Abstract
Based on data from 85 large business-to-business Slovenian companies, this study analyses the direct impacts of adaptation, trust and relationship value on positional advantage. In addition, the study investigates the moderating role of relationship value on the links between adaptation, trust and positional advantage. In the preliminary phase, we have tested the research model with the interpretive structural modelling framework, while in the empirical detail study, we have used a non-parametric approach to structural equation modelling – partial least squares modelling. We have found that both relationship value and trust directly affect positional advantage, while adaptation does not. However, relationship value positively moderates the link between adaptation and positional advantage. Our research contributes to the existing literature and managerial practice by demonstrating the possible impacts of the relationship orientation of B2B companies on positional advantage.
Highlights
We have found that both relationship value and trust directly affect positional advantage, while adaptation does not
This study tests an explorative model with potentially alternative hypotheses: whether adaptation, trust and relationship value have positive direct effects on the positional advantage of companies, and/or whether relationship value moderates the impacts of adaptation and trust on this positional advantage
Based on an analysis of large Slovenian companies, we have found that both relationship value and trust directly affect the positional advantage of companies, while adaptation does not
Summary
Many researchers and managers support the thesis that one of the key marketing objectives of companies is to build and sustain strong long-term relationships (Claycomb & Frankwick, 2010; De Wulf, Odekerken-Schroeder, & Iacobucci, 2001; Palmatier, Scheer, Evans, & Arnold, 2008), because efficient and effective long-term bonds are widely recognised as important sources of a company’s competitive and positional advantage (Claycomb & Frankwick, 2010; Reimann, Schilke, & Thomas, 2010; Wong, Wilkinson, & Young, 2010), which results in an improvement of their financial and market performance (Kohtamäki, Vesalainen, Henneberg, Naudé, & Ventresca, 2012; Morgan, 2012; Reimann et al, 2010). There are still plenty of open research questions about the intensity and orientation of the above-mentioned variables and constructs, about the relations between antecedents for effective and efficient relationships on one side and the consequences that derive from them on the other side, as well as about their impacts on the business performance of companies (Haas, Snehota, & Corsaro, 2012; Morgan & Hunt, 1994; Ritter & Walter, 2012; Wittmann, Hunt, & Arnett, 2009). In order to investigate the possible positive behaviour responses of companies’ B2B relationships and to analyse the influences of such responses on the positional advantage of these companies, we have considered in our research the constructs of adaptation and trust. Based on the above framework, we have proposed research hypotheses that have been empirically tested in the second (quantitative) phase of our research
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