Building supply chain relationships

Organizations are increasingly looking beyond their organizational boundaries to evaluate how resources can be utilized to survive and grow the business. Different inter-organizational relationships have emerged as important resources in supply chains. The decision about what type of inter-firm relationship (portfolios) is appropriate for a specific circumstance appears complex and demands a particular degree of managerial attention. The effective management of a relationships portfolio requires an understanding of their characteristics which can become complex as the supply chain network grows. While marketing channel theories and supply chain theories can provide some explanation for a wide range of inter-organizational relationships, the existing literature lacks a comprehensive explanation of the interplay between the attributes of relationships, the desired outcomes and differing inter-firm relationships. Consequently, this research seeks to fill the gap in the literature by first explaining the power that relational factors such as trust, power, interdependency, longevity and sharing, have in predicting the types of inter-firm relationships.