Dealing with Damage in Supply Chain Relationships

Purpose: Develop a conceptualization of damage and the responses to damage incurred by supply chain partners in a dependence perspective. Design/methodology/approach: Insights from dependence theory and research as well as theories of attribution, governance, and distributive justice are used in explaining how damage incurred by supply chain partners is dealt with in supply chain relationships (SCRs). Findings: The article provides a comprehensive body of plausible explanations that is able to justify why hypotheses investigated in previous research in this area have not received empirical support. The damage equation renders obvious the lack of parsimony in many previous works on damage. In brief, earlier studies have ignored the complexity of the interrelationships among the many variables that play a part in this picture and lack a systematic treatment of moderators to the damage-reaction relationship. Research implications: The insights have the potential to guide further study on damage and reactions to damage, and to avoid replicating the mistakes made in earlier studies. The article identifies several areas for further inquiry on reactions to damage. Practical implications: The dependence equation provides managers a set of important factors and has the potential to help them to better understand damage, and how it should be dealt with, in SCRs. Originality/value of the article: This article represents the first attempt at characterizing damage within a dependence perspective. Although dependence variables have been viewed as important for understanding damage and its consequences in SCRs, no research has adopted this perspective so far. The damage equation has the potential to guide future research efforts.