Search results

This chapter discusses the different types of researcher/participant relationship described in the case study chapters, alongside the extent to which the projects were (and could be) pre-defined in terms of structure and expected outcomes. The case studies ranged from secondary data analysis methods with no researcher/participant contact, those with structured one-off interviews, those with more ongoing, but still researcher-led, relationships between researcher and participant, to more ethnographic and participatory research where relationships were negotiated between researcher and participant and, in some cases, led by the participants. This chapter highlights that researcher/participant relationships lie parallel to the structure of the project and the extent to which the outcomes are pre-defined. Despite the range of types of relationship, however, all the case studies highlighted the value of trust in those relationships, for participants to feel happy to share the details of their personal lives beyond that which is usually visible in the formal education setting of school. Edwards' (2017a) concepts of relational agency, relational expertise and common knowledge are used to help explain why these relationships matter in research on out-of-school learning – to understand activities that we do not know about, which take places in spaces that we are unfamiliar with.

In this chapter, the authors focus on three challenges related to the attributes of the interactive business world and on the related implications for methodology. The first challenge is how to capture the continuity of business relationships, which implies: (1) Taking a two-sided (bilateral) view when researching business relationships, (2) collecting data on content and consequences of business relationships and (3) developing a research design to capture development over time. The second challenge is how to set boundaries and trace network-like structures, which implies: (1) identifying the relevant relationships that appear to affect each other in a network-like manner, (2) capturing interdependences among relationships (how they affect each other) and (3) researching forces generating network dynamics (how these interdependencies are established and change over time). The third challenge is how to observe and research interaction processes in business relationships, which leave little traces and are difficult to record. This requires the attention on (1) the choice of point(s) of observation, (2) the handling of the subjective understanding of interaction and (3) researching how interaction unfolds. The authors conclude with a discussion on the complexity of handling these challenges, and related methodological choices, when ‘research objects’ are interconnected.

This paper reports the results of a three-year-long research on business relationships, relying on qualitative data gathered through multiple-case study research of four focal companies operating in Australia. The industry settings are as follows: steel construction, vegetable oils trading, aluminum and steel can manufacture, and imaging solutions. The research analyzes two main aspects of relationships: structure and process. This paper deals with structure describing it by the most desired features of intercompany relationships for each focal company. The primary research data have been coded drawing on extant research into business relationships. The main outcome of this part of the research is a five construct model composed by trust, commitment, bonds, distance, and information sharing that accounts for all informants’ utterances about relationship structure.

The purpose of this paper is to examine alternative constructs that are used in parallel to describe the strength of consumer‐brand relationships. First, the two main conceptualisations of relationship quality (RQ), as developed by relationship marketing and branding literature, are analysed to highlight their common elements. Then, the recently applied in branding context concept of consumer‐brand identification (CBI) is analysed, and issues regarding its nature and link to RQ are raised.

The paper draws upon existing literature on the streams of branding and relationship marketing, to propose a conceptualisation of consumer‐brand RQ and examine the link of CBI to RQ. To investigate the research questions, an exploratory qualitative paper is undertaken involving four focus groups with consumers who have developed relationships with cosmetic brands.

Responses provide evidence for the concepts of satisfaction, trust, commitment, intimacy and love in describing consumer‐brand RQ. CBI emerges as a distinct construct of cognitive nature. Furthermore, RQ appears to be differentiated according to consumer age.

This research enables commencement of empirical examination of the link between RQ and CBI and the relative role of age into building strong relationships with brands.

The paper bridges two different research streams, relationship marketing and branding, into conceptualising consumer‐brand RQ. Furthermore, the paper is a first attempt to explore the role of CBI in relation to the construct of RQ, thus fulfilling an identified gap in the literature regarding the link of those constructs.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the reasons for the continuing “gap” between UK retail academic research and practice. A relationship marketing (RM) lens, focussing on relationship antecedents, is used to develop a deeper understanding of the barriers to collaboration and propose new solutions to close the gap.

The paper adopts a qualitative methodology to compile the evidence, using multiple data sources to identify the dynamics of the retail academic-practitioner divide.

The research illustrates a marked absence of the majority of the customer focussed, seller focussed and dyadic antecedents, essential for effective relational exchanges, and highlights that at the heart of the problem lies a lack of shared understanding of mutual relationship benefits with academics currently neither motivated nor incentivised to develop such relationships.

Further research is needed to explore what characterises a successful sustainable research relationship. There is also a pressing need to understand the experience, skills and knowledge of “boundary spanners” who operate successfully in both academic and business cultures.

Universities should adopt a strategic approach towards building relationships with retailers based upon relationship antecedents. Reward structures should be developed to encourage academics to develop research relationships. Resources should be allocated to better defining and communicating the benefits of a university research relationship with retailers.

There has been limited empirical research on the academic-practitioner gap within the context of the UK retail sector. The RM lens draws attention to new insights about barriers to successful relationships and generates concrete ideas for closing the gap moving forward.

This paper aims to investigate the perceived sustainable supervisory relationships between supervisors and postgraduate international students at a research university in Malaysia.

Drawing on a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with 33 international postgraduate students and 10 academic staff at a Malaysian research university.

Perceived sustainable supervisory relationships were perceived by both stakeholders in terms of future employment rapport, further research collaborations upon graduation and global engagement via networking initiatives.

This paper contributes to the supervision literature by establishing novel nuances in the nature and lived experiences of the sustainable supervisory relationships beyond graduation. The implications of developing significant and profound relationships beyond graduation at micro and macro levels are also discussed.

This study aims to validate a research model testing trust and commitment as mediators between economic and non-economic satisfaction in sales manager business to business (B2B) relationships.

Based on a broad range of 242 small-, medium- and large-sized Spanish companies, the data analysis used structural equation modeling by means of the SPSS/AMOS 26.0 software.

The findings confirm that trust and commitment serve as mediators between economic and non-economic satisfaction in business channel relationships, when adopting a sales perspective.

This study provides managerial support and guidance for assessing satisfaction, trust and commitment from a sales manager perspective in business channel relationships, to create and maintain long-term exchange relationships, with mutual benefits extending to other partners.

The findings shed light on the confusion regarding the nomological framework in models related to the quality of B2B relationships, thus confirming the mediating role of trust and commitment between economic and non-economic satisfaction in business channel relationships, following a sales perspective and considering the dual nature of satisfaction, distinguishing between economic and non-economic satisfaction.

Reports how, in an effort to improve research quality, save time and decrease total costs, many businesses have been turning from discrete, arm’s‐length, transactional relationships with a multitude of research suppliers towards long‐term, collaborative relationships with just a few research “partners”. Some bank clients believe in the benefits of partnering with one or two marketing research suppliers. Other bank clients are concerned that partnering with researchers will breed complacency, thus increasing research costs and decreasing quality. Attempts to examine the impact of partnering and non‐partnering relationships on the research firms’ performance in three areas: service quality, product quality and overall customer satisfaction. Empirical evidence indicates a positive relationship between partnering and increased client satisfaction in all three areas.

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.

This chapter adds to emerging research exploring the construct of joy by drawing attention to the value of more loving stakeholder relationships. Relationship management research has focussed attention on the antecedents, outcomes and quality of an organization's relationships with various publics and stakeholders and has examined strategies that can nurture these relationships. However, not much of this research has addressed intimacy and passion in these relationships.

Accordingly, this chapter draws on the theory of brand love developed in relationship marketing research and the theory of love from psychological research to build a theoretical framework of organization–stakeholder love (OSL) that can be applied to organizational relationships with publics and stakeholders. An OSL framework switches emphasis from how organizations can attract stakeholder affection (e.g., love) towards organizations to how organizations can and should love their stakeholders. The proposition put forward in this chapter is that OSL can and should become a driving force behind organizations' interactions with stakeholders, thus contributing to ethical public relations practices.

OSL is important because it has the potential to contribute to addressing public relations' image problems (e.g., relating to terms such as spin and corporate greenwashing); it offers a new love orientation that guides organizations towards a focus on the primacy of stakeholder needs and values, which in turn may shape the way organizations initiate and manage relationships with stakeholders. This chapter concludes with practical ways to implement OSL and a research agenda suggesting ways OSL may open up new research opportunities in public relations.