Operational performance gaps in business relationships

Purpose – To identify the criteria that operations managers believe make a difference to their business relationships and also to identify where the largest gaps are in terms of their current and required performance. Design/methodology/approach – This empirical research is based on the findings from six organisations in three different sectors, which formed three pairs of business relationships. It involved interviewing 42 individuals who between them generated over 500 characteristics that they believed made a difference to their relationships. The characteristics were analysed and grouped using open, intuitive and selective coding. Findings – The research identified six generic criteria that make a difference to business relationships. Managers recognised the need to go beyond traditional measures when characterising and measuring business relationships. Traditional operational performance criteria played only a very limited role in the relationships studied. The greatest gaps between current and required performance were concerned with the non‐operational performance objectives. Research limitations/implications – There is a need to develop measurement instruments particularly in areas traditionally outside the field of operations management that capture a broad range of characteristics as identified by the six criteria. Practical implications – Identified the gaps in the assessment of business relationships and the need for better measurement instruments. Originality/value – The article provides better understanding of the nature of operational business relationships.