Developing the capability to manage relationships : does maturity matter?
conference contribution
posted on 2017-12-06, 00:00 authored by Mario FerrerMario Ferrer, Claudine SoosayClaudine Soosay, Paul HylandPaul HylandSupply chain management involves the extensive coordination of relationships of different lengths. Such relationships necessitate the notion of trust in favour of the long-term interests of the inter-organisational exchange (Das and Teng 1998). However, power usage can inhibit the effective management of these working arrangements with a long-term perspective (Naudé and Buttle 2000). This study investigates the presence of trust and usage of power in inter-firm relationships with the aim of understanding the influence of these two factors on the Australian road freight transport working arrangements. This study is part of a wider research project and represents the responses from a sample of 120 organisations involved in road freight. Initial findings indicate the importance of goodwill trust and the absence of coercive power in inter-firm relationships regardless of their duration. This clearly demonstrates to managers the importance of understanding the need to establish goodwill and balance of the use of power in forming a relationship between organisations.