Buyer-Supplier Relationships, Influence of Working Environment and the relation with Organizational Performance: Review and Research Agenda

The purpose of this study is to review and synthesise how extant literature understand different natures of buyer supplier relationships (BSR) and how BSR affect, and are affected by, the working environment (WE), and how both BSR and WE affect organisational performance (OP). Following a systematic review protocol and literature corroboration, we map the literature covering BSR, WE, and OP and conduct a thematic analysis on three themes (i.e. buyer supplier relationships, working environment, organisational performance) and their relationships. Our review synthesises BSR typologies and group them in nine major dimensions such as transaction-orientation, relation-orientation, operational excellence, partnership form, governance pattern, information exchange mode, cooperative mindset, collaborative attitude, and strategic orientation and demonstrates a relationship between BSR dimensions, working environment and organisational performance. Our findings illustrate that working environment is becoming important in cross-border sourcing and supply management, but this has been neglected in BSR literature from almost every disciplinary perspective. No study has directly linked the three themes to argue how WE influences various relationship dimensions and how that relation affects OP. We conclude by drawing on six research agenda derived from the literature gap. Those are: (1) governance and shared value creation, (2) Capability development and value appropriation, (3) Intervention and productivity enhancement, (4) Knowledge augmentation, (5) institutional impact and industry condition, and (6) sustainable practices. We discuss these research agenda and show a pathway to advance knowledge on the intersection of three themes in the situation of BSR in cross-border context. This review is a unique attempt to combine three themes – BSR, WE, and OP, while the agenda put forward will advance BSR study in supply chain, industrial marketing and international business studies.