Friends or strangers? Attempts at reactivating buyer–supplier relationships
Journal article, 2020
Design/methodology/approach: A processual case study approach focusing on a single in-depth case has been used. The case is based on longitudinal data from a number of sources concerning one reactivation failure.
Findings: Grounded in previous research and based on this study’s case findings, the authors have designed a model of analysis for relationship reactivation processes. Using the model on this study’s particular case, the authors show how the structural properties of network embeddedness and resource ties worked in favor of the process, whereas the social bonds and the lack of them led to mistrust that disturbed the negotiation and, hence, worked against the reactivation process.
Originality/value: This study makes a contribution to the field of relationship dynamics by exploring relationship reactivation processes. The designed model shows how reactivation can be understood as an interplay between structural properties and (re)building activities and contributes new knowledge on factors that affect this process.
Industrial marketing
Business relationships
Business-to-business marketing
Structural properties
Networks
Buyer–seller relationships
Rebuilding activities
Industrial purchasing
Disconfirming case
Supplier relations
Reactivation
Ending
Author
León Poblete
Chalmers, Technology Management and Economics, Service Management and Logistics
Anna Bengtson
Uppsala University
Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing
0885-8624 (ISSN)
Vol. 32 393001Subject Categories
Business Administration
Information Science
Information Systemes, Social aspects
DOI
10.1108/JBIM-12-2019-0513