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Treat me well and I may leave you kindly: A configurational approach to a buyer's relationship exit strategy
Industrial Marketing Management
  • Farooq Habib, Cranfield School of Management
  • Marko Bastl, Marquette University
  • Antonios Karatzas, University of East Anglia
  • Carlos Mena, Portland State University
Document Type
Article
Language
eng
Publication Date
1-1-2020
Publisher
Elsevier
Disciplines
Abstract

Research shows that the choice of relationship exit strategy by the instigator of exit can have significant negative consequences for the party that is being dropped. In this study we focus on what we coin as kind exit, where the risk of harm to the supplier as a result of the buyer's relationship termination is low. In line with current research, which is suggesting that the characteristics of a buyer-supplier relationship play a critical role in the instigator's choice of exit strategy, we examine the link between the buyer's perception of its relationship with the supplier and the manner in which the buyer-supplier relationship ends. We posit that this phenomenon is causally complex and context dependent, and as such, there will be multiple types of buyer-supplier relationships that will lead to a kind exit. To uncover these types, we examine 315 terminated buyer-supplier relationships in manufacturing and service sectors in the UK, employing fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Our results show that contrary to extant literature, there is not one relationship type that leads to a kind exit; instead, we uncover four alternative equifinal configurations of relationship dimensions and two exogenous factors.

Comments

Accepted version. Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 84 (January 2020): 237-250. DOI. © 2020 Elsevier. Used with permission.

Citation Information
Farooq Habib, Marko Bastl, Antonios Karatzas and Carlos Mena. "Treat me well and I may leave you kindly: A configurational approach to a buyer's relationship exit strategy" Industrial Marketing Management (2020) ISSN: 0019-8501
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/carlos-mena/41/