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This paper aims to explore the enhancement of value-added characteristics in strategic supply management by considering manufacturers’ willingness, opinions on relational governance and the effect of relational governance on relationship value.

After a literature review, this study identified the antecedents of relational governance affecting manufacturers, and explored the effect of relational governance on relationship value, taking relationship quality and interfirm learning as the intervening constructs. Data collected from 259 valid questionnaires completed by purchasing managers for the top 2,000 Taiwanese manufacturers were assessed using a structural equation model.

The results indicated that relational governance is directly and positively correlated with relationship quality and interfirm learning; relational quality and interfirm learning are directly and positively correlated with relationship value; and consumer orientation and management innovation are directly and positively correlated with relational governance.

The high explanatory power of the results of the deduced model in this research helps to explain the relational governance of manufacturers toward the suppliers. However, the factors affecting the sustainability of cooperative relationships in service contexts might differ.

Relational governance complements the adaptive limits of contracts by fostering the continuance of exchange and entrusting both parties with mutually agreeable outcomes. Relational governance affects manufacturers’ ability to flexibly adapt and overcome uncertainty in the supply chain relationship.

This study investigated the relationship among governance features that support interorganizational relations and developed precise measures of relational governance. The effect of relational governance on the evaluation of relationship value was examined.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of the manufacturer-supplier relationship in service performance within service triads.

An abductive case-research approach was adopted, using three embedded cases and 26 interviews in complex, multilevel manufacturer-supplier relationships within the same service network. Cannon and Perreault’s (1999) multidimensional relationship framework was deployed to achieve granular and nuanced insight.

This study corroborates the idea that relational relationships within service triads and servitization improve performance. The role of each relationship dimension in service performance is discerned and their interplay is captured in an analytic model. Information exchange, supplier relationship-specific adaptations, and the degree of formalization of the relationship directly influence performance, while cooperative norms and operational linkages are further back in the causal ordering. The study also highlights the importance of contingent factors (the size of the service site, the proportion of its revenues coming from service contract activities) and how they affect the relationship dimensions.

The work was conducted in one network and the findings were generalized to theory rather than additional empirical settings.

This study is the first to derive a contextualized causal ordering of the Cannon and Perreault (1999) framework of relationship connectors and link it with service performance.

It has been noted in the literature on inter‐organisational relationships that long‐term cooperation is more effective in a business environment characterised by interdependence, commitment and trust. However, there is not enough knowledge about the effect of interdependence in different trust contexts. This paper draws on several theoretical contributions to examine the interaction of economic and social factors as determinants of industrial buyer‐seller relationships. In order to test the proposed hypotheses information was collected relating to supplier‐manufacturer relationships in the automotive industry. As expected, the empirical results indicate that trust moderates the effect of interdependence on the relational orientation of the exchange in that it enhances the relational orientation perceived by both manufacturer and supplier. A discrepancy was also found between suppliers’ and manufacturers’ relationship perceptions. The theoretical and managerial implications of the results are also discussed.

Supplier partnerships can be the key in enhancing the performance of manufacturing companies. Consequently, partnership has been strongly recommended by academics and practitioners alike. Surprisingly, the concept of partnership is only poorly understood. Many authors have identified the advantages that it can bring but far less has been published on the attributes of partnership itself. What is known is that partnerships are “close” relationships and thus, the level of relationship closeness is an appropriate angle for exploring supplier partnerships. Research was conducted using the repertory grid technique with an exploratory sample of ten managers from four German engineering companies. It revealed that supplier partnerships are very different from other forms of relationship and identified five distinct attributes of partnerships. These findings have a number of implications for both practitioners and researchers.

The purpose of this paper is to challenge the focal firm perspective of much resource/capability research, identifying how a dyadic perspective facilitates identification of capabilities required for servitization.

Exploratory study consisting of seven dyadic relationships in five sectors.

An additional dimension of capabilities should be recognised; whether they are developed independently or interactively (with another actor). The following examples of interactively developed capabilities are identified: knowledge development, where partners interactively communicate to understand capabilities; service enablement, manufacturers work with suppliers and customers to support delivery of new services; service development, partners interact to optimise performance of existing services; risk management, customers work with manufacturers to manage risks of product acquisition/operation. Six propositions were developed to articulate these findings.

Interactively developed capabilities are created when two or more actors interact to create value. Interactively developed capabilities do not just reside within one firm and, therefore, cannot be a source of competitive advantage for one firm alone. Many of the capabilities required for servitization are interactive, yet have received little research attention. The study does not provide an exhaustive list of interactively developed capabilities, but demonstrates their existence in manufacturer/supplier and manufacturer/customer dyads.

Manufacturers need to understand how to develop capabilities interactively to create competitive advantage and value and identify other actors with whom these capabilities can be developed.

Previous research has focussed on relational capabilities within a focal firm. This study extends existing theories to include interactively developed capabilities. The paper proposes that interactivity is a key dimension of actors’ complementary capabilities.

The purpose of this study is to assess the validity and predictability of insights from the investment model (IM) in the context of strategic manufacturer–industrial supplier relationships. IM is a theoretical model in social psychology pertaining to interpersonal relationship discontinuity. This formal empirical test of IM in a different context supports vertical theory borrowing and minimizes the risk of committing atomistic fallacy.

Data collected from 256 sourcing professionals participating in a scenario-based role-playing experiment were analyzed via structural equation modeling. The authors also performed bootstrapping to assess indirect effects.

The IM is generally applicable to the context of interfirm relationship dissolution. Relative to the original context of interpersonal relationship dissolution, three nuances are detected: investment size as an antecedent has lowered prominence in influencing commitment; satisfaction level, quality of alternatives and investment size have non-orthogonal effects on commitment; and satisfaction level influences relationship continuity through and beyond commitment.

The empirical findings broaden boundary conditions for IM insights. Beyond interpersonal relationship dissolution, the IM appears to also describe, explain and predict interfirm relationship dissolution.

Keeping the manufacturer satisfied is critical. Moreover, suppliers should be cautious when entering joint product development agreements.

This study appears to be among the first to formally validate the applicability of IM insights as they pertain to the dissolution of strategic manufacturer–industrial supplier relationships.

It is a general belief that using the right strategy for supplier selection and management will ensure the right suppliers who will adequately support the manufacturer to be flexible enough to meet customers' needs are engaged. Yet, there is little empirical evidence to support this view, especially in Malaysia. This paper attempts to fill this need by examining the impact of supplier selection and management strategies on manufacturing flexibility (such as product flexibility, launch flexibility, and volume flexibility).

The population for this study consists of manufacturing firms in the semi‐conductor industry in Malaysia listed in the Penang Development Corporation's directory. Questionnaire was used and each of the 120 companies listed in the sampling frame was sent a copy, out of which 100 copies were collected back. However, only 92 copies were usable. Data were analysed using the multiple regression model.

It was found that the selection of supplier based on technology is important for the manufacturer whose focus is on product and launch flexibility. However, quality becomes strategically important when the manufacturer is focusing on volume flexibility. Inventory management and technology roadmap are very important supplier management strategies with robust influence on all three forms of manufacturing flexibilities, namely product flexibility, launch flexibility, and volume flexibility. In sum, the manufacturer needs to understand clearly which flexibility of its operation is required, and then adopt a working supplier selection and management strategy.

This research is new and beneficial to manufacturers and suppliers in the semi‐conductor sector.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the joint influence of dependence and trust in supply chain relationships on supply chain integration (SCI) and financial performance.

This study develops a dependence-trust-SCI-performance model and tests it using structural equation modeling based on empirical data collected from 617 manufacturers in China.

The results show that trust with customers/suppliers significantly influences SCI. Although dependence on customers/suppliers has no direct effect on SCI, it improves SCI indirectly through trust with customers/suppliers. Both supplier integration and customer integration significantly improve financial performance.

This study suggests that manufacturers should manage dependence and trust in supply chain relationships simultaneously to enable SCI. When there is high-level dependence on customers/suppliers, manufacturers should invest resources to develop trust with those customers/suppliers. Moreover, to achieve a better financial performance, manufacturers should integrate with both customers and suppliers.

This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence regarding the direct effect of trust on SCI, and the indirect influence of dependence on SCI through trust. This extends extant knowledge regarding the joint impact of dependence and trust on SCI. Hence, both researchers and practitioners should pay attention to interdependence among different relationship management practices. Moreover, this study also empirically supports the argument that SCI improves firms ' financial performance.

The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) initiative poses both significant opportunities and difficult challenges to the Malaysian SME communities. This study aims to investigate the preparedness of the local SMEs to compete and exploit opportunities in a post-AEC era. The aim is to contribute to existing literature and knowledge base on SMEs’ practices in the ASEAN region. The manufacturing sector has been selected for study, and the research efforts focus on procurement competencies. SME procurement practices in the two largest manufacturing sub-sectors in Malaysia – resource-based (RB) and electrical and electronics (E&E) – are explored.

Preparedness for AEC is gauged from four key performance areas summarized from literature review. Six key research activities are also identified for each performance area from the findings of previous works. Data were collected using a survey instrument and face-to-face interviews. Research methodology is primarily qualitative with quantitative data for robustness check.

The findings reveal peculiar procurement practices in Malaysian SME manufacturers that have significant implications on their preparedness to compete effectively post-AEC. The findings also highlighted the key influences that have contributed to variations in Malaysian SMEs’ attitude toward trade liberalization challenges and business process improvements in comparison with practices in foreign firms and more advanced economies.

Theoretical models have been adopted across business settings and environments by managers. This study reveals managerial practices in Malaysian SME manufacturers run counter to developed theories. The peculiarities and business attitudes of this resilient economic sector can be an important input to managerial decision-making when analyzing business activities in the region.

This study seeks to examine the key role of opportunism in business relationships relative to environment uncertainty (i.e. competitive intensity and market turbulence), bonding structure (i.e. specific assets and dependence), and relationship quality (i.e. trust and commitment).

Initially, informants were contacted by phone and a total of 581 surveys were mailed to small‐ and medium‐sized manufacturers asking them to answer questions about their suppliers. In total, 212 surveys were returned generating a response rate of 36.5 percent. To test the measurement properties and hypothesized relationships between the constructs in focus, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were used.

The results supported all six hypotheses. The principal findings are competitive intensity leads to market turbulence and market turbulence, in turn, is positively associated with opportunism; specific assets leads to dependence and dependence is, in turn, positively associated with opportunism; and supplier opportunism is negatively associated with both trust and commitment.

The research model tests a sample of business relationships between small‐ and medium‐sized manufacturers and their suppliers in Norway. Findings may not be generalized to larger companies in other countries.

The results are of interest to manufacturing executives since they provide a framework of contextual variables and relational characteristics that need to be considered in corporate efforts to control supplier opportunism.

This study is unique in testing key constructs of two important theories of business marketing – transaction cost analysis and social exchange theory (i.e. relationship quality) rarely, if ever, used in the same empirical study.