Do internal departmental relationships influence buyers’ expectations about external supply partnerships?

Abstract

A cornerstone of relationship marketing is a shared understanding by suppliers and buyers about the nature of the relationship itself. This research empirically examines one aspect of this issue: whether internal work relationships between departments affect the expectations about cooperation that purchasing managers bring to their external supply relationships. The results suggest that buyers do attribute internal firm attitudes or norms to their external supply relationships. In firms characterized by cooperative inter‐departmental interaction, buyers have a more cooperative orientation towards their supply relationships than do buyers in firms characterized by competitive inter‐departmental interaction.