Insidious role of complacency in business-to-business relationships

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This research draws on resource-based theory and heuristic versus systematic processing model and examines the effects of intentional and unintentional negative behaviors on performance of exchange relationships. Intentional negative behaviors investigated in this study include opportunism and conflict, while complacency represents an unintentional negative behavior. The research, conducted in two studies with experimental and survey-based data, investigates the role of complacency in the exchange process relative to intentional negative behaviors and across different types of performance outcomes. Furthermore, the research empirically tests factors, which suppress or enhance negative effects of complacency. The results of the research show that complacency adversely impacts exchange performance through a different mechanism than intentional negative behaviors of opportunism and conflict, namely through decreasing the deployment of exchange capabilities. Cognitive load worsens this negative relationship, while new relationship stage decreases the negative effects of complacency on the deployment of exchange capabilities. The research provides numerous important contributions that will benefit both theory and practice.