Purpose – This paper aims to develop a framework helping managers to understand reactions, adopting the supplier perspective, and starting from the idea that the outcome of the degradation process is mainly determined by customers’ reactions. Inter-organisational relationships are sometimes subject to degradation. When incidents arise, and relationship attractiveness decreases, its evolution becomes uncertain. Design/methodology/approach – A case study carried out with a large French industrial company (FabIndus) specialised in the production of supplies destined to a large variety of business sectors. In all, 26 semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff members of FabIndus and clients’ representatives identified as having recently been confronted with deterioration in their relationship. Findings – The paper finds that customers’ reactions vary according to the nature of the business relationship and the customer commitment when degradation begins. Using two types of commitment and the exit–voice–loyalty–neglect model, it is possible to identify four types of reactions in the situation of the deterioration of a relationship. For each one of the reactions, the paper defines the response strategy that suppliers may take on. Originality/value – The paper underlines the importance of a segmented view of business behaviours faced with the deterioration of a relationship. This can be helpful to elaborate differentiated response strategies, to avoid mutual misunderstandings.

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La supply chain fournit un exemple d'entreprise virtuelle dans laquelle plusieurs organisations sont aujourd'hui étroitement impliquées dans un même réseau de relations formant une entité plus vaste qui les transcende en un tout organisé. La qualité des collaborations qui s'instaurent au sein de cette entité virtuelle apparaît comme un facteur critique de son efficacité. Si dans la littérature, comme dans le sens commun, la thèse d'un antagonisme entre confiance et contrôle est souvent avancée, les pratiques actuelles développées dans la gestion de la supply chain tendent à montrer que ces expériences de collaboration conjuguent intimement confiance et contrôle.

Purpose – The strategic nature of the fresh fruit and vegetables (FFV) department for supermarkets and hypermarkets is unquestioned. Yet both practitioners and researchers have difficulty optimizing its performance. The purpose of this paper is to identify the key specific drivers of the performance of FFV departments with a special attention being paid to the deterioration of product quality. Design/methodology/approach – The authors used a two-step inductive modelling process relying on interviews with experts from within the sector and a multiple case study of four FFV departments belonging to a French retail brand. Findings – After highlighting that the deterioration of product quality on the shelves is a key particularity of FFV departments, the authors identify department upkeep and shrinkage control as key intermediate variables impacting the performance of FFV departments and show how these two parameters can be controlled using three main actionable levers: marketing, in-store logistics and procurement. Research limitations/implications – The discussion of managerial implications sheds light on other phenomena requiring further investigation: team management practices, the buying role of the department manager and tailored criteria for assessing performance. Practical implications – The research shows managers that optimizing department upkeep allows turnover to be generated which exceeds the sector average without impeding the productivity of the department. The authors stress that it is imperative to control shrinkage in order to meet margin performance objectives. Originality/value – This research is a step forward because it takes account of the elements distinguishing FFV from other fresh products to highlight the factors underlying high performance levels.

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