The importance of understanding the management of a portfolio of relationships in the supply chain

Supply chains are increasingly managing a number of diverse interfirm relationships. As a result, businesses face the challenges of deciding which type of interorganisational relationship suits their needs, how to manage their complexity, what their attributes are and how they are interrelated. A “portfolio of relationships” framework is presented in response to this challenge, and its components are discussed. Discussion on why firms behave as they do is presented, followed by an explanation of types of relationships and their nature, and then a conceptual model is proposed.