Business relationships and perceived environmental uncertainty : should I stay or should I go now?

This paper investigates the association between perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU) and instrumental, affective and normative commitment, testing the null hypotheses that there is no significant association between PEU and the three components of commitment. The results indicate that there is a negative direct association between instrumental and normative commitment and PEU but no significant direct association between affective commitment and PEU (however there is a strong indirect effect). The conclusions drawn are that feelings of attachment, obligation and perceived need (affective, normative and instrumental commitment respectively) dissipate in environments perceived to be turbulent. Implications for the management of business-to-business relationships are canvassed.