Determinants of Relationship Quality in Importer–Exporter Relationships
| Published date | 01 June 2008 |
| Author | Dionysis Skarmeas,Matthew J. Robson |
| Date | 01 June 2008 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8551.2007.00537.x |
Determinants of Relationship Quality in
Importer–Exporter Relationships
Dionysis Skarmeas and Matthew J. Robson
*
Department of Industrial Management and Technology, University of Piraeus, 107 Deligiorgi Str.,
Piraeus 18534, Greece, and
*
Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Aberconway Building,
Colum Drive, Cardiff CF10 3EU, UK
Emails: skarmeas@unipi.gr; robsonmj@cardiff.ac.uk
Despite significant evidence pointing to the key role of relationship quality in solidifying
commercial relationships, limited attention has been paid to its determinants in an
international context. In an attempt to fill this research gap, our study examines the
impact of asset specificity, role performance and cultural sensitivity on the quality of the
relationships between importers and their foreign suppliers. It is based on a mailed
survey involving 292 importing firms. Relationship quality is presented as a higher-order
concept that results in lower conflict and greater trust, commitment and satisfaction.
The results indicate that asset specificity, role performance and cultural sensitivity play
a significant positive role in building sound relationship quality. Several managerial
implications are extracted from the study, as well as suggestions for future research.
Introduction
Relationship marketing has transformed the man-
ner in which business relationships are structured,
managed and evaluated (e.g. Morgan and Hunt,
1994; Samiee and Walters, 2003). Many marketing
scholars assert that relationship marketing repre-
sents a fundamental reshaping of the field, and
deserves priority research attention (e.g. Dwyer,
Schurr and Oh, 1987; Sharma and Sheth, 1997).
Within the relationship marketing paradigm, the
topic of relationship quality has attracted consider-
able research interest. A growing base of evidence
points to the importance of relationship quality in
explaining relationship renewal and termination,
and distinguishing successful relationships from
unsuccessful ones (e.g. Crosby, Evans and Cowles,
1990; Dorsch, Swanson and Kelley, 1998; Hewett,
Money and Sharma, 2002). As Jap, Manolis
and Weitz (1999, p. 304) note, ‘relationship quality
captures the essence of relationship marketing’.
The importance of relationship quality in the via-
bility and success of interfirm exchanges notwith-
standing, there is little, if any, research that
empirically examines the quality of relationships
developed beyond national borders (Lages, Lages
and Lages, 2005; Leonidou, Barnes and Talias,
2006). Nonetheless, markets are becoming in-
creasingly integrated worldwide and virtually all
firms, regardless of industry, size or national origin,
are now facing this new reality. Slower growth and
fierce competition in the domestic market, along
with the establishment of liberal trade policies by
most countries, have forced a growing number of
firms to realize that going international may be a
necessary action that must be taken without delay
(Balabanis, 2001; Mehta et al., 2006). Despite
increasing awareness of the ‘global reality’, our
understanding of the drivers of relationship quality
in an international context remains limited.
The purpose of this research is to examine the
antecedents of relationship quality between an
importing distributor and its foreign supplier in
an international channel of distribution. Transac-
tions between an importing distributor and its
foreign supplier are an appropriate setting for the
investigation of relationship quality in inter-
firm exchange. The geographical separation and
British Journal of Management, Vol. 19, 171–184 (2008)
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8551.2007.00537.x
r2007 British Academy of Management. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford
OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA, 02148, USA.
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