Contact personnel versus the organisation : antecedents impacting relationship quality in the business-to-business context

Abstract

The value of the organisation’s credibility, reputation and interaction with customers equates to its relationship capital. Relationship capital defines the aptitude of an organisation to establish relationships in order to share information, knowledge, ideas, opportunities, contacts and referrals. However, the organisations as well as its personnel play a critical role in relational exchange and the quality of the relationship that is built with the customer. A strong positive relationship links relationship quality to suppliers, contact personnel and buyer’s loyalty by focussing on both the organisation and the individual commitments in a B2B relationship. The study seeks to determine the importance of organisational commitment and individual commitment in improving relationship quality within the Life Science industry. This is achieved by focusing on the individual antecedents that form individual commitment, consisting of antecedents such as communication, similarity, interaction frequency and the seller’s expertise. Similarly, it determines the buyer’s commitment to the organisation which consists of antecedents such as dependence on seller, relationship age and relationship benefits.The findings offer important insight of relationships between buyers and sellers in the B2B markets. The results indicate that relationship quality can be increased by simultaneously focussing on individual and organisational antecedents. The individual antecedents that significantly influence relationships in the Life Science industry are the seller’s expertise followed by interaction frequency. Similarly, the organisational antecedents are the relationship age followed by relationship benefits. Overall, the age of the relationship followed by seller’s expertise, interaction frequency and relationship benefits are the most effective relationship-building strategies across all elements of a relationship within this particular industry.This research provides both an academic contribution to the relationship marketing field as well as a practical implication for managers and executives within organisations. The main contribution for academic purposes involves both confirmation and distinctions from hypothesised relationships. The dissimilarities found in this study speak to the importance of the industry setting in which these relationships exits. Furthermore, this study suggests the integration of two bodies of literature: individual and organisational commitment. This research is of specific value to managers who are responsible for increasing relationship capital within their organisations. Simultaneous focus on these antecedents will allow managers to improve their relationship quality with the customer which would assist in retaining the customer on a long-term basis.