The role of partnership in supply chain performance

Purpose Supply chain management emphasizes collaborative relationships between buyers and suppliers within a supply chain. The purpose of this paper is to examine the antecedents of buyer‐supplier partnership and to explore its impact on the supply chain performance. Design/methodology/approach The proposed research model was tested via structural equation modeling analysis with survey data collected in October 2007 from 141 buyer‐supplier practitioners in South Korea. Findings The results of this study imply that both strategic and operational variables are perceived as crucial factors affecting the buyer‐supplier partnership; thus, this partnership relationship exerts an impact on supply chain performance. Research limitations/implications This study provides researchers and practitioners with a more comprehensive understanding about the buyer‐supplier partnership in a supply chain context. Future research should focus on developing additional constructs that may capture other aspect of buyer‐supplier partnership. Originality/value The present study makes an empirical contribution by investigating an integrated framework focusing on the antecedents of buyer‐supplier partnership and its impact on supply chain performance.