The mediating effect of supplier oriented purchasing on conflict in inter‐firm relationships

Purpose – The paper has two main purposes: to define and examine supplier oriented purchasing (SOP) as an effective relational exchange practice for organizational buyers and to empirically examine the degree to which supplier oriented purchasing can mediate the impact of manifest conflict on buyer‐supplier relationships. Design/methodology/approach – A model is developed and tested examining the relationship among manifest conflict, relationship satisfaction and SOP. Data collection involved judgment sampling and survey methodology in a field setting using organizational buyers as subjects. Construct measures were based on existing measures and previous research. Measurement reliability and validity were established using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Hypotheses were tested using SEM and accepted methods for testing mediation effects. Findings – All hypotheses were supported concerning SOP mediating the negative impact of manifest conflict on relationship satisfaction. Post hoc analyses of the effects of individual dimensions of supplier oriented purchasing revealed that communication had the strongest positive impact on relationship satisfaction. Research limitations/implications – Sampling was regional in scope and included professional purchasing personnel across industry sectors. Data collection was cross‐sectional and future research would benefit from a longitudinal methodology. Additional directions for future research include using SOP in more complex models of relationship marketing to better understand the ability of SOP to mediate conflict. Practical implications – Supplier oriented purchasing can be viable relational exchange practices for organizational buyers. The supplier oriented purchasing construct provides specific tactics across multiple dimensions of purchasing that buyers can use toward fostering effective relationships with key partners such as suppliers. In line with current research on relationship marketing, supplier oriented purchasing can have a significant role in mitigating and managing inter‐organizational conflict. Originality/value – The study examines SOP, contributing to an under‐researched area of purchasing strategy and practice and supports that SOP mediates the negative effect of manifest conflict in buyer‐supplier relationships.