An integrated model of buyer-seller relationship performance in agribusiness: the partial least squares approach

Abstract

In this paper, we provide an integrated model for the business relationship performance between Ghanaian exporters and European importers of fresh fruit and vegetables. Twelve hypotheses, which explore the relationships between various dimensions of inter-firm relationship performance and its antecedents are formulated and tested based on 101 interviews with fresh fruit and vegetable exporters in Ghana. Using the Partial Least Squares statistical technique, ten out of the twelve hypotheses formulated were supported. The results of the study confirm most of the findings from previous studies on the subject, while new insights on the relationship between the variables used in the study are also revealed. We conclude that an integrated model, which combines both the financial and the non-financial relationship performance dimensions can provide a more realistic understanding of the relationship between the exporters and the importers than partial models which may conceal the effects of the relationships between the former and the latter.