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An analysis of B2B relationship quality among Iranian managers
FöRFATTARE
Ashnai, Bahar
INSTITUTION
Industriell ekonomi och samhällsvetenskap / Industriell marknadsföring och e-handel
SAMMANFATTNING The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of what counts
as a “good” or “poor” quality relationship, what are the characteristic
attributes of a good relationship, how they might vary in importance and
whether they vary between countries.
Based on literature the constructs of relationship quality were selected.
These attributes are: Conjoint analysis was used to derive how Iranian managers trade off
different attributes of relationship quality. Considering the overall
results, the most important attribute was profit followed by trust and
power. But the overall results were not indicative of a general consensus.
There were some situations observed that the perception of relationship
quality varied significantly from the majority. This clearly showed that
each relationship needs to be studied based on its own nature. There can be
some other factors that influence the constructs of relationship quality.
This research involved collecting data on the importance of a set of
attributes from Iranian managers. This is then compared with data from a
previous study of UK managers. Profitability of a relationship was
considered by many of the Iranian and English managers. The majority of
Iranian managers were concerned about their relationship profitability more
than English managers. In our studied sample almost all Iranian valued
profit as an important attribute more or less. Trust was also important in
both samples of Iranian and English managers, which was in track with
literature of relationships. In our sample power was among influential
attributes that construct relationship success, whereas in UK, power was
reported as the least important attribute. Integration in both English and
Iranian managers’ perceptions appeared to gain little importance. Overally,
understanding of needs was among important attributes of English managers,
whereas it did not seem to be very important for Iranian managers. Still
there were few Iranian managers who considered this construct as the most
important construct of relationship quality.
The phase relationship marketing has recently received a great deal of
attention from both academics and practitioners. Interaction theory has
emphasized the importance of relationships in business-to-business markets.
For many firms it is important to develop relationships. To create a
successful relationship is the goal of relationship development. Obstacles
make businesses unwilling to change business suppliers or customers.
Because of benefits of stability businesses look for successful long-term
relationships. Therefore, factors that seem to lead to a successful
relationship should be found.
ISSN 1653-0187 / ISRN LTU-PB-EX--06/51--SE / NR 2006:51
