The value buyers and sellers place on supply chain relationships: a relationship value continuum

In a competitive market, a firm's ability to compete is strongly linked to its business-to-business relationships and their resourcefulness in creating sustainable competitive advantage. Stable buyer/seller cooperative relationships are therefore an essential tool for firms to enhance their organisational performance in the marketplace. To develop and maintain the levels of relationships, participating firms need to recognise the value created by their relationships. Whilst both academics and practitioners tentatively agree on the broad understanding of the term 'value', few studies have identified value from an organisational perspective in the relationship context, other than the single constant of relationship value itself. This research reviews value from both the customer and organisational perspective and proposes a typology of relationship values. This article provides a relationship value continuum identifying four types of relationship value constructs. This continuum contributes to understanding the worth of the buyer / seller relationships.