A company's relational strategy: Linkage between strategic choices, attributes, and outcomes

PLoS One. 2021 Jul 22;16(7):e0254531. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254531. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Nowadays, the idea of firms' atomization is rejected and companies are perceived as entities embedded in inter-organizational relationships and their configurations, including dyads and networks. The relational view in strategic management thus prompts research on a firm's relational strategy. This paper taps this gap considering links between strategic choices and attributes of a company's inter-organizational relationships, as well as the outcomes achieved by collaboration with different groups of stakeholders. We test the model based on research carried out on a representative sample of 400 enterprises operating in Poland and on international markets. The results of structural equation modeling show that 1) the outcomes of collaboration reflect market benefits and are dependent on the durability of the inter-organizational relationships and the heterogeneity of the supply chain relationships, 2) durability as an attribute of the relational strategy depends on the choice of how to create and appropriate value, and 3) in turn, the attribute of heterogeneity of the relational strategy depends on what type of partners are selected. Thereby, we deliver managerial implications on how to create a relational strategy to achieve a relational rent and better a company's market position.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Commerce / economics*
  • Economic Competition*
  • Humans
  • Models, Economic*
  • Planning Techniques
  • Poland

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the National Science Centre in Poland (Grant number UMO-2015/17/B/HS4/00982).