Theorizing the dark side of business-to-business relationships in the era of AI, big data, and blockchain

Abstract

New technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and big data analytics, can shape how B2B relationships are managed and how dark side effects are manifested in B2B relationships. Moreover, despite several advances in the dark side of B2B relationships research, concerns have recently been raised that this stream is under theorized, and the focus has been on the manifestations of the dark side and not on the underlying processes. We address these challenges by examining how the emergence of new technologies has the potential to transform B2B relationships and lead to the emergence of dark side effects through processes that have not been hitherto examined or understood. In the process, we further illustrate how theories that have been largely neglected within this literature (i.e., social dominance, organizational inertia, organizational information processing, and role theory) can provide novel insights when exploring the dark side of B2B relationships.