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This study investigates the imitative use of management practices across a multitier supply network. Although imitation may take the form of any management practice, operationally, we focus on whether the buyer's control practices used with first-tier suppliers results in similar control practices being used by these first-tier suppliers with the second-tier suppliers. Drawing on institutional theory, we identify relational context (i.e., affective commitment) and environmental context (i.e., environmental uncertainty) as two important factors influencing the extent to which such imitation takes place. Using unique survey data of vertically linked supply chain triads, we generally find support for the occurrence of imitation and more so in cases of high affective commitment. The results regarding environmental uncertainty further reveal selectivity in imitative behavior, calling attention to the level of deliberateness in imitation decisions in supply networks. Besides contributing to theory on imitative behaviors in the supply chain, this study also generates practical implications on the spread of management practices across multiple tiers.

Despite third parties being important conduits of trust, little is known about the mechanisms and conditions relevant to their influence on trust formation and partner selection in interfirm relationships. In this study, we experimentally examine how varying levels of third-party information shape the trust that buyer managers have in a potential supplier firm, and how this trust affects subsequent selection decisions. In addition, we investigate when this information is most influential, by accounting for the moderating impact of the focal firm's own prior experience. As expected, both neutral and favorable third-party information are able to elicit trust, yet with different effects on competence and goodwill trusting beliefs. These trusting beliefs, in turn, are positively associated with the likelihood of the supplier to be selected. Notably, we find third-party effects over and above the effects resulting from own prior experience. Overall, by investigating differences with regard to the origin and content of information and the specific type of trust, this study advances a more nuanced understanding of the partner selection process.