A process theory of relationship ending

Abstract

This research is about the ending of business relationships: what that is, why it happens, and how an extant relationship dissolves. Ending of buyer-seller relationships has very recently attracted increased research attention. This article adds to the existing knowledge by developing a process model to understand, in particular, how dissolution advances in a professional service context. The model aims to attend the major shortcomings of existing research and distinguishes three conceptual categories: the type of relationship and its ending, the factors that influence the process, and the ending process per se. It is concluded that the ending process is always both temporally and contextually embedded and to a significant degree actordriven; a picture of idiosyncrasy rather than deterministic development. The article ends by discussing managerial implications and making suggestions for future research.

Managing relationship gaps: A practitioner perspective

“…By contrast, commitment to the relationship (Hocutt, 1998) and the profitability of the relationship (Holmlund and Hobbs, 2009) can hinder relationship endings. Depending on the situation, the type of ending can be described as chosen, forced, natural, desired, or predetermined (Halinen and Tähtinen, 2002 Hallén et al, 1991, Kindström et al, 2012. On the other hand, Salo et al (2009) and Ahmad and Buttle (2001) provide descriptions of various steps and actions taken by providers.…”

Ending-competence in business closure

“…For these researchers, the lifecycle analogy placed attention on the final stage of a business relationship. However, later research focused on the ending process (Halinen & Tähtinen, 2002;Michalski, 2004), on ending strategies (Alajoutsijärvi et al, 2000;Giller & Matear, 2001), and on relationship stress (Holmlund-Rytkönen & Strandvik, 2005). There are also studies focusing on endings in different contexts, such as ending inter-organizational cooperation (Tidström & Åhman, 2006), and dissolution of relationships in a Chinese context (Pressey & Qui, 2007).…”

“…Another research field that has given attention to ending is research in business-to-business relationships (see Alajoutsijärvi, Möller & Tähtinen, 2000;Halinen & Tähtinen, 2002). This research offers insights into issues that become important when relationships to companyexternal parties need to be ended.…”

A circumplex model of the behavioural antecedents of unintended strategic alliance termination: a PLS-based analysis

“…Most scholars consider alliance dissolution to be a natural and unavoidable stage in the life cycle of an alliance and have identified a wide range of environmental, inter-partner, and partner-related factors that influence alliance dissolution (Makino et al, 2007;Park & Ungson, 2001). Despite such important advances, these alliance termination studies tend to view alliance dissolution as a single event, which they treat as a black box, and neglect the process that leads to dissolution (Halinen & Tähtinen, 2002). There is a particular dearth of studies on the behaviour of partner firms leading up to termination.…”