Relationship determinants of performance in service triads: A configurational approach

Karatzas, Antonios, Johnson, Mark and Bastl, Marko (2016) Relationship determinants of performance in service triads: A configurational approach. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 52 (3). pp. 28-47. ISSN 1523-2409

[thumbnail of Accepted manuscript]
Preview
PDF (Accepted manuscript) - Accepted Version
Download (809kB) | Preview

Abstract

The increasing popularity of service-based strategies among manufacturers, such as solution provision, makes service triads commonplace within business. While there is some consensus that “relational” (i.e., close or collaborative) relationships are beneficial for the performance of individual actors and the triad as a whole, there is little known about what exactly affects the service performance of an actor in these triads. In this study, we investigate the influence of the manufacturer–service supplier relationship on the performance of the service supplier toward the manufacturer's customers. As this phenomenon is causally complex and context dependent, we assume that there will be alternative configurations of relationship characteristics and contingent factors that lead to high service performance. To uncover potential configurations, we deployed fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, on data collected from 38 triads within the network of a large Anglo-German commercial vehicle manufacturer. Our research shows that—in this context—superior service performance cannot be generalized to one relationship configuration and is also contingent upon exogenous factors—that is, contract support and service site size. We uncovered four “core” configurations of relationship dimensions and two exogenous factors. Three of the configurations exhibited relational properties, while the fourth configuration had transactional properties. This is counter to extant research findings. We extend the perspective that within triads, service performance is not an outcome of a single “close,” or “collaborative” relationship and is a combination of multiple configurations consisting of varying relationship dimensions and exogenous factors.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis,relationship determinants,service performance,service triads
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Social Sciences > Norwich Business School
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Innovation, Technology and Operations Management
Related URLs:
Depositing User: Pure Connector
Date Deposited: 20 Sep 2017 05:06
Last Modified: 03 Jul 2023 08:30
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/64919
DOI: 10.1111/jscm.12109

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item