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Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to analyse what roles different relational norms play in long‐term business relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses exploratory factor analysis on a data set of n=297 relationships and identifies two norm dimensions: value‐creating norms and value‐claiming norms.
Findings
This paper demonstrates that extant empirical research on relational norms and related behaviours is fragmentary and that there is considerable overlap between certain norms. Hence, the dimensionality of the norm concept remains unclear.
Originality/value
This study contributes to a clearer picture of the norm construct that has been used in a fragmented and selective way in empirical studies in the past.
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited
2006
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