Toward a conceptualization of supplier-switching processes in business relationships

This paper employs a practice perspective to study and conceptualize supplier-switching processes in business relationships. It is based on case study research of a company in the international marine industry, which intended to switch one of its key suppliers for a new one as a result of cost-cutting strategies and dissatisfaction with the old supplier. The case study describes the process, which ended with the old supplier being only partially switched. The findings show how (partial) switching from one supplier to another happened via three key sub-processes and associated practices, which the involved actors in the case drew upon in the switching process: (1) initiation – a process enabled by legitimizing and search practices; (2) substitution – a process enabled by transfer, translation, and transformation practices; and (3a) stabilization – a process enabled by institutionalizing practices; and (3b) restoration – a process whereby the old supplier is retained as a result of new conditions, this retention being enabled by certain repair practices. By identifying the processes and practices that enable switching to happen, the findings offer an initial conceptualization of supplier-switching processes, which comprises an important and heretofore underexplored aspect of supplier switching. The research highlights the importance of recognizing how relationships embedded in interorganizational routines are produced and reproduced in the switching process through the actions and interactions of the actors involved.