Abstract
With the overlap of the interfirm relationship quality and supply chain management research in mind, this paper reviewed 100 recent, scientific, English-language papers on interfirm relationship quality based on a categorisation schema derived from a conceptual framework of supply chain management. We aim to contribute to the existing supply chain management literature by providing an insight into the connections of supply chain performance with buyer–supplier relationship quality from the relationship quality scholars’ perspective. Through content analysis, frequency and contingency analysis, we evaluated how the three relationship quality dimensions—information, operational, and relational dimensions—and the three types of supply chain performance—financial and market, operational, and relational performance have been reflected in the current interfirm relationship quality papers and how the scholars have tended to link them to each other. The results reveal that relational dimension plays a key role in SC relationship management and influences performance significantly. Information dimension will affect performance indirectly through relational dimension. However, the impact of the operational dimension on performance varies. In addition, buyers’ and suppliers’ perspectives on the relational drivers of their financial performance may differ. Based on the findings, we suggest promising avenues for future investigation of supply chain relationship and performance.
Highlights
Since the beginning of the 20th century, interorganizational relationships between SC partners have become a topic of great importance in the supply chain management (SCM) research (Ricciotti 2019)
As the aim of this paper is to review the papers on interfirm RQ in the SC context, we applied two classes of search terms: (1) “relationship quality,” (2) “supply chain,” “suppl*,” “inter-firm,” “interfirm,” “inter-organizational,” “interorganizational,” “B2B,” and “business-to-business.”
With the overlaps of the interfirm RQ and SCM research in mind, this paper analysed interfirm RQ papers based on analytic categories derived from an SCM framework
Summary
Since the beginning of the 20th century, interorganizational relationships between SC partners have become a topic of great importance in the supply chain management (SCM) research (Ricciotti 2019). The RQ scholars have strived to examine various advantages in developing and maintaining high quality business relationships for both selling and buying companies in an SC relationship. They have investigated which RQ characteristics have a positive impact on the operational and/or financial performance of sellers and buyers, and which RQ characteristics would engender greater customer retention or supplier loyalty (e.g., Caceres and Paparoidamis 2007; Fynes et al 2008; Nyaga and Whipple 2011; Sarmento et al 2015)
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