as a framework for analysing the practise of managing inter‐organisational relationships.

A number of representations are employed along the boundary between the case study parties and thereby the boundary is emphasised. These representations are used to set the discourse for negotiating the terms of the cooperation. During negotiations a common understanding of cooperation is constructed and thereby fine‐grained information is assembled. In this specific case, the contract plays a central role as a representation of the project in focus. In the construction of the price for the product, open book and benchmark data are used. Information does not cross‐organisational boundaries at face value. Information is applied to the representations and brought into play during negotiations. Thereby managing and management accounting become significant components of the boundary between the parties.

The paper shows that power, as a means for absorbing uncertainty in inter‐organisational relationships, can solve the dilemmas regarding flexibility and access to resources that trust can cause.

The purpose of this paper is to explore both the antecedents and the impact of a buying company having preferred customer status. Specific attention is paid to an, until now, unexplored antecedent: the buyer’s maturity as perceived by the supplier. In terms of impact, the focus is on the link between obtaining preferred customer status from a specific supplier and the buyer’s satisfaction with its collaboration with that supplier.

Two case studies in the Dutch construction industry were conducted and, in each case, representatives of three companies were interviewed: one supplier plus two of its customers, one of them having a preferred status. As such, a total of four dyadic matched-pair inter-organizational relationships have been investigated.

First, it is beneficial for buying companies to obtain preferred customer status at their suppliers, since this will have a positive impact on the buying company’s satisfaction with the collaboration. Second, if buying companies aim to obtain preferred customer status at their suppliers it is important that they are perceived as mature in managing supplier relationships.

Although buying companies and suppliers often both want to increase their mutual business, there can be many factors that impede this. The framework presented in this research can help companies overcoming these impediments.

This is the first study exploring the impact of being a preferred customer on the buyer-supplier relationship in the construction industry.

The purpose of this paper is to examine managerial perspectives in both buyer and supplier firms implementing environmental initiatives in their supply chains, and explore the impact of environmental initiatives on buyer-supplier relationships.

A qualitative, grounded theory approach is used as the methodological approach to this research, including 15 in-depth interviews with managers from buyer and supplier firms implementing environmental initiatives in their supply chains to gain multiple perspectives of the buyer-supplier relationships.

The results suggest that implementing environmental initiatives within the supply chain changes the buyer-supplier relationship from transactional to collaborative, shifting from a commodity-focused purchase to a more strategic purchase as environmental initiatives are implemented.

Although both buyer and supplier perspectives were considered, matched dyads were not used; researchers should continue to provide a holistic perspective of the phenomenon with dyadic data. Additionally, the use of a qualitative research approach suggests a lack of generalizability of results, and therefore researchers should further test the propositions.

Implementing environmental initiatives within the supply chain may require different approaches to supply management and development for long-term success. Suppliers should recognize that the capability to implement environmental initiatives with their customers is a differentiator. The nuances involved in managing the implementation of environmental initiatives between firms can be better managed by collaboratively developing metrics specifically related to the environment.

Previous research in environmental supply chain management has examined drivers and barriers of implementing environmental initiatives with suppliers, but fails to address the relationship dynamics involved when implementing environmental initiatives between organizations. This research begins to fill that gap.

This article is about managing industrial buyer‐supplier relations as seen from the customer perspective. Two successful examples of supplier network management are described, and the limits to broader applicability of these supply management principles discussed. Next the focus is on managing the dyadic relation. Contributions from four of the most influential groups of researchers on the subject are overviewed. Empirical findings from a case study from industry are presented, leading to a short conceptual presentation of an alternative supply management approach. The empirical contribution comes from two case studies carried out at the Danish industrial company Danfoss Drives, which produces frequency converters and is a division of the Danfoss industrial corporation. One case study is about the characteristics of a supplier network supplying aluminum components to Danfoss Drives. The other is about the evolution of one of the industrial buyer‐supplier relations in the aluminum network – between Danfoss Drives and a supplier of extruded aluminum components.

Suppliers are essential partners in innovation projects, as they own resources, knowledge assets and capabilities that complement those of buying firms. In today’s competitive environment, firms may choose to collaborate with suppliers beyond dyads, forming triadic or three-party relationships. Using the theoretical lens of the relational view (RV), this study aims to explore what type of triad configurations firms use to govern supplier relationships in collaborative innovation projects, how they choose to share resources and implications for project performance.

The authors use interview data from buyers and suppliers in six case studies of firms involved in ten collaborative innovation projects. The four constructs of the RV are used to observe how firms govern triadic relationships, combine complementary resources, invest in relationship-specific assets and manage information and knowledge exchange with and between suppliers in innovation projects.

Four archetypes of triadic relationships in innovation projects – labeled Triangle, A-frame, D-Frame and Line – are presented and characterized in terms of their structural and relational features. The authors discuss how each triad archetype is applicable to different innovation projects according to specific project characteristics.

This study is pioneering in its empirical examination of triadic relationships in collaborative innovation projects. It provides a novel typology of four archetypes of triad from the perspective of collaborative relationships with suppliers. Through applying the RV, it advances understanding of how triadic relationships are governed, how they invest in relationship-specific assets, how they combine complementary resources and how they exchange knowledge and information in each type of triad appropriate to different innovation project settings. To date, much of the extant literature has focused on dyads.

Inter-organisational governance is an important enabler for information processing, particularly in relationships undergoing digital transformation (DT) where partners depend on each other for information in decision-making. Based on information processing theory (IPT), the authors theoretically and empirically investigate how governance mechanisms address information asymmetry (uncertainty and equivocality) arising in capturing, sharing and interpreting information generated by digital technologies.

IPT is applied to four cases of public–private relationships in the Dutch infrastructure sector that aim to enhance the quantity and quality of information-based decision-making by implementing digital technologies. The investigated relationships are characterised by differing degrees and types of information uncertainty and equivocality. The authors build on rich data sets including archival data, observations, contract documents and interviews.

Addressing information uncertainty requires invoking contractual control and coordination. Contract clauses should be precise and incentive schemes functional in terms of information requirements. Information equivocality is best addressed by using relational governance. Identifying information requirements and reducing information uncertainty are a prerequisite for the transformation activities that organisations perform to reduce information equivocality.

The study offers insights into the roles of both governance mechanisms in managing information asymmetry in public–private relationships. The study uncovers key activities for gathering, sharing and transforming information when using digital technologies.

This study draws on IPT to study public–private relationships undergoing DT. The study links contractual control and coordination as well as relational governance mechanisms to information-processing activities that organisations deploy to reduce information uncertainty and equivocality.

The purpose of this paper was to examine the antecedents of strategic supplier relationships in conjunction with outcomes of product and service quality and financial performance. The management of strategic supplier relationships involves the selection and development of suppliers that share common goals and strategies of the partnering organization.

Structural equation modeling using partial least squares is used to verify and test these relationships.

Top management support, technological preparedness and trust were found to have significant positive influences on the management of strategic supplier relationships. Strategic supplier relationships were found to have a positive influence on product and service quality outcomes and financial performance.

The results provide new and original empirical evidence on the relationship between the antecedents and outcomes of strategic supplier relationships.

The findings can contribute to the management of supplier relationships, resulting in improved product and service quality outcomes and financial performance.

The research adds empirical evidence to the literature on the factors that contribute to effective supplier relationships and the customer- and firm-related outcomes of this process.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the buyer–supplier exchange dynamic in terms of the influence of product and market contingencies on the interfirm connectivity, governance and exchange performance of interconnected dyads in multitier supply chains (MSCs).

Using an inductive approach, the authors analyzed the supply network of a high-end motorcycle manufacturer (OEM). Four sets of “interconnected dyads” constituting four embedded units of analysis were considered, each involving the OEM, its tier 1 and corresponding tier 2 suppliers. These interconnected dyads representing four strategic components and their sub-components offer contrasts in terms of product and market contingencies.

This analysis reveals that product and market contingencies influence patterns of dependence among firms. These in turn impact interfirm connectivity (i.e. structural characteristic), and the degree of contract formalization, collaboration and concentration of decision-making power (i.e. governance characteristics) in the interconnected dyads. The authors also found that structural and governance aspects can have mutual influence, leading to satisfactory or unsatisfactory outcomes. Propositions synthesizing the relationships among the constructs are developed.

The constructs and their underlying relationships need to be further refined if we are to devise hypotheses and validate them at a large-scale empirical level.

This is one of the first studies to explore the influence of business contingencies on the complex buyer–supplier exchange dynamic in MSCs having a “beyond the dyad” perspective. The authors address why and how various types of interconnectivity are developed, and how the interplay among interfirm dependence, connectivity and governance influences the suppliers’ performance in the MSCs.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the management accounting practice in an organisational unit affects the ability to conduct inter‐organisational control.

Governmentality is used as the main theoretical basis for the interpretation of empirical data. A qualitative case study is used to gather information from an electronics company.

The company enters its inter‐organisational relationships with the ambition of being in power in the relationship. To begin with, management accounting plays a central role in the negotiation process. Due to inadequate management accounting practices, the company is unable to include cost information in their response to proposals made by their suppliers during negotiations. Consequently, the cost aspect of the product fades away from negotiations as they progress.

The study concludes that an important part of management accounting practice is to reveal the intra‐organisational cost consequences of proposals made by suppliers during negotiation processes. These cost consequences are central during negotiation processes since they will keep the focus on costs and cost improvements during the negotiation process. The study indicates that accounting technologies and the physical presence of the management accountant are not sufficient to keep costs on the agenda. Constant cost consciousness requires that the management accountant actively takes part in the joint problem solving process.

The purpose of this paper is to propose and empirically investigate the concept of networking capability (NC) for the management of supplier relationships and their dynamics in order to leverage product innovations. NC in the context of supplier relationships is conceptualized based on dynamic capabilities aimed at relationship initiation, relationship development, and relationship ending. Furthermore, the study tests the interaction of NC with relationship proclivity as an organizational feature, and analyzes latent classes of NC affecting product innovation.

This study brings together prior research on company routines related to inter-firm networking, the dynamic capability approach to strategy, and literature on inter-firm innovation. The study utilizes multiple informant survey data gathered from 156 firms operating in the automotive parts industry in Iran. Data are analyzed with partial least square structural equation modeling, as well as latent class analysis using finite mixture modeling (FIMIX-PLS).

This research provides evidence for the positive influence of NC with respect to supplier relationships on firm product innovation, as well as overall firm performance. Relationship proclivity is shown to amplify this effect. At the same time, the research illustrates that NC may be applied in different combinations in the context of supplier relationship portfolio management. Two mechanisms are tentatively identified: firms using “static optimization” focus mainly on supplier relationship development capabilities, while those using “dynamic optimization” utilize supplier relationship initiation and ending capabilities.

This research focuses on one setting (i.e. the automotive parts industry in Iran). Further studies need to broaden these findings to other industries and countries, specifically those which show a different cultural make-up from Iran. Furthermore, this research indicates the existence of two distinct mechanisms as to how different aspects of NC impact product innovation. While it is reasonable to identify these mechanisms as networking “strategies,” this study does not clarify whether this represents intended strategies by firms or relates to emerging capability patterns.

The study contributes to managerial knowledge by illustrating the need for a dynamic approach with regard to networking-related routines in supplier relationships in the context of product innovation. This study suggests that managers should devote equal attention to strengthening existing supplier relationships as well as to initiating new supplier relationships (e.g. screening for promising partners and signaling firm’s relationship value to attract new counterparts) and managing non-performing supplier relationships (e.g. by developing routines to exit from those supplier relationships).

The paper contributes to a better understanding of dynamic approaches to networking with suppliers and their impact on product innovation from the perspective of the focal firm. It furthermore provides a fine-grained understanding of different latent classes of firms in terms of how they utilize networking capabilities.