Linking business relationships to marketing strategy and export performance: A proposed conceptual framework

While it is common knowledge that business relationships play an important role in marketing, very little has been done to empirically determine their impact on export performance. This article provides some evidence of this defficiency through a review of a number of relevant empirical studies. Based on the interaction theory, it analyzes the links between close and lasting relationships and export performance, and suggests that relationship management become a component of a firm's marketing strategy in addition to the traditional marketing mix variables.