Developing and managing a romantic business relationship: life cycle and strategies

Companies operate in a highly competitive climate and offer a wide variety of new products and services to both individuals and business firms. Today, companies find themselves facing more aggressive competition, uncertain market conditions, and unlimited opportunities. Managers and marketers have witnessed that they have to respond and must change the way they do business with other companies. This new environment has led managers and marketers to realize that they must change and restructure the way of establishing and maintaining ongoing business relationships. The paper provides a different perspective. It analyses the process of establishment and development of a strategic business relationship over time by considering the life cycle and stages of this relationship. The paper also describes the evolution of strategic business relationships as a relation between people or as a love affair and a commitment to marriage which is ideally based on shared interest, love, mutual trustworthiness, and commitment to continue the relationship. It also provides some strategic and managerial implications.