Buyer–supplier relationships from the perspective of working environment and organisational performance: review and research agenda

The internationalisation phenomenon driving MNEs to go for globalisation of production has made the working environment (WE) and its relation to organisational performance (OP) and buyer–supplier relationships (BSRs) critical. However, studies at the intersection of the three themes in cross-border context are rare and insufficient. The specific questions our review addresses are: how BSRs affect, and are affected by, the working environment; and how both BSR and WE affect supplier’s organisational performance. Following a systematic review protocol, we map the literature covering BSR, WE, and OP and conduct a thematic analysis on the three themes and their relationships. Our review makes two contributions: first it synthesises BSR typologies and groups them into nine major dimensions, namely transaction orientation, relation orientation, operational excellence, partnership form, governance pattern, information exchange mode, cooperative mindset, collaborative attitude, and strategic orientation, and demonstrates a relationship among BSR dimensions, supplier’s working environment, and organisational performance. Second, our findings demonstrate that the working environment is becoming important in cross-border sourcing and supply management but it has been neglected in the BSR literature from almost every disciplinary perspective. We conclude by outlining six research agendas: (1) governance and shared value/shared responsibility creation, (2) capability development and value appropriation, (3) intervention and productivity enhancement, (4) knowledge augmentation, (5) institutional impact and industry condition, and (6) sustainable practices. We discuss these research agendas and show a pathway to advance research on the intersection of the three themes in the situation of BSR in a cross-border context.