Role of relationship in supply chain collaboration: A conceptual framework

Purpose of this paper: This paper investigates the attributes of relationship as antecedents of supply chain collaboration and develops a conceptual framework depicting their roles in collaboration and impacts on firm performance. The study focuses on manufacturing firms in Asian countries. Design/methodology/approach: A thorough review of extant literature was conducted to investigate the various attributes of relationship and their roles in supply chain collaboration. Taking into account the cultural and social differences between Asian and Western countries, we contend that current supply chain collaboration models and frameworks, which are mostly developed for developed economies, may not be totally applicable in the Asian business environment. The comprehensive literature review enabled us to develop a conceptual framework for investigating the roles of relationship attributes as antecedents of supply chain collaboration and their impacts on firm performance in the Asian context. Findings: Based on social exchange theory, we identified from the literature various factors, such as trust, commitment, power, and reciprocity, as key attributes of relationship. They form the antecedents of supply chain collaboration. Also in Asian countries, business relationships involve significant amount of personal and organizational interactions. We therefore proposed that both inter-personal and inter-organizational forms of trust would need to be considered in the collaboration process. Hypotheses on relationships between the various attributes, collaboration and performance of the manufacturing firm were also put forward.