Deep Knowledge of B2B Relationships Within and Across Borders

Relationships of individual and groups among three-plus firms represent the cornerstone concept in business-to-business (B2B) contexts.The three-plus firms include manufacturer-supplier to manufacturer-customer to distributor-customer, and facilitators (e.g., transportation and management consulting firms).The common thread of the five papers in this volume is that making sense and achieving deep knowledge of three-plus B2B relationships are necessary antecedents for achieving high operating effectiveness, high (on-time) efficiency, and sustaining profits for each firm in these relationships.As the titles of the five papers imply, reading the volume provides deep insights into the specifics of how high performing three-plus B2B relationships influences these three major objectives of the firm: National Cultures?Impacts on Western Industrial Buyer-Seller Relational Process Models; Developing Guanxi Relations; Industrial Buyer-Seller Relations in a Chinese Context; Adaptation in Business Contexts; Working Triadic Relationships; How Do Managers See It?Capturing Practitioner Theories via Network Pictures.