INTER-ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION AS A RELATIONALCOMPETENCY: ANTECEDENTS AND PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES IN BUYERSUPPLIERRELATIONSHIPS

摘要

Inter-organizational communication has been proposed as a critical factor in promoting strategiccollaboration among firms. Further, communication plays an important role in fostering learningand innovation, leading to sustainable competitive advantage. In this paper, we identify keyantecedents (strategic purchasing, network governance, long-term orientation, and informationtechnology) that are of critical importance in fostering inter-firm communication, proposed as arelational competency that potentially yields strategic advantages for supply chain partners. Wetest the hypothesized relationships using SEM. Our results provide strong support for the notionof inter-organizational communication as a relational competency that enhances buyers' andsuppliers' supply chain performance.