Structural and behavioural power dynamics in buyer-supplier relationships : a perceptions-based framework and a research agenda

Power issues are increasingly important for effective management in the networked business landscape. This article seeks to increase understanding of the power within buyer-supplier relationships. This study articulates a research framework that defines countervailing and contextual events as the drivers of relationship power dynamics on structural and behavioural power dimensions. This framework is implemented in two illustrative, longitudinal case studies of technology-intensive buyer-supplier dyads in the medical sector. For this focal study, the illustrative case studies provide a basis for exemplifying the interconnection of behavioural and structural power and actors’ perceptions thereof for articulating a perceptions-based framework. The key ideas of this framework are exemplified by a set of propositions and research questions that comprise an agenda for further research. This study contributes by introducing a holistic approach to the study of power dynamics in business relationships. For practitioners, the study explicates elements and principles for managing power in business relationships.© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

What Makes People Vulnerable to Modern Slavery in Supply Chains?

It is estimated that over 40 million people are trapped in some form of modern slavery (ILO and Walk Free, 2017). However, there is no internationally agreed definition of modern slavery, except that it is understood to cover grievous forms of exploitation of vulnerable individuals and communities, ranging from human trafficking, forced labour, debt bondage/bonded labour, the worst forms of child labour to forced marriage. The notion of vulnerability therefore appears central for understanding where modern slavery is most likely to occur. Vulnerability has been often used in academic literature in a generalising fashion to describe various demographic groups of consumers in a society (e.g., children, older adults, ethnic minorities; Baker et al., 2005) and the potential impact of their presumed inherent vulnerabilities on their consumer decision-making and wider engagement with markets. Yet there is a growing recognition that vulnerability is a complex social condition that requires nuanced understanding (Kubacki, et al., 2020; Pavia and Mason, 2014). Adding to its complexity as a theoretical concept, in practice vulnerability is also context-dependent (e.g., situational vulnerability; Baker et al., 2005). Accordingly, we all may become vulnerable to various hazards and risks, and therefore attempts to unpack vulnerability need to be located in a specific milieu, bringing together inherent (micro) and situational (meso) vulnerabilities within a social system (macro). This research therefore focuses on vulnerability to modern slavery in supply chains. Supply chain management has long been a popular focus of research in the management field. According to Ellram et al. (2004) “Supply chain management is the management of information, processes, goods and funds from the earliest supplier to the ultimate customer, including disposal” (p.17). A common pattern of the structure of the supply chain is the arrangement of suppliers from developing countries and business buyers from highly developed countries, which are often powerful MNCs that are orchestrators of the supply chains (Gong et al., 2018). In supply chain management, the business side, as a response to the factors affecting supply chain management, implements various strategies and practices to build resilience against these factors, thereby seeking to mitigate risks and improve financial performance. Differences in power asymmetries between large buying organizations and suppliers from developing countries allow the former to exert pressure on the latter as a remedy to the need to adapt to dynamic changes in the environment or even to the turbulence of the business environment. An increasing tendency of supply chain management is to non-disclose the supplier lists by buyers (e.g., to financial institutions granting working capital loans), because many suppliers prefer to be invisible (Sodhi and Tang, 2019). However, the research of Cho et al. (2019) shows that the lack of supply chain transparency increases labour violations by suppliers, including child labour. Many suppliers also engage in mock compliance (Huq and Stevenson, 2020). In this research we aim to explore the notion of vulnerability and its representations at micro, meso and macro levels and we what makes people vulnerable to modern slavery in supply chains. Following systematic review procedures, we identified 51 studies reporting empirical and conceptual business research on modern slavery in supply chains. We found that, at the micro level, vulnerability is predominantly represented as an outcome of one behaviour—migration—simplifying the myriad of external push and pull factors, other behaviours and social relationships. At the meso level, situational risks are clustered around various conditions of employment representing and contributing to experiences of vulnerability. At the macro level, a broad set of systemic issues, from immigration laws to business models, were identified to contribute to the environment in which a heightened risk of vulnerability to modern slavery is experienced. REFERENCES Baker, S.M., Gentry, J.W., and Rittenburg, T.L. (2005), “Building understanding of the domain of consumer vulnerability”, Journal of Macromarketing, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 128-139. Cho, S.-H., Fang, X., Tayur, S., & Xu, Y. (2019), “Combating child labor: Incentives and information disclosure in global supply chains”, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 692-711. Ellram, L.M., Tate, W.L., and Billington, C. (2004), “Understanding and managing the services supply chain”, Journal of Supply Chain Management, Vol. 40 No 3, pp. 17-32. Gong, Y., Jia, F., Brown, S., and Koh, L. (2018), “Supply chain learning of sustainability in multi-tier supply chains: a resource orchestration perspective”, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 38 No. 4, pp. 1061-1090. Huq, F.A., and Stevenson, M. (2020), “Implementing socially sustainable practices in challenging institutional contexts: Building theory from seven developing country supplier cases”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 161 No. 2, pp. 415-442. International Labour Organization and Walk Free Foundation (2017). The Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labour and Forced Marriage. International Labour Organization, Walk Free Foundation. Kubacki, K., Siemieniako, D., and Brennan, L. (2020), “Building positive resilience through vulnerability analysis”, Journal of Social Marketing, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 471-488. Logsdon, J.M. (1991), “Collaboration to regulate LUST: Leaking underground storage tanks in Silicon Valley”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 23 No 1, pp. 99-111. Pavia, T.M., and Mason, M.J. (2014), “Vulnerability and physical, cognitive, and behavioral impairment: model extensions and open questions”, Journal of Macromarketing, Vol. 34 No 4, pp. 471-485. Sodhi, M.S., and Tang, C.S. (2019), “Research opportunities in supply chain transparency”, Production and Operations Management, Vol. 28 No. 12, pp. 2946-2959. Szablewska, N. (2022), “Human smuggling and human trafficking”, Sayapin, S., Quenivet, N., Kemp, G., and Zambrana-Tevar, N.A. (Eds), International Conflict and Security Law: Challenges, Crimes, and Case Studies, TMC Asser Press/Springer

Библиометрический анализ научных исследований по отношению к лояльности клиентов в контексте business-to-business

The phenomenon of customer loyalty has long been researched in the marketing literature. Business-to-business marketing literature recognised the customer loyalty issue as an important notion determining business success. The goal of the paper is to identify the area of research that focuses on the topic customer loyalty in the context of business-to-business based on an analysis of bibliometric data of scientific publications indexed in the Scopus database in the period from 2003 till 2017. In particular, the study was focused on the field of customer loyalty in the area of business-to-business, and the authors of that works carried out their research within the discipline of ‘Business, Management and Accounting’, which was distinguished by Scopus.Zagadnienie lojalności klientów od dawna było badane w literaturze marketingowej. Literatura z zakresu marketingu business-to-business rozpoznała lojalność klientów jako istotną kwestię determinującą sukces przedsiębiorstw. Celem artykułu jest identyfikacja obszarów badań naukowych, w których podejmowana jest tematyka lojalności klientów w kontekście działalności business-to-business na podstawie analizy danych bibliometrycznych publikacji naukowych indeksowanych w bazie Scopus w latach 2003-2017. W szczególności analizie poddano prace naukowe z zakresu lojalności klientów w obszarze business-to-business, których autorzy realizowali swoje badania w ramach dyscypliny „Biznes, Zarządzanie i Rachunkowość”, wyróżnionej przez Scopus.Вопрос лояльности клиентов уже издавна изучается в литературе по мар- кетингу. Литература в области маркетинга типа business-to-business выяви- ла лояльность клиентов в качестве существенного вопроса, определяющего успех предприятий. Цель статьи – выявить области научных исследований, в которых затрагивается тематика лояльности клиентов в контексте деятель- ности типа business-to-business на основе анализа библиометрических данных научных публикаций, индексированных в базе Scopus в период с 2003 до 2017 года. В особенности анализ охватил научные работы в области лояльности клиентов в сфере business-to-business, авторы которых осуществляли свои исследования в рамках дисциплины «Бизнес, управление и бухгалтерия», выделенной базой Scopus

Exploring College Students' Perceptions of Negative Consequences of Binge Drinking Through Consumer Collages Exploring College Students' Perceptions of Negative Consequences of Binge drinking through Consumer Collages

Binge drinking among young people has become one of the most pressing social problems throughout developed economies. The discussion of its negative consequences has not moved far beyond quantitative research using the factors identified by [to cite]: Dariusz Siemieniako and Krzysztof Kubacki [url]: http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/1006917/eacr/vol9/E-09 [copyright notice]: This work is copyrighted by The Association for Consumer Research. For permission to copy or use this work in whole or in part, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at http://www.copyright.com/. 255 European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9, © 2011 Exploring College Students' Perceptions of Negative Consequences of Binge drinking through Consumer Collages Dariusz Siemieniako, Bialystok Technical University, Poland Krzysztof Kubacki, Keele University, UK ABStRACt Binge drinking among young people has become one of the most pressing social problems throughout developed economies. The discussion of its negative consequences has not moved far beyond quantitative research using the factors identified b

Practices of key account management in activity of retail real estate developer

Celem artykułu jest eksploracja wykorzystania koncepcji zarządzania relacjami z kluczowymi klientami (KAM) oraz identyfikacja najważniejszych praktyk KAM stosowanych przez dwa badane przedsiębiorstwa deweloperskie realizujące projekty dużych centrów handlowych. Według schematu praktyk KAM zaproponowanych przez Daviesa i Ryalsa [2014] poddano eksploracji wykorzystywanie tych praktyk w dwóch studiach przypadku. Badani deweloperzy spełniali istotne warunki efektywnego prowadzenia KAM, stąd m.in. uzyskanie przez nich pozytywnych wyników w KAM, a zwłaszcza takich jak: poprawa relacji, większa satysfakcja klientów, zredukowanie kosztów obsługi, polecanie dewelopera przez kluczowych klientów innym najemcom.The goal of the paper is the exploration of implementation of Key Account Management (KAM) concept and identification of the most important practices of KAM used by two developers companies under research, which were executed the projects of big shopping centres. It was used the schema of KAM practices proposed by Davies i Ryals [2014] in exploration the KAM practices implemented in two case study research. The results showed, that both developers under research fulfilled the conditions of effective KAM. These caused receiving the positive results in KAM, such us: relationship improvement, greater customer satisfaction, reduced costs to serve, increased advocacy of key accounts

The trade show conversation in developing inter-organizational relationships on the example of retail Real Estate industry

Celem artykułu jest eksploracja struktury rozmowy targowej z perspektywy rozwijania więzi międzyorganizacyjnych. Autorzy odnieśli się do branży nieruchomości handlowych, prezentując wyniki uzyskane w dwuetapowym badaniu zrealizowanym zgodnie z ideą teorii ugruntowanej. Jako metodę badawczą wykorzystano metodę tajemniczego zwiedzającego. Pierwszy etap badania zrealizowano w 2013 r. podczas targów MAPIC, drugi zaś w 2014 r. podczas targów Shopping Center Forum. Uzyskane wyniki pokazały, iż uczestnicy targów bardziej koncentrują się na rozmowie targowej niż na wizualnych aspektach wystąpień targowych. Ponadto dla badanych uczestników targów kluczowe jest budowanie zaufania i wiarygodności stanowiących podstawę rozwijania trwałych więzi. Podczas realizowania badania zauważono, iż w procesie komunikowania się z gośćmi targowymi, przedstawiciele wystawców popełniają wiele błędów w czterech zasadniczych wymiarach: komunikacji werbalnej, komunikacji niewerbalnej, kultury osobistej, kompetencji merytorycznych.The goal of the paper is the exploration of the trade show conversation structure from the perspective of developing inter-organizational relationships. The authors presented the results received in two stage research conducted according to the grounded theory. The research was exemplified in retail Real Estate industry. The mystery visitor was applied as the research method. The first stage of the research was conducted in 2013 during the MAPIC. The second stage was conducted in 2014 during Shopping Center Forum. The results received showed that trade show participants are more focused of conversation than on the visual aspects of the trade show performance. Besides, the key issue for the researched trade show participants is to build the trust and credibility, which are the foundation for developing sustained relationships. The results showed also that the representatives of exhibitors did many mistakes in communication process with the visitors. Those mistakes can be grouped in four dimensions: verbal communication, non-verbal communication, personal culture, substantial references

Factors influencing structural power dynamics in buyer-supplier relationships: a power sources framework and application of the critical incident technique

Research background: Although the literature on power asymmetry and power dynamics has recognized the issue of factors that cause power shifts in business-to-business relationships, a more systematic approach and research framework regarding the identification of these factors is lacking. There are attempts in business-to-business literature to use the critical incident technique to study dynamic phenomena, but there are no studies on the factors that increase and decrease the power of suppliers in their relationships with dominant buyers. Purpose of the article: The aim of this paper is to identify the factors that influence the most significant changes in suppliers' power in relationships with dominant buyers. An important objective is also to determine to which power sources the identified factors are assigned. This is crucial for business practitioners, who will be able to adjust their actions when managing a relationship with a dominating partner through knowledge of their own strengths as well as weaknesses. Methods: The study is based on analysis of questionnaires with open-ended questions, and uses the critical incident technique to investigate the behaviour of dyadic parties at key moments in buyer-seller relationships. We have focused on investigation of manufacturing companies mainly from the furniture, construction, energy and printing industries. The analysis of the data was based on the abductive approach as a combination of inductive and deductive coding. Findings & value added: In comparison to previous studies, which did not distinguish the level of importance of each factor, we have obtained only those factors with the greatest impact on power dynamics. We have also obtained factors which can decrease suppliers' power, whereas the literature focuses mostly on factors increasing suppliers' power. The research results reveal the factors that affect an increase and decrease in the power of weaker suppliers in relationships with dominant buyers. First- and second-order factors were identified, and subsequently 3 overarching dimensions for each increase and decrease in supplier power were deduced from the results. The most important overall dimension for the increase in power was the building of suppliers' power capabilities, while the decrease in suppliers' power was most influenced by transactional changes and changes in buyer's expectations. The results can be helpful for managers in focusing their attention on expert power in order to gain knowledge and prepare a practical background for managing asymmetric relationships. It is important to mention that the critical incident technique used in this study has not yet been used to represent power dynamics in B2B relationship literature

Binge drinking in relation to services – bibliometric analysis of scientific research directions

The article aims to identify scientific research areas within which the subject matter of binge drinking in relation to services is addressed, based on bibliometric data analysis characterising scientific publications indexed by the Scopus database. To achieve the aim, authors use different techniques of the bibliometric analysis with the support of the VOSviewer software. Results of the literature review on binge drinking show that harmful binge drinking behaviour is a subject of intervention services, which are undertaken by governmental and non-governmental institutions. As a theoretical contribution of the research part of the paper, it was proposed to qualify five categories containing the issue of binge drinking in relation to services, such as binge drinking consequences, the culture of alcohol consumption, alcohol versus risky sexual behaviours, alcohol intoxication and binge drinking, and the use of other substance among young people