Relationship management: A call for fewer influence attempts?

Journal of Business Research, 1996

The authors describe four important aspects of the "new" relational environment: (1) the organizational forms of marketing relationships, (2) the governance mechanisms which exist between exchange partners, (3) the perceived effectiveness of the organizational forms, and (4) expectations that the exchange relationship will continue in the future. Two contexts, National Association of Purchasing Management members and Fortune 500 executives, provide a cross-sectional investigation of vertical and horizontal exchange relationships. The results indicate that alliances are more relational than nonalliance exchanges; however, one cannot assume a relational gradation across the organizational forms (i.e., traditional supply agreements, just-in-time relationships, vertical supply alliances, and co-marketing alliances). Further, co-marketing alliances are reported as the exchange relationship with the highest expectation of continuation, but there are no differences in the perceived e~ectiveness across organizational forms.

Journal of Business Research, 2003

This research conceptualizes relational exchange and its likely outcomes, and provides substantiating empirical evidence from the distributor perspective. The evidence provided by this analysis supports the operationalization of relational exchange as a second-order factor composed of perceptions of customer orientation, perceptions of supplier investment, and perceptions of supplier communication. Further, non-economic satisfaction with the relationship and trust leading to commitment are identified and substantiated as relational exchange outcomes, as previously proposed by theorists.

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 1995

The interest of practitioners and academics in channel relationship management has shifted from corporate channel structures and relationships in conventional channels governed by use of power to relationships between independent firms involving contractual and normative control mechanisms. In this article, we identify several factors leading to this change of interest, propose a scheme for classifying channel relationship research based on control mechanisms, and suggest areas for future research involving the use of contractual and normative control mechanisms in conventional channel relationships.

Journal of Small Business Management, 2013

This study investigated the influence of dealers' expert, referent, and legitimate sources of power on small-to-medium enterprise manufacturers' relationship commitment in distribution channel systems. A theoretical model drawing on the relational cohesion theory and the extant marketing literature is developed and tested empirically using a sample data set of 452 from Zimbabwe. In this model, expert, referent, and legitimate powers are the predictors, whereas trust, cooperation, and relationship satisfaction are the mediators, and relationship commitment is the outcome variable. Analysis reveals that these three powers positively influence the mediators and outcome variable in a significant way, except for legitimate power to cooperation relationship. Managerial implications and future studies are suggested.

Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 2000

How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds Makes deeds ill done!-William Shakespeare, King John, Act 4, Scene 2 D ■ W esearch in marketing channels has been in-■ m. creasingly devoted to examining the nature of relationships among member firms. Transactioncost analysis and relational-exchange theory are the dominant theoretical perspectives underlying such investigations. The goal of both perspectives is to minimize the costs of exchange. One means to that end is the development of governance mechanisms that prevent, or at least minimize, the impact of opportunism on partners in a business relationship.

Brazilian Journal of Marketing, 2019

Objective: Relationship marketing is applied in the study of the relational exchanges and are commonly studied in the relations between companies and clients and / or suppliers. This study aims to propose a conceptual model for understanding the relations among competing companies, based on relationship marketing and social exchange theory. Method: A theoretical essay was carried out with the main aspects of the literature on relationship marketing in the elaboration of a conceptual model, presenting propositions to test the relations among competing companies. Originality / Relevance: The research is relevant and innovative by using a classical theory in an unconventional context. In addition, it contributes to the theoretical advance on relational exchanges among competitors. Results: The propositions, based on the social exchange theory, suggest some aspects of relationship marketing positively influence the relations among competing companies (cooperation, trust, shared values, commitment, communication, empathy and reciprocity). While others negatively influence (coercive power, comparison of alternatives and opportunistic behavior). Theoretical / methodological contributions: The study contribution is to propose the use of relationship marketing concepts as a theoretical lens to understand the relations among competing companies. Social / managing contributions: The managerial contribution is to provide subsidies for understanding and maintaining long-term relations among competing companies. Moreover, the study encourages the discussion and development of new research so that the relations among competing companies can be analyzed empirically through relationship marketing.

1995

How relationship marketing is transforming the manner in which channel relationships are structured and managed is a highly important topic to practitioners and academics alike. Barton Weitz and Sandy Jap (1995 [this issue]) address this topic in an innovative and thought-provoking fashion, offering an article that will shape how we think about relationship marketing in channels of distribution in the future. Their discussion of the authoritative, contractual, and normative control mechanisms is informative. In particular, how norms affect the coordination of channel relationships is a question of vital concern. The argument that multiple control mechanisms are needed to coordinate activities in channel relationships is well taken. We concur with Weitz and Jap's evaluation of the limitations of transaction cost analysis and agency theory. No doubt, theories of interpersonal relationships offer considerable insight into how close channel relationships begin, progress, and sometimes terminate. We agree that qualitative research is urgently needed to sort out theoretical difficulties in the channels area. The propositions offered in the article are intriguing and deserving of empirical research. We could go on discussing the contributions of the article. Instead, the rest of this commentary will focus on three issues: (1) dual trends in channel relationships, (2) a typology of channel contexts, and (3) interfirm power and its use. DUAL TRENDS IN CHANNEL RELATIONSHIPS Weitz and Jap's objective was to outline the nature of the shift in channel research attention toward relationship marketing and its implications. They are no doubt correct when they describe the trend toward relational exchanges in many channel relationships. Examples abound of how different retailers, distributors, and manufacturers are de

Relationship Marketing is emerging as a new phenomenon however, relationship oriented marketing practices date back to the pre-Industrial era. In this article, we trace the history of marketing practices and illustrate how the advent of mass production, the emergence of middlemen, and the separation of the producer from the consumer in the Industrial era led to a transactional focus of marketing. Now, due to technological advances, direct marketing is staging a comeback, leading to a relationship orientation.

Academy of Management Review, 1979