Do Collaborative Relationships in Supply Chain Pay-Off?

Abstract

Collaborative relationship is said to foster sustainable supply chain operations. It is argued that relationship based supply chain produces financially tangible results in many areas of supply chain. The concept is based on transaction cost theory arguing that the final price is determined in the market by total cost. A collaborative relationship fosters trust that leads to lowering transaction cost and speed up time to market which creates “serial equity” rather than “spot equity”. Recent research on collaboration and supply chain performance seems to suggest tangible financial gains. Yet, no theoretical framework has been developed and empirical evidences have been lacking to support such hypothesis. A clearly defined theoretical framework and supportive empirical evidence between these two constructs are needed for future research in this area. This article attempts to articulate the theoretical foundation of collaborative relationship in supply chain and survey empirical results on financial gains reported in various research studies.