Organizational Culture and Relationship Skills

CentER Discussion Paper No. 2004-13

51 Pages Posted: 21 Jun 2004

See all articles by Sjoerd Beugelsdijk

Sjoerd Beugelsdijk

University of Groningen

Carla I. Koen

Tilburg University - TiasNimbas Business School

N. Noorderhaven

Tilburg University and Institute for Research on Intercultural Cooperation

Date Written: 2004

Abstract

While both the strategic management and the network literature recognize the importance of inter-firm relationships for explaining competitive advantage, the question why firms differ in their ability to benefit from these relationships is rarely addressed. This paper aims to begin to fill this gap in the literature. We argue that organizational culture is an important factor influencing the relationship skills of a firm, defined as a firm's ability to manage its ties with other firms, whether these are customers, suppliers, or service providers. We assume relationship skills to be especially relevant for the formation and maintenance of close and durable transaction ties. We test our model on a dataset of 127 Dutch inter-firm relations and find general support. Specifically, we find that firms with organizational cultures characterized by an orientation towards stability and predictability, a positive orientation towards innovation, and not characterized by a strong focus on immediate results, score high on relationship skills. Relationship skills, in turn, are found to have a positive influence on the outcomes of inter-firm relationships in terms of learning, achieving innovations and gaining new contacts, but not in terms of immediate (financial) results.

Keywords: Corporate culture, interorganizational relations, networks, strategic management, stability, alliance, Netherlands

Suggested Citation

Beugelsdijk, Sjoerd and Koen, Carla I. and Noorderhaven, Niels, Organizational Culture and Relationship Skills (2004). CentER Discussion Paper No. 2004-13, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=556976 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.556976

Sjoerd Beugelsdijk (Contact Author)

University of Groningen ( email )

P.O. Box 800
9700 AH Groningen, Groningen 9700 AV
Netherlands

Carla I. Koen

Tilburg University - TiasNimbas Business School ( email )

Warandelaan 2
Tilburg, North-Brabant 5071HS
Netherlands

Niels Noorderhaven

Tilburg University and Institute for Research on Intercultural Cooperation ( email )

Postbus 90153
Tilburg, DC Noord-Brabant 5000 LE
Netherlands
+31-13-4662420 (Phone)

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