Assessing Effective Exchange Relationships: An Exploratory Examination

This article presents the findings of an exploratory study examining how suppliers can strengthen customer relationships by developing more effective partnerships. Using a relationship marketing framework, we assess four aspects of interorganizational relationships and their impact on effectiveness. A mail survey was sent to all available retailers licensed by the state of Oklahoma LP Gas Board. An OLS regression indicates that the four predictor variables explain over one-third of the variance in relationship performance. Relational context and the ability to predict changes in the environment are both significant predictors of effectiveness; higher levels of each lead to more effective relationships. Though the coefficients for strategic synergy and environmental volatility are as expected, neither is significant. Managerial and research implications are discussed.