Influences of relationship transparency from intellectual capital reporting on supply chain partnerships with suppliers: a field experiment

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the intellectual capital (IC) information needed to enable relationship transparency and the influences of relationship transparency on supply chain partnerships. Design/methodology/approach – A field experiment research design is adopted to examine whether IC information facilitates relationship transparency with partners in the supply chain of a focal firm and contributes to supply chain partnership enhancement. Findings – This study identifies an IC transparency framework consisting of two components – the transparency of important business characteristics and the transparency of relationship atmosphere – for guiding the provision of IC information and enabling relationship transparency. The provision of the focal firm's IC information to partners in its supply chain significantly increases partner's trust, satisfaction and commitment towards their relationships. Thus the results suggest that relationship transparency derived from IC transparency enhances supply chain partnerships. Relationship transparency facilitates the focal firm to develop and integrate its supply chain through improved understanding pertaining to itself and its relationships with partners in its supply chain. Thus, this transparency of the focal firm with partners constitutes a flexible and attainable alternative to managing the relationships for its supply chain. Research limitations/implications – This study suggests that the field experiment research design allows researchers to effectively observe IC transparency's influences on supply chain partnership enhancement. Practical implications – For firms increasingly interconnected with supply chain models of competition, this study proposes a practical IC transparency framework specific for guiding the provision of IC information to enable relationship transparency and enhance supply chain partnerships. Originality/value – This study combines limited research on relationship transparency with IC theories to propose an IC transparency framework for enhancing supplier relationship management and represents a first step to examining the quantitative effects of IC transparency in the context of supply chain partners.