Managing Collaborative Relationships in Third Party Logistics

Abstract

Some supply chain management researchers have realized the potential of collaborative activities for enhancing supply chain performance while other researchers have explored the positive impact of relationship quality on supply chain performance. To date, however, no empirical research has integrated these two research streams. Drawing upon social exchange theory, the authors propose a holistic research framework to explore the relationships among collaborative activities, the inter-organizational relationship quality, and supply chain performance. Specifically, they examine the mediating effect of relationship quality on the association between collaborative activities and supply chain performance. The research model is then tested using survey data (n=219). The authors' results illustrate a positive impact of both collaborative activities and relationship quality on enhancing supply chain performance. Moreover, this paper also supports the hypothesis that relationship quality mediates the relationship between collaborative activities and supply chain performance in third party logistics.