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The purpose of this research is to investigate the combination of relational and organizational resource factors that influence small‐to‐medium‐sized firm satisfaction with their supply chain portfolio performance.

This research employs two complementary theoretical lenses frequently used in the explanation of relationship performance, resource‐based view of the firm and strategic behavior theory. The authors then used an international survey based in three Northern European countries to test their hypotheses with hierarchical linear regression.

The quantitative analysis supports all three hypotheses indicating that supply chain portfolio flexibility is an important determinant for small‐to‐medium‐sized firm satisfaction with supply chain portfolio performance. Additionally, firm alliance orientation and entrepreneurial orientation both significantly influence the relationship between supply chain flexibility and performance satisfaction.

This research is limited by the categorization of the supply chain portfolio flexibility types as high and low resource linkages by the researchers. Future research may look at additional ways to measure individual agreements and have firms categorize them according to resource requirements. However, the findings of this research provide a theoretical and empirical foundation through the application of resource‐based view of the firm and strategic behavior theory for future research in the area of small‐to‐medium‐sized firms and their satisfaction with supply chain portfolios.

Important managerial implications are found for small to medium‐sized firms and larger firms that work with them when managing portfolio satisfaction. This research indicates that it makes sense for managers to consider categorizing supply chain relationships similar to the way they categorize their end‐user relationships. This allows small‐to‐medium‐sized firms across the portfolio to be segmented into groups where appropriate relationship maintenance can take place and where more suitable satisfaction goals can be defined in terms of operational metrics.

The framework developed in this paper provides insights on small‐to‐medium‐sized firm satisfaction with supply chain portfolio performance. This research stimulates a new research stream towards an integrated theory of supply chain portfolio management.

The customer portfolio and relationship management have been of contemporary interest to the academics and practitioners. This paper aims to systematically analyze the review and critique of this important area and broadly to discuss the customer portfolio theories and their implications in reference to marketing and purchasing perspectives.

The major conceptual contributions in the area of customer portfolio and relationship management have been categorically analyzed in the paper. The paper provides an insight of how marketers interpret and describe companies' actions and the discussion provides a framework for relationship management, the central tenet of which is to enable managers to invest their resources in the most efficient and effective way.

The review of literature shows that the customer portfolio analysis can provide strategic input to the firm towards developing a successful planning process. The conceptual discussion in the paper on relationship management may lead the strategies in managing the corporate social capital. The alternative models have been developed in the paper in reference to the market environment and values concepts discussing the triadic relationship among the organization, supplier and customer that reflects on the contemporary managerial perspectives.

The managerial implications of the discussion presented in the paper would be helpful to plan and create strategies to optimize returns on customer relationship over time. This paper would be of interest to the scholars as well as practitioners engaged in strategic planning of a firm.

The importance of effective planning and management of an organization’s array of customer and supplier relationships is self‐evident, yet relatively little research has been published which develops our academic or managerial understanding of the conceptual and practical problems inherent in this issue. This paper is written from an interaction and network perspective and critically reviews existing customer and supplier portfolio analysis and considers the implications of using such an approach for the management of relationships. The notion of relationship portfolios in the context of network theory is reviewed and the authors suggest that portfolios provide an alternative method of network conceptualization and analysis and that such portfolios may be a key factor in successful relationship management.

The purpose of this paper is to extend the discussion about customer portfolios beyond simple identification of models and how they can be used for balanced resource allocation to a discussion about how portfolios should take into account views from relationship partners and how they should be aligned in internal as well as a relational context.

The portfolio literature is reviewed (most recent, seminal, IMP related) and considered in the context of both the sales organization and the customers involved in the portfolio. A conceptual framework is introduced that helps improve the understanding of how customer portfolio models can actually be applied from a relational perspective.

The key aspects of the conceptual framework relate to how alignment of the relationships in the portfolio is achieved. Critical to this are the interaction spaces that facilitate communication relating to alignment and provide the context for the legitimacy of these actions to be discussed.

This framework needs to be empirically explored.

Understanding of alignment and misalignment processes in customer portfolios gives managers a tool to help to cope with the dynamic aspects of the customer portfolio. Recognition of the importance of communication to the process, the development of trust and the role of legitimacy also provides areas that managers can focus upon in their relationship management processes.

This conceptualization moves the consideration of relationship/customer portfolios beyond simply that of a resource allocation tool into a process that facilitates the use of the portfolio in relational processes and thus aids their understanding of how portfolios can be usefully applied.

While several studies have focused on the initial phases of new ventures and their first customer and supplier relationships, we have a limited understanding of how the new venture’s portfolio of customer relationships emerges. This paper aims to explore the emergence of the customer relationship portfolio of a new venture and to investigate the effects of early relationships on subsequent ones.

Methodologically, the authors rely on a longitudinal single case study of a new venture which develops, implements and sells customized cost-management software. The study is exploratory and based on 24 in-depth interviews.

The findings show that the development of a customer portfolio depends on the cumulative effect of heterogeneous elements and network connections. These include the initial link between the new venture and the first customer and a subsequent series of interconnections that develop with the emerging network capability of the new venture.

As one of the few studies that explore the emergence of new ventures’ customer relationship portfolio, this study demonstrates the value of applying a relational/network approach for studying relationship portfolio dynamics.

An important managerial task in business‐to‐business marketing is the strategic management of supplier‐customer relationships, which is concerned with a portfolio of relationships. A review of existing customer portfolio theories reveals that: most of the portfolio dimensions have not yet been empirically validated; the theoretical base of relevant dimensions may be conceptually inadequate in terms of strategy analysis; and the link between customer portfolio dimensions and customer performance has not yet been examined. Attempts to address these gaps in the literature by studying customer portfolios of large UK‐based banks. The main results indicate that the common industrial organization perspective may only give a short run picture of customer performance. Suggests that long run positioning value of a customer portfolio can be accounted for by resource‐based analysis and strategic approach to customer portfolio analysis. Concludes with a discussion of the results and implications.

This paper explores the relationship between size, book-to-market, beta, and expected stock returns in the U.S. Information Technology sector over the July 1990–June 2001 period. Two models, the multivariate model and the three-factor model, are employed to test these relationships. The risk-return tests confirm the relationship between size, book-to-market, beta and stock returns in IT stocks is different from that in other non-financial stocks. However, the sub-period results (the periods before and after the technology crash in April 2000) show that the nature of the relationship between stock returns, size, book-to-market, and market factors, or the magnitude of the size, book-to-market, and market premiums, is on average unchanged for both sub-periods. This result suggests the technology stock crash in April 2000 was not a correction of stock prices.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the underdeveloped conceptualization of a particular type network rents, defined as knowledge recombination rents, related to the possibility for a firm to transfer and recombine knowledge within and across its portfolio of inter-organizational relationships.

Adopting a contingency approach, the authors develop a comprehensive model with propositions drawn from an original synthesis of the extant literature on the management of inter-organizational relationships.

The authors summarize the most important internal and external variables that explain how knowledge recombination rents arise within a firm’s portfolio of inter-organizational relationships. The authors create a seven-proposition model that considers: an “internal fit,” related to internal contingencies of the firm, specifically life stage and its strategy; an “external fit,” related to external contingencies of the network of the firm, specifically past experience and current portfolio structure.

The model is theory driven. Future research should validate empirically the relations proposed, especially in different industries and contexts.

The model, beyond the fact of being theoretically sounded, is also completely practical oriented. Indeed, the authors developed a comprehensive model articulated in seven propositions which relationship managers can easily use to analyze and manage their portfolios of inter-organizational relationships.

The model allows us to assert that the value of an inter-organizational relationship is neither fixed nor just related to the single dyadic interaction; rather before engaging with a relationship is crucial to ponder possible benefits and harms. This is the central element in the contribution that develops an easy-to-use and comprehensive model based on best practices.

Using a case study of BP the authors explore the management of the relationship portfolio using a technique developed by Deloitte Consulting.

Social capital is critical for firms to conduct business activities; however, whether it is always beneficial for exploratory innovation and the specific and contingent effects of each dimension remain unknown. This paper aims to examine the role of three dimensions of social capital in determining exploratory innovation and investigate how firms’ portfolio management capabilities shape these links.

Survey data from 276 firms in high-tech industries in China are used to test the hypotheses.

The authors find that cognitive social capital negatively affects exploratory innovation, whereas relational and structural social capital both demonstrate inverted U-shaped relationships with exploratory innovation. In addition, portfolio management capability positively moderates the relationships between the three dimensions of social capital and exploratory innovation.

Given the advantages and disadvantages, managers should be prudent in the establishment of social capital; moreover, firms should develop and improve their portfolio management capabilities to effectively manage their relationships in the pursuit of exploratory innovation.

This research contributes to the social capital theory and innovation literature in two ways. First, it provides a multi-dimensional examination of the effects of social capital on exploratory innovation and the empirical evidence of the negative side of social capital. Second, it extends the extant literature by introducing a more holistic perspective and proposing that portfolio management capability helps firms to overcome the negative effects and strengthen the positive effects of social capital on exploratory innovation.