We study sourcing behavior in “severe” conditions where supply disruptions are rare, but carry the potential of wiping out several periods' worth of a firm's profit. The trade-off between scale economies from supplier consolidation and risk mitigation from supplier diversification is at the...

Research on buyer-supplier relationships (BSRs) has often focused on only one side of the relationship and, thus, has tended to overlook asymmetries. Yet, a buyer (supplier) may often deal with a bigger supplier (buyer) or one that has higher levels of trust, respect, and reciprocity. Therefore,...