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1 – 10 of over 1000The 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…
Abstract
Purpose
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.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review of 99 academic articles, which were analyzed and coded on the definition, characteristics, antecedents and outcomes of relational quality.
Findings
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.
Research limitations/implications
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.
Practical implications
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.
Originality/value
The presented framework explaining antecedents, characteristics and outcomes of relational quality allows for more structured use of this concept in future research.
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Jonna Pauliina Koponen and Saara Maria Julkunen
This paper aims to explore how and why salespeople enhance or hinder long-term business-to-business (B2B) customer relationships at the interpersonal level by considering…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how and why salespeople enhance or hinder long-term business-to-business (B2B) customer relationships at the interpersonal level by considering self-disclosure and relational cost and reward evaluations.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from interviews (N = 47) with B2B sales professionals were analyzed, focusing on the shift of the phases in long-term B2B customer relationships.
Findings
Long-term B2B customer relationships evolve at the interpersonal level through a process of continuous relational cost and reward evaluation, self-disclosure and business disclosure in three phases: becoming business partners, collaborative partners and collaborative and personal partners. The reward evaluations progress from being business related to including even more relational benefits. Disclosure progresses through general business disclosure and general self-disclosure; strategic business disclosure and personal life self-disclosure; and synergistic business disclosure and private self-disclosure.
Research limitations/implications
The long-term B2B customer relationships could be studied at the interpersonal level from the customer’s perspective. Self-disclosure could be studied in cross-cultural settings as well as gender differences should be considered in future studies. Business and social penetration theory could be applied to investigate different types of relationships and other professional relationships, such as those between employers and employees. It would be important to test whether the business-related and self-disclosure subtypes apply to the development of other types of professional relationships or whether other disclosure subtypes exist. The authors recommend exploring salespeople’s and customers’ privacy management strategies in multiple communication channels.
Practical implications
Managers may apply the results of this study in their customer relationship management and sales training.
Originality/value
The findings outline a contextual extension of social penetration theory.
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Tom A.E. Aben, Wendy van der Valk, Jens K. Roehrich and Kostas Selviaridis
Inter-organisational governance is an important enabler for information processing, particularly in relationships undergoing digital transformation (DT) where partners depend on…
Abstract
Purpose
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.
Design/methodology/approach
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.
Findings
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.
Practical implications
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.
Originality/value
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.
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Rodrigo Soares Santana, Gustavo Hermínio Salati Marcondes de Moraes and Hermes Moretti Ribeiro da Silva
This study aims to evaluate the influence of factors attributed to relationship attractiveness between supplier and customer, from the supplier’s perspective.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate the influence of factors attributed to relationship attractiveness between supplier and customer, from the supplier’s perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical exercise was based on the use of multivariate data analysis with confirmatory factor analysis and a partial least squares approach to structural equation modeling.
Findings
The study resulted in a robust model, with a high explanatory factor for the latent variable relational attractiveness and commitment was the most influential factor, followed by expected value and interorganizational trust.
Research limitations/implications
Some limitations of the study can be highlighted: conducting research in a single cooperative and with a single audience; choosing a short-cycle supply chain, which may make it difficult to generalize to other industries; the cross-section nature of data also hinders the analysis to understand how the association between variables of interest may vary over time.
Practical implications
The negative influence of interpersonal trust reinforces the importance of developing collaborative attitudes between parties, whereas the non-significant value for dependence (financial and volume dependence) shows this is not a risk factor for relational attractiveness in a supply chain. Such results provide evidence on how to develop relationship management between suppliers and customers that are part of the same supply chain.
Social implications
It offers a new perspective for research in cooperatives, which still have no consensus on the motivating factors for members’ participation, including as evidence the results of the largest flower producing center in Latin America. The more a cooperative succeeds in increasing relational attractiveness, the greater the cooperative power and the ability to adapt to shocks and changes, which are fundamental factors for the success and longevity of the cooperative.
Originality/value
The research presents a model that is comprehensive enough to fit in different contexts and consider its specific characteristics. Additionally, this paper has added in-depth information on the relational attractiveness relationships in the context of a developing country.
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This study seeks to provide further testing of access in the context of government – community relations within the political context of the Republic of North Macedonia. The study…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to provide further testing of access in the context of government – community relations within the political context of the Republic of North Macedonia. The study analyses relationship cultivation strategy of access and explains how it contributes to achieving trust and relationship satisfaction in government–community relations. This paper also provides insights into the importance of access to achieving positive government–community relations based on mutual trust and satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
For this research, a qualitative inquiry was conducted, and qualitative in-depth interviewing was used as the main research method. In total, 39 interviews were conducted: 12 interviews with Macedonian civil servants, eight interviews with Albanian civil servants and 19 interviews with Albanians.
Findings
The findings of this study showed citizens not to have enough access to government and its institutions. Besides, the results showed access to be crucial to building positive government–community relations based on mutual trust and satisfaction. In particular, discrimination and social distance were crucial in building trust between government and citizens.
Originality/value
The study provided evidence on the importance and contribution of the cultivation strategy of access to government-community relationships in general and to the relational outcomes of trust and satisfaction in particular. The findings supported the initial assumptions that access constitutes an important factor in predicting the government–community relationship quality.
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S. J. Oswald A. J. Mascarenhas
Building trust and living interpersonal trust are crucial corporate executive virtues that are needed today. Once you have developed and solidified a high level of genuine…
Abstract
Executive Summary
Building trust and living interpersonal trust are crucial corporate executive virtues that are needed today. Once you have developed and solidified a high level of genuine interpersonal trust with all your stakeholders, especially customers, suppliers, and employees, then you are on the right path of managing and transforming your company. A high level of interpersonal trust between all stakeholders and corporates in a business situation will break down communication barriers, foster serious conversation and sharing of ideas, and will eliminate corporate transactional anxieties of fear, mistrust, guilt, rigidity, blame, and resentment. When stakeholders trust you and you trust them, then you speak freely, they speak freely, and your mutual sustained transparency is a gateway to survival, revival, and sustained corporate recovery and transformation, and steady growth and prosperity. Conversely, when there is low trust, high mistrust, and high distrust among stakeholders in a business situation, communications and conversations are stressed and fragmented, teamwork and team spirit are very low, and the company is heading toward its ruin and extermination. Such is the crucial role of interpersonal trust in business. This chapter explores the crucial phenomenon of corporate interpersonal trust. We review various cases, models, concepts, definitions, and theories of trust from the management literature in general, and from the marketing field in particular, to derive psychological, behavioral, ethical, and moral principles of corporate trust, trusting relations, and trusting strategies.
Kirsi Aaltonen and Virpi Turkulainen
In this study, we develop further understanding of how institutional change is created within a mature and local industry. In this pursuit, we examine how a collaborative large…
Abstract
Purpose
In this study, we develop further understanding of how institutional change is created within a mature and local industry. In this pursuit, we examine how a collaborative large project governance model was institutionalized at an industrial sector-level through both industry-level activities and “institutional projects”.
Design/methodology/approach
This study builds on the foundations of institutional fields and institutional change, suggesting that projects are not only shaped by their contexts but also produce institutional change themselves. We conducted extensive fieldwork on the institutionalization of a collaborative project governance model in Finland.
Findings
The findings illustrate how institutional change in governance of large and complex inter-organizational projects is created at the institutional field level. The institutionalized collaborative project governance model includes aspects of both relational and contractual governance. The change was facilitated by temporal links between the institutional projects as well as vertical links between the institutional projects and the field-level development programs.
Originality/value
This is one of the first studies to address how a collaborative large project governance model becomes the norm at the institutional field level beyond the boundaries of an individual project or organization.
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Nassim Ghondaghsaz and Sven Engesser
The main purpose of this paper is the identification of the conceptualization of trust as well as its factors and outcomes in interorganizational relations in mobile supply chains…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this paper is the identification of the conceptualization of trust as well as its factors and outcomes in interorganizational relations in mobile supply chains (MSCs) in which multiple stakeholders collaborate.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors first used a comprehensive literature review to extract related factors and outcomes of trust. Second, the authors conducted semi-structured interviews in chemical and pharmaceutical companies in Germany. These organizations stand out as leaders in the concept of MSCs and have developed collaborations with various stakeholders.
Findings
Based on the results, a conceptual model has been developed that elaborates on the nature of trust and its factors and outcomes for cultivating trustful stakeholder collaboration. The study identifies six factors or approaches for building trust and two outcomes resulting from mutual trust.
Practical implications
The conceptual model presented in this study can serve as a basis for developing trust in MSCs. Interorganizational collaborations in MSCs are more successful when saturated with trust. The collaboration systems must allow the innovative organizations to create value through the adaptation of advanced technologies without failure.
Originality/value
The study adds to the body of knowledge in building trust in multiple stakeholder collaboration, particularly in innovative organizations which are involved with disruptive technologies.
研究目的
由眾多股東共同協作的移動供應鏈内存在著一定的互信。本文主要的目的在闡明這種互信的概念,並確定就組織間之關係而言,帶來互信的因素及因互信而產生的效果。
研究設計/方法/理念
作者們首先透過全面的文獻探討,從中提取帶來互信的相關因素,和因互信而產生的效果。作者們接著在位於德國的化工及製藥公司內進行半結構式訪談。這些組織及公司就移動供應鏈的概念而言,在同業中脫穎而出,成為領導者,並與各股東建立了合作夥伴的關係。
研究結果
作者們根據研究結果、建立了一個概念模型。這模型闡述了互信的性質,互信的因素,以及在股東間培育互信合作關係的效果。研究亦確定了建立互信六個相關因素/方法,和兩個因互信而產生的效果。
研究的原創性/價值
本研究在現時相關的領域上、加深了我們對多個股東共同協作上建立互信的瞭解,特別是涉及破壞式技術的創新型組織。
實務方面的啓示
本研究所展示的概念模型可作為在移動供應鏈內建立互信的基礎和依據。若移動供應鏈內的各個組織間充滿著互信,則相互的協作定必更成功。共同協作的機製必須能為創新型組織透過無誤地改編先進技術去創造價值。
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Aki Jääskeläinen, Katrina Lintukangas and Frederik G.S. Vos
This study uses social capital theory to analyze how social capital and supplier development support achieving supplier satisfaction and preferred customer status. The resulting…
Abstract
Purpose
This study uses social capital theory to analyze how social capital and supplier development support achieving supplier satisfaction and preferred customer status. The resulting model is compared between manufacturing and service suppliers.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey receiving 482 supplier responses from manufacturing and service suppliers was utilized and analyzed using partial least squares (PLS) path modeling and multi-group comparison tests.
Findings
The paper adds new explanations for preferred customer status through empirical evidence of relationships between supplier development, social capital, supplier satisfaction, and preferred customer status. Cognitive and relational capital directly support achieving preferred customer status. The role of supplier satisfaction in achieving preferred customer status is lower for manufacturing suppliers.
Research limitations/implications
Both service and manufacturing suppliers could also be studied in their specific industry settings. A more in-depth investigation of other business relationship dynamics, such as power, is needed in a future study.
Practical implications
Service and manufacturing suppliers need different strategies to obtain the benefits from supplier development and social capital building. For service suppliers, more intangible factors are relevant in comparison to manufacturing suppliers.
Originality/value
This study advances the literature in two main ways. First, it elaborates the role of supplier development and social capital in the path toward supplier satisfaction and preferred customer status as perceived by suppliers. Second, this study answers the calls for a better understanding of the contextual characteristics underlying potential differences in how preferred customer status is formed.
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Cees J. Gelderman, Janjaap Semeijn, Ferdi Ter Avest and Ellen Peeters
Buying companies in the food industry increasingly recognize the need to cultivate relationships with their suppliers. Social capital and power are important to understand…
Abstract
Purpose
Buying companies in the food industry increasingly recognize the need to cultivate relationships with their suppliers. Social capital and power are important to understand buyer–supplier relationships. Maintaining these relationships appears highly dependent on the degree of information sharing.
Design/methodology/approach
The study investigates how power and social capital dimensions are related to information sharing. A survey of first-tier suppliers in the Dutch meat processing industry was carried out. The data from 82 suppliers was analyzed using partial least squares.
Findings
It appears that expert power contributes to the cognitive and structural social capital. In contrast, coercive power showed no influence at all. Cognitive and structural social capital dimensions have a direct link to relational social capital, which significantly improves buyer–supplier information sharing in the food industry.
Practical implications
Buying companies can encourage supplier information sharing by building up their own expertise and cultivating social relationships. They should refrain from strong-handed practices.
Originality/value
Companies in the food and food processing industry are dependent on effective information exchange for their very survival. This study investigates the role of power and social capital in making such exchange possible and sustainable.
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