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This paper aims to develop a framework for switching a service supplier in a supply network.

The study builds on existing literature in the field of purchasing and supply management, public procurement (PP) and the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing approach, as well as on an illustrative example case, from the PP context, of a supplier switch in a service delivery process.

During a switching process, the buyer must simultaneously manage the ending of a relationship with the incumbent supplier and the beginning of a relationship with a new supplier. Collaboration with the focal suppliers to develop a service process with standardized components prevents disruptions in the service processes and reduces the impact of the switch on the wider network.

The conceptualization suggested in this paper needs to be further explored in different empirical contexts to assess its practical adequacy.

Practitioners responsible for service procurement can use the findings to develop collaboration with suppliers, both when it comes to service process development and to the switching process. Furthermore, the authors highlight the importance of ending competencies and the development of an exit plan to conduct a “beautiful exit.”

The paper integrates relationship initiation and ending studies, as well as procurement process models to develop a refined switching process framework. Many PPs rely on short-term relationships due to the legal obligation to frequently invite suppliers to tender, thus understanding the supplier switching process is important both for private and public sector actors.

The purpose of the paper is to identify and discuss the transport service triad (TST) as a key unit of analysis to understand the operations and conditions for change in freight transport systems at the micro level, i.e. at the level of analysis where business decisions and change interaction take place.

The theoretical framing is rooted in the IMP approach and in the literature on triads. A case study approach is used to illustrate the TST by analyzing a case involving a wholesaler of installation products, tools and supplies, a main construction company and a transport service provider.

The paper shows how the connections between the business relationships in the TST, influenced by connections to relationships outside the triad, impact on the efficiency in freight transport. The paper illustrates how analysis of TSTs can be applied in micro-level studies of change in freight transport systems and in supply networks.

The triadic approach is instrumental to understand change in the transport system because it includes all relevant parties and relationships of concern, as well as the logic framing of their actions. However, while arguing that TSTs are generic to their nature, each TST is unique and needs to be identified and analyzed in its specific context.

The suggested framework may contribute to an understanding of the embeddedness of transport services in supply/business networks. The framework may support the development of new ways of operating and creating value for customers and offering sustainable transport solutions.

From the transport policy makers’ perspective, micro-level analysis is important to understand behavioral adjustments to new policies.

This study provides a comprehensive framework of adaptation in triadic business relationship settings in the service sector. The framework is based on the industrial network approach (see, e.g., Axelsson & Easton, 1992; Håkansson & Snehota, 1995a). The study describes how adaptations initiate, how they progress, and what the outcomes of these adaptations are. Furthermore, the framework takes into account how adaptations spread in triadic relationship settings. The empirical context is corporate travel management, which is a chain of activities where an industrial enterprise, and its preferred travel agency and service supplier partners combine their resources. The scientific philosophy, on which the knowledge creation is based, is realist ontology. Epistemologically, the study relies on constructionist processes and interpretation. Case studies with in-depth interviews are the main source of data.