Search results

In this observation study the theory of conglomerated conflict behavior is tested. The impact of seven conflict behaviors on substantive and relational conflict outcomes is examined through multiple independent observations of 103 Dutch nurse managers handling a standardized conflict. Results show that process controlling is most important for achieving substantive outcomes, whereas problem solving, confronting, and forcing are most important for relational outcomes. In addition, substantive and relational outcomes are positively related. Implications for managerial practice and training are discussed.

Interest in employee mindfulness has increased dramatically in recent years, fueled by several important conceptual articles, numerous studies documenting the benefits of mindfulness for employee outcomes, and the adoption of mindfulness-based practices in many Fortune 500 organizations. Despite this growing interest, the vast majority of research on employee mindfulness has taken an intrapersonal focus, failing to appreciate the ways in which mindfulness may enhance work-related relational processes and outcomes. The authors explore possible associations between mindfulness and relationally oriented workplace phenomena, drawing from interdisciplinary scholarship examining mindfulness in romantic relationships, child–parent relationships, patient–healthcare provider relationships, and student–teacher relationships. A framework is proposed that links mindfulness to three distinct relationally oriented processes, which are expected to have downstream effects on work-related relational outcomes. The authors then take the proposed framework and discuss possible extensions to a variety of unique workplace relationships and discuss critical next steps in advancing the relational science of mindfulness.

The purpose of this paper is to study the relational impact of using win-win or win-lose negotiation strategies within different types of buyer-supplier relationships.

A multi-method approach is used. Qualitative interviews with supply chain managers reveal that relationship-specific assets and cooperation are important relational factors in buyer-supplier negotiations. Framing interview insights within the social exchange theory (SET), hypotheses are tested using a scenario-based behavioral experiment.

Experimental results suggest that win-lose negotiators decrease their negotiating partner’s commitment of relationship-specific assets and levels of cooperation. In addition, the use of a win-lose negotiation strategy reduces levels of relationship-specific assets and cooperation more in highly interdependent buyer-supplier relationships than relationships that are not as close.

Buyer-supplier relationships are complex interactions. Negotiation strategy choice decisions can have long-term effects on the overall relationship. As demonstrated in this study, previous research focusing on one side “winning” a negotiation as a measure of success has oversimplified this complex phenomenon.

The use of a win-lose negotiation strategy can have a negative impact on relational outcomes like cooperation and relationship-specific assets. For companies interested in developing strong supply chain relationships, buyer and suppliers should choose their negotiation strategy carefully as the relational impact extends beyond the single negotiation encounter.

Previous research predominantly advocates for the use of a win-win negotiation strategy within interdependent relationships. This research offers evidence that the use of a win-lose strategy does have a long-term relational impact.

This paper aims to reveal the role of conflict management in the process of trust development. Specifically, this study investigates how the salience of conflict varies with different conflict-handling behaviors and behavioral outcomes and how the variation of the salience of conflict influences the trust development between contracting parties.

A questionnaire survey was undertaken to collect data from 310 experienced project practitioners. Hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping with a structural equation model were mainly used to test the hypotheses.

This paper finds that the relational degree of conflict handling behaviors can influence the salience of conflict and furthermore to influence trust between contracting parties, with this relationship mediated by the behavioral outcomes; however, all these relationships are contingent on the stage where relational conflict handling behaviors are adopted and the specific type of outcomes the behaviors result in.

This study provides some specific directions for the practitioners to conduct relational conflict handling behaviors and generate positive outcomes to keep trust developing between contracting parties in conflictual situations.

This study contributes to the knowledge of inter-organizational trust development as well as conflict management, by investigating the relationship between conflict and trust in a direction, which is less examined and revealing the process of conflict management, where the conflict handling behaviors influence behavioral outcomes to further manage conflict, in trust development.

This paper aims to explore the relationship between the embeddedness of relational behaviours in contractual relations and the development of inter-organisational trust between contracting parties in construction projects.

A questionnaire survey was undertaken to collect data from 310 experienced project practitioners. Hierarchical regression and curvilinear regression were mainly used to test the hypotheses.

The results validated the role of relational behaviours in boosting trust expectation, with the contractual context dampening the positive effect only slightly. However, the impact of the embedded relational behaviours on trust intention was found contingent on the equality of outcome: relational behaviours make an impact on trust intention opposite to what the equality of outcome makes; the combination of relational behaviours and the equality of outcome finally has a positive impact on trust intention. As such, the relational behaviours embedded in contractual relations would help reduce particular distrust or improve trust when the outcome is perceived equal.

The conclusions are derived from the Chinese cultural background and may apply to a certain geographical scope. The nonprobability sampling method also limits the generalization of some conclusions. Besides, the results may present the contractor's view better than the owner's view.

This research would help the practitioners to find a balance between relational behaviours and contractual behaviours in managing inter-organisational relationship. It would also supply effective ways for contracting parties to reduce particular distrust or cultivate particular trust in construction projects.

Previous studies have investigated the unique impact of relational behaviours and contractual behaviours on trust. However, few of them have checked how the mixture of both kinds of behaviours influences trust. This paper contributes to this knowledge by investigating how the embeddedness of relational behaviours in contractual relations influences the trust between contracting parties.

The primary purpose of the present paper is to critically evaluate the extant literature on relational exchange, a fundamental driver of buyer‐seller relationship management in the twenty‐first century. Toward that goal, a meta‐analytic approach is employed to determine specific conditions under which relational exchange may have a greater or lesser impact on B2B relationship outcomes.

The data were extracted from a multitude of effects in the large body of empirical research investigating relational exchange within the business and allied social sciences research. Then, a meta‐analytic methodology using multiple regression was used to assess the in/congruity across relational exchange effects.

The findings indicate that the association between relational exchange and outcome variables is highly dependent on three factors: how relational exchange is operationally defined, who evaluates the relationship (upstream firm versus downstream firm and high‐status employee versus low‐status employee within the organizational hierarchy), and the data source (from a single industry or from multiple industries).

Despite the extensive attention afforded to relational exchange, an overarching limitation is the paucity of empirical attention as evidenced by the diminutive effects tested in the meta‐analysis. The meta‐analysis is also limited by the selective set of predictor variables that may account for variance in the effect size. Additional effects are needed to assess the conspicuous absence of potentially significant factors underlying B2B relationships (i.e. organization size and relational monitoring by the upstream firm).

The findings offer insights for researchers and practitioners who deal with dyadic relationships in B2B exchanges. One of the most important implications of this meta‐analysis is the need to clarify the operational definition of relational exchange. The disparity across measures and measurements of relational exchange highlights the need for greater clarity in defining the seminal factors that underlie this important managerial direction.

The findings of this study point to the inconsistencies that exist in the current literature with regard to the operational definition of relational exchange, as well as the study designs employed by different researchers. These inconsistencies have led to inconclusive results across effects. This research challenges B2B researchers and practitioners alike to reconsider the presumed benefits of relational exchange in inter‐organizational relationship management.

A monopolistic relationship between utilities and their customers creates a unique relational context in which the basic assumption of one's ability to terminate a relationship with an unsatisfactory relationship partner is violated. The purpose of this paper is to examine how attitudinal and behavioral outcomes are influenced by relational gap as the discrepancy between the expected relationships under deregulation and the experienced public relationships under monopolistic completion.

With this purpose, an online survey was conducted with customers of a monopolistic utility provider; a sample of 1,145 adults living in the region was provided from an academic online panel database project for research participants, yielding a response rate of 32 percent.

The key findings are that, among the four relational outcomes, control mutuality and satisfaction showed the biggest and significant shift to higher levels of performance expectations under competition than under a monopoly. Further, a shift in control mutuality and satisfaction led to more negative attitudes toward the company and a stronger intention to switch.

This study can contribute to the practice and study of communication management by suggesting a sound empirical framework in managing public relationships.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce and test customer perceptions of four types of value co-creation (VCC), explore VCC a priori condition of relatedness, operationalized as commercial friendship, examine customer voluntary participation in VCC through initiation (customer vs company), and the influence of these factors on relational outcomes of VCC: satisfaction, loyalty and trust.

A scenario-based 2×2×4 experimental design was set in a destination resort context: weak vs strong commercial friendship, customer vs company co-creation initiation and four types of VCC. The 248 resort guests were equally and randomly assigned to experimental conditions. Multivariate analysis of variance and repeated measures analysis of variance was utilized.

Results demonstrated that customers perceived VCC processes differently. Co-creation of experience and co-recovery outcomes had significantly higher relational outcomes when compared to co-creation of marketing and co-innovation. Experiencing stronger commercial friendship, as customer–company relatedness and being invited to co-create resulted in stronger customer relational outcomes.

The core theoretical contribution of this study is the comparative analysis of customer perceptions of four distinctly different types of VCC: co-innovation, co-creation of experience, co-creation of marketing and co-recovery. A priori conditions of relatedness and co-creation initiation were established as antecedents of VCC processes among customers and service providers. When a service provider initiates VCC, it can positively affect customers’ relational outcomes of satisfaction, loyalty and trust.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate guilt proneness as a prosocial salesperson trait and its impact on outcomes important to the firm, the customer as well as the salesperson. Specifically, the authors look at how this variable relates to job effort and the indirect effects on customer satisfaction. The corollary purpose is to uncover how managers influence these constructs through positive outcome feedback.

Prosocial motivation theory grounds the conceptual model which the authors test through survey implementation. The final sample consisted of 129 business-to-business (B2B) salespeople working across multiple industries in India. Latent moderated structural equation modeling was utilized to test the proposed model.

The results suggest that guilt proneness positively influences the likelihood that a salesperson adopts a relational orientation, which has a direct effect on individual effort and an indirect effect on customer satisfaction. Supervisors have the ability to amplify this effort through positive outcome feedback, but only when relational orientation is low. Their support had no effect on salespeople with a high relational orientation.

The study is unique in that it combines an overlooked prosocial trait with a B2B Indian dataset. We provide value for firms because our results show that guilt-prone salespeople put more effort into their job – ”something universally desirable among sales managers” – through the development of a relational orientation. The authors also give practical implications on how to support salespeople given their level of relational orientation.

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.

A systematic literature review of 99 academic articles, which were analyzed and coded on the definition, characteristics, antecedents and outcomes of relational quality.

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.

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.

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.

The presented framework explaining antecedents, characteristics and outcomes of relational quality allows for more structured use of this concept in future research.