2022 journal article
Effects of power use in buyer-supplier relationships: The moderating role of communication
INDUSTRIAL MARKETING MANAGEMENT, 102, 45–57.
How to use power wisely in buyer–supplier relationships to achieve collaborative outcomes is an important question for managers and academics. This study introduces communication as a contingency and explores how it influences the effect of buyers' use of power on supplier opportunism. Based on a survey sample of 240 Chinese buyer firms, the results indicate that different types of communication between buyers and suppliers have different effects. Instrumental communication renders coercive power less harmful in influencing opportunism, whereas social communication renders coercive power more harmful to the relationship. Instrumental communication has no influence on the relationship between non-coercive power and opportunism, whereas social communication renders non-coercive power more effective at reducing opportunism. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the conditional effect of power and communication and can help managers to better manage buyer-supplier relationships.