A comparative assessment of domestic and international supplier‐customer relationship perceptions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare aggregate differences in perceptions of supplier‐customer relationship structures of managers in the USA and Taiwan.Design/methodology/approach – Two studies used a survey method to assess graduate student perceptions of supplier‐customer relationships. Those graduate students had been responsible for managing business exchange relationships in their previous positions. The surveys were administered at different times in executive MBA classes at a major US university and a major Taiwanese university. An analysis was conducted to understand similarities and differences in relationship perceptions between US managers and Taiwanese managers.Findings – Differences exist between US and Taiwanese managers' perceptions of their supplier‐customer relationships. This indicates that US managers and Taiwanese managers differentiate among such relationships. However, the application of those differences may be unique to the nature of the business environments in the U...