Buyer-Supplier Relationships: An Investigation of Moderating Factors on the Development of Partnership Characteristics and Performance

The contemporary view of competitiveness and strategy is based on the foundation that customer value is created by firms working together for common aims and not created by firms working in isolation. Therefore there is increasing recognition that firms who engage in co-operative long-term partnerships, improve the operation of the supply chain as a whole for the mutual benefit of all parties involved. However researchers have suggested that the degree of partnership that develops between a buyer and a supplier, and the performance outcomes achieved, are likely to be moderated by firm, market or product characteristics. Therefore using data collected from a survey of UK fresh produce suppliers, this study investigates how differences, in terms of size, type of product supplied, number and type of customers supplied, and the length of the customer relationship, influences the development and performance of buyer-supplier relationships in the UK fresh produce industry.