The influence of adaptations, trust, and commitment on value‐creating functions of customer relationships

Suppliers do not only maintain relationships with customers for the customers’ benefits but also for their own sake. Various important value‐creating functions of business relationships with customers have been identified in the past. However, the preconditions of this inter‐organizational value‐creation have not been addressed in depth. Drawing upon a database of over 200 customer‐supplier relationships, adaptations, trust and commitment are identified as key drivers for value creation. The results of this study have considerable consequences for the management of inter‐organizational relationships and networks regarding the process of how value could be created in business markets.