Project Team: Ms. Deirdre Fleming ([email protected]), Dr. Patrick Lynch ([email protected]), Dr. Felicity Kelliher ([email protected])
The Project Aim
While it is acknowledged that in certain circumstances inter-organisational relationships should be dissolved; there is evidence to suggest that most business relationships are worth saving (Tahtinen & Vaaland, 2006). Nevertheless the majority of inter-organisational research attention has focussed on the positives of developing successful relationships and not on the negatives of managing them, resulting in less attention on conceptual development and empirical evidence related to problematic relationships facing dissolution (Holmlund & Hobbs, 2009) or indeed on the repair of such relationships. Moreover, research studies on repairing inter-organisational relationships are few in number and those that exist focus on the process of repair (see Salo et al., 2009; Tahtinen et al, 2007) or on the analysis of attenuating factors leading to repair (see Tahtinen & Vaaland, 2006; Vaaland & Tahtinen, 2003), however no attempt has been made to understand the methods used to repair relationships during the process of dissolution. This study intends to highlight the importance of how both the relational aspect and the factors that promote or inhibit dissolution affect repair methods chosen. Repair becomes important as soon as the relationship enters the breakdown stage therefore research must attempt to understand the objectives of repair at each stage of dissolution (Duck, 1984). Depending on the advancement of dissolution, different repair methods will have different rates of success (Vidal, 2006). In the early stages, it is more task focussed related to evaluation and decision making, whereas in the latter stages, repair strategies tend to be more emotional and focus on behavioural strategic choices (Giller & Matear, 2001). These two situations call for different repair methods, which will be explored and analysed as part of this study.
Methods
The research problem which has derived from the literature is that there is a clear lack of understanding of repair methods during the stages of dissolution in interorganisational relationships. In defining this problem, a set of objectives were produced including:
• To develop a framework derived from the dissolution and repair literature.
• To identify the stages of dissolution and link different repair methods to each stage of the process.
• To gain an understanding of how and why different repair methods may be chosen at different stages.
• To refine the initial framework for dissolution and repair from research findings.
In order to understand this complex phenomenon, narratives from CEOs in Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) will be used to explore how and why business relationships go wrong and in turn what strategies are used to repair them.
Engagement Activity
This research has been disseminated at the IMP conference of relationship dynamics and has gained exposure to leading academics in the field of dissolution and repair. As a result the researcher will be attending a workshop in Sweden 2012 to present findings to date and attempt to compare the study with findings from Finland and other European countries.
Impact
Research on recovering inter-organisational relationships is disjointed and incomplete. This research is the first attempt at capturing a holistic view of the dynamics of repair and as such will provide a significant contribution to theory, policy and practice. The research draws upon a behavioural model of Social Exchange theory as a means of understanding repair in inter-organisational relationships (Homans, 1958; Blau, 1964). By offering SMEs insight into repair of important relationships, there is potential for sustainable partnerships, which leads to general sustainability and ultimately growth.
RIKON 2013.