Supplier Relationships Research Articles

The impact of a firm's corporate social responsibility on firm–supplier relationships: The effect of secondary stakeholder CSR on inventory days

AbstractWell‐known benefits of corporate social responsibility (CSR) are goodwill and trust. Typically, research states that if a firm engages in CSR activities that benefit stakeholder X, then stakeholder X will reciprocate with higher levels of trust. We advance this line of research by examining whether CSR activities directed to stakeholder X increase the levels of trust between the firm and a different stakeholder, Y. Specifically, we examine the consequences of CSR actions that a firm directs toward non‐supplier stakeholders on the firm‐supplier relationship. We argue that a firm's secondary stakeholder CSR (e.g., community and environment) creates trust and goodwill with third parties (i.e., suppliers) that manifests in reduced inventory days. We use a data set comprising 27,551 firm‐year observations and find that secondary CSR is associated with decreased inventory days in more complex (more heterogenous and competitive), munificent (growing), dynamic (unpredictable), and socially irresponsible (e.g., gambling and tobacco) business environments.

The bright side of dependence asymmetry: Mitigating power use and facilitating relational ties

Dependence asymmetry may trigger firms' common-interest orientation and suppress their self-interest seeking, thus generating positive effects on firms' behaviors in buyer–supplier relationships (BSRs). To further demonstrate the positive role and influencing mechanism of dependence asymmetry, we examine the impact of dependence asymmetry on buyer's use of power and relational ties. We also explore the moderating role of buyer's psychological contract fulfillment (PCF). We test the proposed relationships using polynomial regression and the response surface analysis based on data collected from 200 Chinese manufacturers. The results indicate that dependence asymmetry negatively affects buyer's use of power and positively influences relational ties directly and indirectly through decreasing buyer's use of power. Moreover, buyer's PCF negatively moderates the effect of dependence asymmetry on buyer's use of power and the indirect effect of dependence asymmetry on relational ties. This study contributes to dependence literature by identifying the bright side of dependence asymmetry and validating the mechanism of how dependence asymmetry influences behavioral outcome and relational factor. This study also enriches the literature on psychological contract by demonstrating the significant role of PCF in the context of interfirm relationships. Our findings provide insightful guidelines for firms to better understand interdependence structure and take appropriate actions when facing different interdependence structures.

INFLUENCE OF TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION ON PERFORMANCE OF BAR AND RESTAURANT BUSINESSES IN NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA DURING COVID-19 CRISIS

<p>The recent Covid-19 crisis has wreaked havoc on the performance of businesses in the whole world. The most hit is the hospitality industry, especially the bar & restaurant businesses, which are considered high human density areas. This study sought to examine the influence of technology & innovation as a survival strategy on the performance of bars & restaurants in Nairobi County, Kenya, in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. The study was based on diffusion of innovation theory and business resilience theory. The population under study was a total of 6,383 licensed bar & restaurant businesses in Nairobi County. The study adopted a survey design and a sample of 100 dive bars & restaurants that was representative of the whole population was selected. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression models and used textual explanation, and charts to present the results. The study achieved a response rate of 89%, which was sufficient for generalization. The study found that the crisis had a major negative impact on profitability, staff reputation, supplier relationship, compliance and public reputation. It also noted that there was a loss of jobs and revenue from the establishments due to the crisis. The study noted that technology & innovation had a significant negative influence on business performance when adopted during a crisis. The study recommended that the government consider allocating a stimulus package to cushion businesses during the crisis as the finding noted the loss of revenue and massive job losses in the sector. Secondly, the government and investors should have a general crisis management policy for bar & restaurant businesses during the crisis as the study noted that performance was affected negatively attributable to non-preparedness or lack of policy. The study further recommended that the investors adopt mission-critical strategies earlier in their business cycle as opposed to adopting them only during a crisis, as the study noted that adopting rush strategies does not yield any positive influence on the performance. For the scholars, the study also recommended a further exploratory study on more factors influencing the performance of bar & restaurant businesses during crisis so that the subsequent studies will have an exhaustive list of strategies to examine.</p><p> </p><p><strong>JEL</strong>: L10; L20; J10</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0947/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Fostering firms' ability to cascade sustainability through multi-tier supply chains: an investigation of power sources

PurposeA firm's ability to cascade sustainability requirements further down to lower-tier suppliers might be affected by inter-firm power relations. This study aimed to identify the power sources of focal firms and first- and lower-tier suppliers and to investigate how they may affect their ability to cascade sustainability requirements along multi-tier supply chains.Design/methodology/approachA multiple case study of 24 companies was conducted to investigate the sources of power in multi-tier supply chains. In total, 42 informants from five focal companies, ten first-tier suppliers and nine lower-tier suppliers were interviewed.FindingsDifferences were found between the sources from which focal firms and first- and lower-tier suppliers drew power. Findings revealed that firms' power sources may increase or impair their ability to cascade sustainability requirements to lower supply chain tiers. Furthermore, multi-tier supply chain-level power sources constitute a significant determinant of firms' ability to disseminate sustainability requirements to lower-tier suppliers.Practical implicationsThe results can help companies and purchasing managers understand how their own and suppliers' power may affect their ability to cascade sustainability agendas to lower-tier suppliers. In particular, the results can be useful for supplier selection and the development of supplier relationship management strategies for fostering sustainability in multi-tier supply chains.Originality/valueThis study places traditional power perspectives in the context of multi-tier sustainable supply chain management, broadening the view beyond dyadic relationships that have traditionally been the focus of the supply management literature.

Supply Chain Management Practices Influence Supply Chain Performance With Mediation Role of Innovation and Moderation Role of Top Management Support.

The study focuses on supply chain management practices, innovation, top management commitment, and supply chain performance at companies. The study's main objective is to investigate the association between supply chain management practices and supply chain performance and the intervening effect of innovation, the interaction effect of top management commitment. In this study, a simple random sampling technique and the sample size selected with G* power software (N = 208). The readymade questionnaire was used to collect data from National Logistic Corporation (NLC), Food and Beverage Companies Groups (FMCG) at China. The data analyzed through Smart-PLS (SEM → small and medium enterprises) and SPSS software. Meanwhile, innovational significant and positively mediated the relationship between supply chain management five practices and organizational performance. The findings of this study will help managers of SMEs enhance their performance. The results showed that SCMP directly and significantly affected supply chain performance, and customer relationship management was insignificant with supply chain performance. Supplier and customer relationship management both have a significant impact on innovation. In addition, innovation is considered a significant positive predictor for supply chain performance with the intervening approach. But top management commitment proved insignificant for customer relationship management and supply chain performance. The study further concluded that supply chain management practices would not be productive for supply chain performance if the top management does not apply innovative technologies in the organizations.

Sustainable Finance: ESG/CSR, Firm Value, and Investment Returns*

AbstractWe review the burgeoning sustainable finance literature, emphasizing the value implications of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) and CSR (corporate social responsibility) practices. We use a discounted cash flow valuation framework to identify value drivers through which such practices can enhance firm value. Collectively, empirical evidence supports that they increase firm value by motivating employees, strengthening customer–supplier relationships, boosting long‐term growth, increasing dividends, and reducing financing costs. Furthermore, more socially responsible firms deliver no higher excess stock returns in the long run. Green bonds neither provide issuers with a price premium nor make investors sacrifice on lower returns. Socially responsible investing (SRI) funds generate no higher risk‐adjusted long‐term returns than non‐SRI funds. Finally, we briefly suggest several topics for future research on sustainable finance.

Analysis of the Impact of Supply Chain Relationship Strategy on Corporate Cash Dividend Policy Based on Chinese Data.

With the development and application of e-commerce in the process of supply chain integration, the choice of supplier centralized strategy or decentralized mode and how to use supplier financing have become significant contents of supply chain management. This study investigates the effect of competition and cooperation on the corporate cash dividend policy under the influence of the supplier relationship strategy and its mediating mechanism based on Chinese data. The motivation of this study is to provide a basis for enterprises to grasp the dynamic evolution process of the economic consequences of supply chain relationships based on big data and adjust the relationship strategy in time to maximize the positive effects of supplier relationships. This study considers supplier concentration and supplier financing as two dimensions to measure the supplier relationship strategy and selects the balanced panel data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2020 as samples by applying the Logit and Tobit model. The results demonstrate that the supplier relationship is negatively correlated with the cash dividends. The intermediary effect found that the competition effect of the supplier relationship aggravates the agency conflict of enterprises and intensifies the degree of financing constraints, and thus acts on the cash dividends of enterprises. This study expands the economic consequences of relational transactions and provides an explanation of dividend policies from the perspective of a supply chain.

Identifying the Spatial Imbalance in the Supply and Demand of Cultural Ecosystem Services.

Cultural ecosystem services (CESs) are an important part of ecosystem services (ESs). Correctly understanding the supply and demand relationship of CES is the premise of ES sustainable management and helps to improve human well-being. However, the evaluation and mapping of CES supply and demand represents a significant gap in ES research. Using the Shigou Township of Mizhi County in China as an example, in this study, we evaluated CES supply and demand at the village scale. We first considered three aspects of supply potential, accessibility and quality to construct an indicator system of six types of CES supply, including aesthetic (Aest), sense of place (SP), social relations (SR), cultural heritage (Cult), education (Edu) and recreation (Recr) and obtained demand data through a questionnaire. Then, we identified the imbalance in the supply and demand of CES by Z-score standardization based on the quantification of the CES supply and demand. Secondly, bivariate spatial autocorrelation analysis was used to identify tradeoffs/synergies on the CES supply side, and chi-square tests were used to identify CES demand differences between stakeholder groups. The results indicated that the supply–demand patterns of CES presented evident spatial differences. The low-supply–high-demand patterns of Aest, SR and Recr accounted for the largest proportions, with values of 33.33%, 33.33% and 30.95%, respectively. The low-supply–low-demand patterns of SP and Cult accounted for the largest proportions, with values of 30.95% and 38.10%, respectively. The low-supply–low-demand pattern of Edu accounted for the smallest proportion (21.43%) and was mainly located in the south of Shigou Township. The southwest, northeast and central areas of Shigou Township were the key regions of tradeoffs/synergies of CES supply. There were significant differences in CES demand for SR, Cult and Edu among stakeholder groups. The results could contribute to optimizing regional ecosystem management and provide effective information for improving the imbalance between the supply and demand of CES.

Supply chains and the success of M&As: investigating the effect of structural equivalence of merging firms' supplier and customer bases

PurposeThis study investigates the extent to which structural equivalence between acquiring and target firms is associated with post-merger and acquisition (M&A) performance—a relationship that is proposed to be moderated by industry-level vertical relatedness between acquiring and target firms.Design/methodology/approachApplying social network analysis and regression, this study analyzes a buyer–supplier relationship network dataset of 279 M&A deals completed between 2010 and 2017 to test the hypotheses. Structural equivalence is measured as the proportion of common customers and suppliers between an acquiring firm and a target firm.FindingsSupporting a view about the importance of supply chains in explaining M&As outcomes, the results suggest that the structural equivalence in the supplier network is positively associated with post-M&A firm performance. The results also show that the effect of the structural equivalence in the customer network is moderated by vertical relatedness between two merging firms (i.e. structural equivalence contributes to post-M&A performance when vertical industry relatedness is high).Originality/valueThis study contributes to the M&A and supply network literature by investigating the performance implications of structural equivalence in supplier and customer networks, demonstrating the importance of taking a supply chain view when explaining M&As outcomes. Specifically, the authors suggest considering structural equivalence as a new type of relatedness between merging firms (i.e. relatedness in network resources in explaining post-M&A performance). It also indicates how industry-level vertical resource relatedness, which is about relatedness in internal resources between the two firms, could interact with firm-level network resource relatedness, which is about relatedness in external supply chain resources between the two firms, in affecting post-M&A performance.

Public procurement for innovation through supplier firms' sustainability lens: A systematic review and research agenda

AbstractPublic sector purchasing processes are gaining increasing prominence as a demand‐side innovation tool for addressing national sustainability challenges. Accordingly, there has been growing research attention to this topic. Prior studies suggest three key rationales that underlie the use of public sector procurement to drive innovation: (i) the buyer–user rationale (for creating new needs); (ii) the market/system failure rationale (for improving suppliers' capacity to innovate); and (iii) the public services rationale (for improving public services). However, operational activities at the upstream supply chain affecting the sustainable innovation capacities of supplier firms appear to be under‐researched in the public procurement for innovation (PPI) scholarship, despite knowledge about innovation capacity being critical to successfully implementing PPI. This paper adopts a systematic literature review approach to synthesise existing fragmented literature on sustainability‐oriented PPI, focusing on supplier perspectives. Findings from a synthesis of 41 relevant articles suggest, among others conditions, that a procurement framework that maintains a good balance of competition and innovation, builds buyer–supplier relationship and urges strong supply networks, maintains a stable political commitment, offers security for niche markets with effective innovation risk management culture would enhance suppliers' sustainability capacity and propensity to innovate. This paper contributes to the PPI literature and the literature on determinants of sustainable innovation systems from supplier firms' sustainability lens.

How do global manufacturing shifts affect long-term clean energy innovation? A study of wind energy suppliers

Clean energy technologies are important for meeting long-term climate and competitiveness goals. But clean energy industries are part of global value chains (GVCs), where past manufacturing shifts from developed to emerging economies have raised questions on a decline in long-term innovation. Our research centers on how geographic shifts in the GVC shape long-term innovation, i.e., innovation in a time frame within which “mission-oriented”, societal, or firm strategic objectives need to be met rather than tactical, near-term market competitiveness alone. Focusing on wind energy, we introduce a temporal measure to distinguish between long-term and short-term innovation, applying natural language processing methods on patent text data. We consider supply-side value chain factors (i.e., manufacturing supplier relationships with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)) and demand-side factors (i.e., policy-induced clean energy market growth), shaping the patenting activities of 358 global specialized wind suppliers (2006–2016). Our findings suggest that the wind industry did not suppress long-term innovation during manufacturing shifts, in this case to China. After 2012 when China developed a large wind market, long-term innovation increased by 80.7% in European suppliers working with non-European OEMs (including Chinese) and by 67.2% in Chinese suppliers working with non-Chinese OEMs. Our results highlight the importance of coupling international manufacturing relationships with sizeable local demand for inducing long-term innovation. Our results advance research in innovation, GVCs, and green industrial policy with implications for several industries that can contribute to climate mitigation.

Exploring the governance mechanisms for value co-creation in PSS business ecosystems

This paper explores the governance mechanisms for value co-creation when product–service systems (PSS) providers move into PSS business ecosystems. The PSS providers in our study applied both internal and external governance mechanisms to regulate value co-creation. Internally, they relied on formal organisational setups and informal coordination between product, service and digital divisions. Externally, they had strong relational governance mechanisms supported by appropriate contractual governance mechanisms. As frontline (field) interactions became an important factor for realising value co-creation, PSS providers also attempted to develop individual-based psychological governance to complement group-based relational governance. Our findings reveal five challenges in managing the governance mechanisms: (1) orchestrating all digital resources and capabilities, especially managing the incompatibility and isolation of different digital tools in product and service divisions; (2) managing all relations in one platform that can embrace customer relationship management (CRM), supplier relationship management (SRM) and form relations with emerging actors such as authorities; (3) designing appropriate contractual governance to measure co-created value from economic, societal and environmental perspectives, and govern data ownership and security; (4) managing the interplay between contractual and relational governance mechanisms during PSS agreement implementation; and (5) developing psychological governance for frontline staff. We direct PSS providers towards essential aspects that require attention when developing governance mechanisms by identifying these challenges. Moreover, identifying such challenges will allow policymakers, practitioners, and scholars to jointly develop standards, policies and guidelines in these increasingly prevalent ecosystem business arrangements.

Asset specificity asymmetry and supplier opportunism in buyer–supplier exchanges

Despite the prominent role of asset specificity in buyer–supplier exchanges, its influence on opportunism remains controversial. While transaction cost economics (TCE) addresses its potential to encourage opportunism, relational exchange theory (RET) highlights its role in discouraging opportunism. We extend this debate by considering (1) the effects of asset specificity asymmetry, (2) changes in supplier opportunism over time, and (3) the moderating roles of supply market uncertainty and prior exchange history. We argue that the logics of TCE and RET are not fundamentally irreconcilable; instead, we suggest a perspective combining the calculative logic of TCE within the relationship logic of RET such that they jointly affect opportunism changes. Our propositions are supported by the results of a matched sample of 193 buyer–supplier relationships at two time points.

Supply Chain Management Practices and Performance of Public Institutions in Rwanda: A Case of Rwanda Biomedical Center

The purpose of this research was to assess the role of supply chain management practices in the performance of the public institution in Rwanda a case of Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC) as The study specifically looked at role of Strategic supplier partnership, customer relationship and information sharing on organization performance of RBC. The study was important to RBC, public institution in Rwanda and other private institutions. To elaborate on role of supply chain management practices in the performance of the public institution the related literature, the researcher was guided by the study objectives. The study was guided by theory of constraints and information sharing theory. The research design was used as descriptive while the population is 450 employees of Rwanda Biomedical Center and the sample size was 82 respondents. Purposive and simple random sample procedures were used for data collection. The researcher obtained primary data using a questionnaire and analyzed it using qualitative and quantitative methods. Descriptive studies were used to examine the data, and inferences were drawn from the data using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential data analysis, with tables, charts, and percentage studies showing that they all had a substantial impact on Rwanda Biomedical Centre's performance. For instance, strategic supplier partnership (0.305, p < 0.05); customer relationship (0.482, p < 0.5) and information sharing (0.183, p < 0.05) were all significant affecting the performance of Rwanda Biomedical Centre. The study further found that there was variation of 66.5% on the Customer Relationship, information sharing, strategic supplier partnership at 95% confidence interval. This shows that 66.5% changes in performance of public institution in Rwanda. According to the findings, Rwanda Biomedical Centre/effectiveness RBC's is aided by smart supplier partnerships, customer relationships, and information exchange. Managers are advised to increase the organization's performance through cultivating supplier relationships. Managers must also build a clear channel of communication and collaboration between suppliers and customers in order to be effective. Keywords: Supply Chain Management Practices, Performance of Public Institutions, Rwanda Biomedical Center, Rwanda

B2B eWOM on Alibaba: Signaling through online reviews in platform-based social exchange

This study investigates the contemporary role of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in business exchanges through buyers' signaling of observable and unobservable supplier characteristics on the Alibaba e-commerce platform. Utilizing a qualitative pre-study of 20 interviews (five buyer–supplier dyads with two interviews per firm) and more than 8000 buyer reviews on Alibaba, we identify characteristic patterns of this type of B2B eWOM.Signaling Theory and Social Exchange Theory underpin the empirical investigation. To enable further conceptualization, the study distinguishes between online B2B reviews based on the extent to which they are controlled by organizational partners. Unlike some other forms of B2B reviews, reviews on Alibaba are uncontrolled and comprise a form of eWOM.Findings indicate that the relational patterns of B2B eWOM shared on Alibaba can be aggregated into three categories: human touch, responsiveness, and resilience. Besides these new categories, the importance of product/service quality has been confirmed. Through Alibaba reviews, buyers' signals are sent not only to suppliers as feedback, but also to other prospective buyers to influence their purchase decisions.Our study aims to contribute to the B2B literature on eWOM and signaling in business relationships. By showing that human touch occurs even in online-only buyer–supplier relationships, the study provides evidence that bonding, the development of mutuality, and relationship intimacy in buyer–supplier relationships does not always require in-person contact. Managerial implications are offered with a focus on the signaling of unobservable qualities, such as human touch, with the help of B2B eWOM.

Influence of Dual-Credit Policy on the R&D Cooperation Mode of Chinese Auto Industry

The dual-credit policy is regarded as an important measure in the postsubsidy era of energy conservation and emission reduction in the auto industry and is concerned with all aspects of society. In this paper, a research and development cooperation model of the duopoly supply chain between suppliers and manufacturers in the automotive industry is constructed, and the influence of the double integral policy on the research and development cooperation between suppliers and manufacturers in the automotive industry is discussed based on the power perspective theory in the supply chain. The results show that cooperation is more effective than noncooperation in promoting both parties’ R&D investment in fuel economy, as well as the fuel economy of the final product. The government should encourage R&D cooperation in the upstream and downstream of the supply chain of the automotive industry. The influence on the R&D cooperation between the supplier and the manufacturer was the combined effect of fuel consumption saving. The government’s intention to formulate a dual-credit policy to guide the R&D cooperation behavior in the auto industry supply chain should consider not only the impact of credit unit price but also the public’ consciousness of fuel saving and environmental protection. The combined effect of fuel consumption saving on the R&D cooperation led by different powers, which meant that the government was aiming to encourage R&D cooperation, should consider different situations in the auto industry supply chain to formulate the dual-credit policy to adjust the supply and demand relationship of the dual-credit policy to affect the credit unit price, thus affecting the combined effect of fuel consumption saving, encouraging R&D cooperation in the auto industry supply chain, and realizing energy conservation and emission reduction.

The impact of supply chain relationship configurations on supplier performance: investigating buyer–supplier relations in the aerospace industry

Purpose A supplier may sell not only to one buyer (sole relationship configuration) but also to the buyers competitors (shared relationship configuration) for a specific product category. This study examines the performance implications when suppliers establish shared relationships with the buyer’s competitors.Design/methodology/approach Secondary data are used to test hypotheses relating a supplier’s relationship configurations to its operational performance. A seemingly unrelated regression approach (SUR) is applied to analyze the data, followed by endogeneity checks of the empirical findings.Findings The study shows that suppliers with less-shared ties with buying firms’ competitors exhibit superior inventory efficiency and asset turnover. Thus, suppliers can improve operational efficiency by creating relatively exclusive, deep and trust-based relations instead of more extensively shared and shallower relationships.Research limitations/implications Based on agency theory as a theoretical lens and aerospace industry data, this research contributes by addressing the supplier’s perspective and linking its operational efficiency performance with its chosen supply relationship configuration.Practical implications Suppliers need to understand the performance implications of choosing relatively exclusive relationships versus shared relationships with buying firms. The research provides new insights for managers and can guide their supply chain decision-making.Originality/value Little is known about how a supplier’s relationship configurations can elevate, or impair, its operational efficiency. While conventional wisdom holds that suppliers should focus on multiple avenues of revenue growth by selling to buyers’ competitors, this study demonstrates that more sales to a buying firm’s rivals might, in fact, reduce a supplier’s efficiency.

Single versus multiple salesforce go-to-market strategy: the impact of sales orientation on conflict, salesperson-owned loyalty and buyer-exit propensity

PurposeDrawing on the organizational buying decision-making framework, the purpose of this study is to investigate how sales orientation (SOCO) affects buyers’ conflict, salesperson-owned loyalty and buyers’ propensity to end a supply relationship when selling firms use a single versus multiple salesforce go-to-market strategy.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data was analyzed with a sample of organizational buyers. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data.FindingsFindings reveal that a selling firm’s go-to-market salesforce strategy moderates certain relational aspects of the buyer–salesperson relationship, consequently influencing a buyer’s decision to end a supply relationship.Research limitations/implicationsEmpirically, these findings indicate that the effects of selling orientation on conflict, salesperson-owned loyalty and exit intentions are not only based on the salesperson’s efforts but are conditional on the selling firm’s go-to-market strategy, particularly with the implementation of multiple salespeople selling to a particular industrial buyer.Practical implicationsThese results suggest that a salesforce go-to-market strategy conveys serious consequences on buying decisions. Given that a go-to-market strategy involving multiple salespeople impacts the buyer’s relationship with the selling firm to a greater degree, managerial oversight must remain present when selling firms decide to pursue such a go-to-market strategy.Originality/valueThe empirical investigation of a salesforce go-to-market strategy is an original pursuit. Specifically, this study shows that while it is critical that buying and selling firms monitor buyer–salesperson relationships as the basis for supply partnerships, these exchanges are largely contingent on the selling firm’s go-to-market strategy.

Knowledge transfer, buyer-supplier relationship and supplier performance in agricultural supply chain: an agency theory perspective

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the performance of marginalized farmers in supply relationships with agri-tech firms in emerging rural agricultural economies. The complex relationship among the suppliers, dual relationship and knowledge transfer (KT) was studied. This paper empirically investigates the relationship between KT and supplier’s performance improvement (SPI) via buyer–supplier relationship (BSR).Design/methodology/approachGrounded on agency theory, a conceptual framework has been proposed to identify the mediation effect of BSR. The context deals with suppliers who are farmers in developing nations. The hypotheses were tested using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation with a sample of 121 marginalized farmers from Indian states. The data was collected using a survey instrument designed by adapting the well-cited and validated measures. These marginalized farmers worked in collaboration with the agri-tech firms facilitating them with the KT.FindingsThe relationships established from the results also indicate the fact that KT is a powerful tool to make connections with farmers that lead to their performance improvement. The KT was found as a driver to improve performance (SPI) and the BSR acted as a positive mediator in this study. The complex relationships among the KT, BSR and SPI hold.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper can be subscribed to various nuanced understandings of the agricultural supply chain context in emerging economies, in the specialized cases where farmers belong to the marginalized communities. This study has the scope to replicate using a mixed-method approach in emerging economies beyond India. It also advances the agency theory literature in the supply chain discipline of emerging rural economies.Practical implicationsThis study offers strategic implications for agri-tech practitioners, policymakers and academic debate. The marginalized farmers with KT and improved BSR can become a part of the mainstream value chain, their debts can be reduced, suicides can be prevented and the quality of their family life can be significantly improved.Originality/valueThis study makes a unique contribution by investigating how the agri-tech firms (non-traditional buyer) and supplier relationship and KT helps improve the economic sustainability of smallholder farmers in India. The authors immersed themselves in fieldwork by interacting and meeting in person with 121 farmers residing in the remotest of the remote rural areas across multiple states of India. This resulted in the collection of authentic data and capturing the ground realities from one of the fastest-growing and largest emerging economies.

Public procurement as an attractive customer: a supplier perspective

PurposeBuyer–supplier relationships in public procurement have garnered increasing attention in research, yet studies on the perspective of suppliers on public procurement have remained limited. This research takes the perspective of suppliers and aims to investigate the innovativeness of suppliers and the impact of supply chain ambidexterity strategies on their perceptions about public procurement in terms of innovation enablers and customer attractiveness.Design/methodology/approachThis research draws from a survey of 137 suppliers to the public sector in Finland and applies PLS-path modeling to test its hypotheses.FindingsThe findings reveal that the ambidexterity strategy of suppliers in the supply chain influences how they perceive the innovation enablers and customer attractiveness of public organizations since processes of public procurement do not support these strategies fully. Supplier innovativeness has an influence on the perceived innovation enablers of public procurement, which, in turn, influences customer attractiveness.Practical implicationsThe innovativeness and strategies of suppliers for the supply chain have an impact on how attractive they perceive public procurement. The findings of this research provide insights on why the customer attractiveness of public procurement may not be high enough to secure the competition in their bidding processes.Originality/valueThe study’s contribution adds to the field of buyer–supplier relationships and customer attractiveness in public procurement by showing the importance of innovation enablers and highlighting the impact of supplier's ambidexterity in the supply chain on their perceptions about public procurement.