Research Evaluation

The trustworthiness or quality of this research is assessed by applying criteria for evaluating qualitative research. These criteria have been used in a significant body of previous work on business-to-business research and include: credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability from interpretative and humanistic inquiry methodologies (Guba and Lincoln 1989; Hillebrand et al. 2001) (developed as alternatives to the quantitatively-oriented criteria of internal and external validity, reliability and objectivity, respectively); control and generality from grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin 1998); and alternative explanations, completeness and significance from case study research (Yin 2003).

Table 9 indicates the extent to which this research meets evaluation criteria.

Table 9 – Criteria, methods and results for evaluating the research Evaluation Criteria Methods and Results for Evaluating this Research Credibility –

• 15-page summary of findings was sent to study participants (purchasing side) and a 50-page complete report of findings was sent to primary informants (supply side)

• The research was well received by over 45 members of the industrial and scientific community involved in the research process: co-researchers, colleagues, and 35 participants in the case study

• Feedback indicates that study participants and colleagues bought into the findings; many study participants considered exploiting findings as a way to enrich their strategic thinking and

positioning

• A thorough description of the research context and of the theoretical assumptions central to the research allows other researchers to evaluate the sensitivity of transferring findings to a different business context

• The selection of cases relied on theoretical sampling and ensured that cases vary across key variables (e.g., size of trade actors, seller and buyer types, products exchanged, and geographic location) to collect evidence from a wide set of conditions

• The concepts and methodological tools developed in this research are transferable to other industrial or services sector with minimal adaptation

• Key-findings (e.g., focusing on business relationships is a key solution to value creation; the strategic management of business relationships according to their value and exchange orientation is a major source of competitiveness) can be theoretically

generalized to other business contexts (for a discussion of theoretical generalization from case studies, see Hillebrand et al.

2001)

• Factors identified in this study that could have generated

inconsistencies in informant answers include: availability, mood, and recent events in relationships under scrutiny that could influence informant perceptions

• These factors were controlled by: rescheduling interviews whenever necessary to ensure sufficient quality time; collecting data during multiple interviews with each informant (about every other week over a period of 5 months); and systematically using a stable reference point (competition) to evaluate relationships

• The consistency of interpretations is enhanced by triangulation of data and combination of qualitative and quantitative data

(interviews, documentation analysis, questionnaires)

Table 9 – Continued

• The procedures for checking the data throughout the study and the process in data collection are documented (research protocol)

• Recordings of interviews include open-discussions with study participants and answers to questionnaires allowing other researchers to judge potential for bias or distortion

• The potential for bias or distortion by the investigator is limited by the combination of qualitative and quantitative data

(questionnaires filled jointly with study participants during interviews)

• Triangulation of data (face-to-face semi-structured interviews;

face-to-face and phone structured interviews using a

questionnaire; direct observation; and documentation analysis) demonstrate convergence of evidence

• Suppliers have some degree of control over several variables underlying relationship value and exchange orientation

• To some extent, suppliers can influence exchange orientation in controlling their dependence on customers and the time

orientation of relationships, their own behaviors in the exchange (communication, cooperation, commitment) and the governance mechanisms ruling the exchange (coordination and regulation)

• Suppliers can, to a large extent, control the value they deliver to customers concerning price, products, deliveries, etc.

Generality – Extent to which findings discover multiple aspects of the phenomenon

• The concepts of value creation and business relationships are extensively described in the research and the theoretical integration of ‘business relationships as a means of value creation’ captures the complexities of the phenomenon

• Variation is built into the case study which encompasses the trade of various structural wood products between corporations of all sizes and types in the supply chain; specifically, 58 relationships are studied between 3 manufacturers and 17

wholesalers/distributors, 13 retailers, 15 industrial customers and 13 homebuilders in a large geographic setting (Canada and the United States); thus concepts have been examined under a wide set of conditions

• The length and openness of interviews in the case study allowed to elicit many complex facets of the phenomenon under study

Table 9 – Continued

• The findings rely on a multiple-case study undertaken from the perspective of 3 manufacturing companies

• In addition of the interviews conducted with the 6 primary informants in these 3 cases, the integration of alternative perspectives in findings are ensured by interviews with 18 customers

• The evidence provided on the value of relationships in the case study is two-sided based on both customer and supplier

perspectives

• Data collected over a five-month period for the case study

• 69 hours of recorded evidence analyzed

• 50 pages of interview transcription; 200 pages of questionnaires

• On average each completed interview required about 4 hours of preparation (scheduling/re-scheduling and logistics)

• Data collection ceased when objectives were reached with

primary informants (supply side) and when the efforts required to elicit information from study prospects (purchasing side) became disproportionate with incremental information gains

Significance –

• The research offers adapted solutions to strategic issues in the Canadian wood products industry, a critical sector for the economic, social and environmental wealth of the country

• Little previous work has focused on the study of interfirm

relationships in a commodity exchange context particularly along the supply chain of wood products

• The case study provides new evidence on the phenomenon of business relationships as a means of value creation and produces guidelines for managerial action

(Framework adapted from Flint et al. 2002).

The next section builds upon some of these evaluation criteria in order to outline avenues for future research.