A study of relationship repair in a business-to-business context

dc.contributorD'Souza, Giles
dc.contributorFranke, George
dc.contributorCampbell, Kim Sydow
dc.contributorKi, Eyun-Jung
dc.contributor.advisorMorgan, Robert M.
dc.contributor.advisorRichey, Robert Glenn
dc.contributor.authorDalela, Vivek
dc.contributor.otherUniversity of Alabama Tuscaloosa
dc.date.accessioned2017-02-28T22:20:32Z
dc.date.available2017-02-28T22:20:32Z
dc.date.issued2009
dc.descriptionElectronic Thesis or Dissertationen_US
dc.description.abstractThis research concerns rebuilding/repairing those buyer-seller relationships that were once strong, but have been damaged. A framework of relationship repair is proposed and empirically tested using fairness theory as foundation. Qualitative research and the literature were used to identify the most common causes of relationship damage. The most common relationship repairing/rebuilding efforts of suppliers are also identified. Specifically, the impact of three causes of relationship damage - seller firm's opportunistic behavior, service failures, and availability of better alternative suppliers - were explored. Additionally, the impact of five repair efforts - providing compensation, making relationship specific investments, showing accountability, giving assurance, and making organizational changes - on justice perceptions and subsequently on change in relationship quality was examined. A fractional factorial, mixed-design experiment was conducted to test the main effects and the second order interaction effects of the repair efforts. Scenarios were used to operationalize the causes of relationship damage as well as the repair efforts. The results show that supplier's opportunistic behaviors have the most damaging effect on relationship quality, followed by service failures and availability of better alternatives, in that order. Moreover, as proposed, the repair efforts have differential positive effects on distributive and procedural justice perceptions, which in turn are positively related to the change in relationship quality. Overall, the proposed model is well supported by the data. The study contributes to research in the domains of fairness theory, service failure and recovery, trust repair, and business-to-business relationship marketing. Theoretical and managerial implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.en_US
dc.format.extent171 p.
dc.format.mediumelectronic
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.otheru0015_0000001_0000041
dc.identifier.otherDalela_alatus_0004D_10138
dc.identifier.urihttps://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/548
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Alabama Libraries
dc.relation.hasversionborn digital
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Electronic Theses and Dissertations
dc.rightsAll rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.en_US
dc.subjectBusiness Administration, Marketing
dc.titleA study of relationship repair in a business-to-business contexten_US
dc.typethesis
dc.typetext
etdms.degree.departmentUniversity of Alabama. Department of Management and Marketing
etdms.degree.disciplineMarketing
etdms.degree.grantorThe University of Alabama
etdms.degree.leveldoctoral
etdms.degree.namePh.D.
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
file_1.pdf
Size:
519.47 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format