A Comparative Longitudinal Analysis of Theoretical Perspectives of Interorganizational Relationship Performance

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare the relative efficacy of four perspectives for driving exchange performance and provide empirical insights into the causal ordering among key interorganizational constructs, including commitment, dependence, transaction cost economics, and relational norms.

Abstract: Four theoretical perspectives currently dominate attempts to understand the drivers of successful interorganizational relationship performance: (1) commitment–trust, (2) dependence, (3) transaction cost economics, and (4) relational norms. Each perspective specifies a different set and distinct causal ordering of focal constructs as the most critical for understanding performance. Using four years of longitudinal data (N = 396), the authors compare the relative efficacy of these four perspectives for driving exchange performance and provide empirical insights into the causal ordering among key interorganizational constructs. The results demonstrate the parallel and equally important roles of commitment–trust and relationship-specific investments as immediate precursors to and key drivers of exchange performance. Building on the insights gleaned from tests of the four frameworks, the authors parsimoniously integrate these perspectives within a single model of interfirm relationship performance con...