To buy or not to buy : empirical studies on buyer-supplier collaboration

Buying companies that want to have a better access to a supplier’s critical resources than competition need to develop close social relationships with this supplier’s employees. This is the outcome of a study by Agnieszka Blonska. This research is one of the first to demonstrate a close social relationship between buyer and supplier companies’ employees has a positive influence on supplier allocation of preferences among buyers, supplier and buyer customization, and cross-functional information sharing behavior of buyers and suppliers. The research was conducted from both, supplier and buyer perspectives.