Supplier relationship management as an investment: evidence from a UK study

This article is based upon two contentions. The first is that supplier relationship management decisions should be treated as a form of investment. The reasoning behind this view is that such decisions always involve some kind of cost and are aimed at generating some kind of return. The second is that these two elements – cost and return – should be joined in a relationship decision-making framework by two further elements: risk and inter-organisational power. It is argued in the article that a consideration of power in relationship management decision-making is particularly important as it can completely alter the cost-return ratio. The authors'arguments are illustrated in the article by case evidence collected during a two-year, EPSRC-funded UK-based study.