During the past two decades, there has been a growing interest among researchers in collaborative buyer–supplier relationships (Cannon and Perreault, 1999 and Ganesan, 1994Kalwani and Narayandas, 1995 and Morgan and Hunt, 1994). Previous studies have provided empirical evidence that key partner relationships must be considered to be the source of competitive advantage (Wisner, 2003) and a platform for value differentiation (Ulaga & Eggert, 2006) in the supply chain context. Thus, supply chain success depends on the ability of management to integrate the diverse goals and strategies of member firms. Integrative efforts are achievable by developing relationships with supply chain members. Therefore, the endorsement of both the supplier and customer's efforts in the value creation process is required. This perspective has been defined as supply chain orientation (SCO) ( Mentzer et al., 2001). SCO supports the concept that value creation is a process in which all members of the chain must invest their resources, capabilities, and know-how. As a subsystem, an organization interacts with other subsystems (suppliers and customers), and together they compose one large system (the supply chain). Consequently, the goal of the supply chain system is to provide value to the ultimate customer.
Esper, Defee, and Mentzer (2010), and Esper, Ellinger, Stank, Flint, and Moon (2010) suggested that the marketing paradigm plays a vital role in supply chain management by providing a platform for supply and demand chain integration. Eventually, supply and demand integration engenders the value stream from the first-tier supplier to the ultimate customer. Notably, previous studies have identified SCO as an important antecedent to organizational performance that links the upstream and downstream processes (e.g., Hult et al., 2008, Min and Mentzer, 2004 and Min et al., 2007). Although these studies have followed different conceptual traditions, their findings suggest the same implication: a firm with SCO recognizes the role of its suppliers and customers in the value creation process.
Recent literature on business-to-business marketing has been devoted to exploring the role of supplier relationship management issues, particularly in the supply chain setting. Previous studies have confirmed that there is a growing trend of research on supplier relationship management topics such as supply base consolidation (Eggert & Ulaga, 2010), supplier portfolio management (Wagner & Johnson, 2004), value creation through key relationship status (Ulaga & Eggert, 2006), and the supplier relationship management framework (Moeller, Fassnacht, & Klose, 2006). The extant literature in this area recognizes the importance of key supplier relationship management (KSRM) activities in buyer–seller exchanges (Pressey, Winklhofer, & Tzokas, 2009). However, the field suffers from serious gaps, which suggest the need to further investigate the antecedents and consequences of KSRM (Corsten & Felde, 2005). KSRM focuses on the management of strategic relationships, and it is based on the assumption that the firm's overall portfolio is composed of relationships that may have different levels of importance (Ivens, Pardo, Salle, & Cova, 2009). Therefore, relationships must not be treated in a “one-size-fits-all” manner, and firms must make a distinction between strategic (key) and transactional partnerships (Lambert, 2004).
Previous studies have reported on the significant impact of SCO and KSRM concepts on organizational outcomes (e.g., Corsten and Felde, 2005 and Min and Mentzer, 2004). However, the main purpose of the present study is to examine the influence of SCO and KSRM on purchasing behavior. We argue that purchasing plays a more strategic role in the supply chain system, thereby influencing customer value creation. In order to address these concerns, we provide a conceptual model to gain greater insight into the relationships between SCO, KSRM, and organizational buying effectiveness (OBE). Further, we suggest that the link between SCO and OBE is better explained by the mediating role of KSRM. A managerial framework that monitors the key supplier relationships within a firm's supply chain will make the purchasing process more effective and pragmatic. In our model, we rely on OBE as a measure of effective purchasing behavior within the supply chain. Furthermore, we consider OBE to be an important construct based on the view that purchasing is a process that directly influences value creation for the direct downstream member of the supply chain (i.e., the buying firm's customer). In this case, by influencing the value creation process, we propose that OBE significantly influences the firm's bottom-line profitability.
The remainder of our paper is structured into six parts. Firstly, we present the conceptual development, which encompasses the model and research hypotheses. The next section outlines the methodological principles of the study, survey development, research setting, sampling procedures, bias testing, and measurement issues. This section is followed by the findings with respect to measurement and the properties of the structural model. Thereafter, the theoretical and managerial implications of the research findings are considered. Finally, limitations and suggestions for further research are provided.
