Termination of personal relationship and their effects on knowledge sharing in supply chains

• Published date: 01 January 2021
• Date: 01 January 2021
• Author: Atif S. Butt
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/kpm.1643

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Termination of personal relationship and their effects on

knowledge sharing in supply chains

Atif S. Butt

School of Business, Department of

Management, American University of Ras Al-

Khaimah, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab

Emirates

Correspondence

Atif S. Butt, School of Business, Department of

Management, American University of Ras Al-

Khaimah, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab

Emirates.

Email: atifbutt10@hotmail.com

The existence of strong personal relationships (friendship, etc.) has been the subject

of much research in the supply chain knowledge management literature. Many

researchers have argued that such relationships have a positive impact on knowledge

sharing across the supply chain. However, it is important to acknowledge that the

termination of a personal relationship may well adversely affect the knowledge trans-

fer process between the supply chain member firms. This study addresses the impact

of the termination of personal relationships within the supply chain. An exploratory

study was employed via semi-structured interviews with 20 senior managers from

10 different companies based in the United Arab Emirates. The findings reveal five

distinct factors that adversely affect knowledge transfer between the managers of

buying and supplying firms, once their personal relationships are terminated. These

factors further result in inferior knowledge transfer between the partnering firms.

KEYWORDS

buyer–supplier relationships, interview study, personal relationships, supply-chain knowledge

management, United Arab Emirates

1|INTRODUCTION

The importance of knowledge sharing to the successful functioning of

business organizations has long been established in business litera-

ture. In particular, several authors from the marketing literature have

also acknowledged the important role that knowledge sharing plays in

buyer–supplier relationships. For example, Mohr and Nevin (1990)

suggest that cross-organizational knowledge sharing is the “glue”that

holds a channel together. Frazier and Summers (1984) found that

knowledge sharing allows firms to exchange valuable information

between themselves. Guiltinan, Rejab, and Rodgers (1980) found that

knowledge sharing support partnering members' ability to solve prob-

lems and to coordinate joint programs. Anderson and Weitz (1992)

found that knowledge sharing fosters cooperation and decision mak-

ing between partners. Other authors suggest that the transfer of

timely knowledge helps firms better understand each other

(Lusch, 2011). Furthermore, in more recent supply chain management

research, the sharing of information between employees of partnering

firms is regarded as a key component for a successful implementation

of a supply chain philosophy (Mentzer et al., 2001; Min &

Mentzer, 2004). Consequently, inter-organizational knowledge shar-

ing is now believed to be a key competency to generate sustainable

and long-term advantage for supply chain partners (Paulraj, Lado, &

Chen, 2008). Other relevant research also suggests that deeper,

extensive, and frequent knowledge sharing between employees of

supply chain partners is associated with an ultimate success of a

buyer–supplier relationship (Kenis & Knoke, 2002; Lai, Li, Wang, &

Zhao, 2008).

Gligor and Autry (2012) suggest that the presence of personal

relationships (e.g., friendship) between managers of buying and sup-

plying firms can positively impact knowledge sharing between firms,

which further leads to superior business performance for partnering

firms. Gligor and Autry (2012) found that personal relationships are

critical to enhancing inter-organizational communication. Thus the

role personal relationships play in streamlining knowledge sharing

between buyers and suppliers is now well recognized within the sup-

ply chain research literature (Gligor & Autry, 2012; Gligor &

Holcomb, 2013). Other studies have investigated the impact of the

termination of such personal relationships and found that this may

adversely affect the knowledge transfer between the exchange

Received: 2 May 2020 Accepted: 10 May 2020

DOI: 10.1002/kpm.1643

18 © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Knowl Process Manag. 2021;28:18–28.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/kpm