Antecedents to Adaptation in Buyer-Seller Relationships

The purpose of the paper is to report the findings from a qualitative study which was designed to investigate how firms adapt for each other in the context of buyer-seller relationships. The methodology involved the development of dyadic case studies of 13 inter-firm relationships, employing semi-structured interviewing of respondents from both ends of the relationship. The degree of association is discussed between adaptation intensity and the relative size of the firms, the atmosphere of the relationship, relationship age, relative power/dependence, and the managerial orientation of the parties. The intensity of inter-firm adaptation behaviour is most clearly associated with relative power/dependence, and with the managerial orientations of the parties.