Capabilities exchange through business interaction: An empirical investigation of a client–IT supplier relationship

Abstract

a b s t r a c tThis article focuses on the opportunities for capabilities exchange within a specific business-to-business context: the relationship between a client and an information technology (IT) supplier. Research on the features of this type of relationship, although fairly extensive, has focused on IT implementation issues, relationship between IT resources, organisation performance and competitive advantage, IT outsourcing relationships and definition of IT capabilities. However, our understanding of the context where IT capabilities are exchanged within consultancy projects and how this exchange emerges is rather limited. The paper aims to bridge this gap by adopting the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) group's interaction approach as a tool for conducting an in-depth investigation of a case study to analyse the context, the parties and the interactions through which IT capabilities are exchanged. The research reveals that interpersonal relationships between users and consultants within consultancy projects are crucial to establish a long-lasting and stable relationship. As a result, during consultancy projects IT-related resources, in the form of IT physical infrastructures, human IT resources and IT intangible resources are exchanged and combined to create or enhance IT capabilities. Furthermore, we also claim that the success of such an exchange depends very much on the degree of social and interpersonal exchange.

Digital-related capabilities and financial performance: the mediating effect of performance measurement systems

“…To increase the utilisation of IT and digitality in business collaborations, previous studies have focused on the relationships between clients and digital service suppliers, which include for example IT outsourcing relationships (Goo et al 2007) and relationships between buyers and digital service suppliers (Kishore et al 2003). Brito and Nogueira (2009) showed that in the relationships between buyers and digital service suppliers, IT resources from both parties are exchanged and combined, thus improving their related capabilities. Further, Nudurupati, Tebboune, and Hardman (2016) studied PMS in digital economies and suggested that companies need to evaluate their performance in collaborative and social networks and on social media, instead of measuring performance only internally.…”

Interpersonal interaction in business triads—Case studies in corporate travel purchasing

“…However, organisations are also social entities, and business relationships develop in interactions among the individuals and groups of employees at different departments of the co-operating firms (Brennan and Turnbull, 1999;Cousins et al, 2006;Cunningham and Turnbull, 1982). Social exchange is important in building long-term relationships, and may exist between individuals even without service or product exchange (Brito and Nogueira, 2009;Ford et al, 2010;Håkansson, 1982;Price and Arnold, 1999). Networks of social relationships may also develop a life of their own, even when they were initially established for task-related activities (Marschan et al, 1996).…”

Is green customer integration always a facilitator for green product innovation?: A conflict-based view

“…In this sense, affective conflict is not conducive to decision-making and therefore makes it difficult for the green partnership to work as planned. In interorganizational contexts, affective conflict prevents collaborating partners from (1) identifying, absorbing, and applying external information (Meier, 2011); (2) generating creativity and quality of decision-making (Parayitam et al, 2010); and (3) extending their capabilities and resources beyond the scope of the organization (Brito and Nogueira, 2009). Affective conflict will therefore have a dysfunctional effect on green product innovation.…”