The roles of locus of causality and buyer attribution in resolution of recurrent supplier‐induced disruptions

While the literature tends to take a dichotomous view of supplier‐induced disruptions, we take a continuum perspective: a buyer perceives a disruption induced by the supplier to varying degrees (i.e., attributing varying levels of responsibility to the supplier), thus affecting the buyer's deci...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of operations management 2022-01, Vol.68 (1), p.55-93
Main Authors: Wang, Qiong, Cheng, Li, Craighead, Christopher W., Li, Julie Juan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Causality
Decision theory
Impact damage
justice
Loci
Procurement management
Purchasing
responsibility attributions
Suppliers
supply‐induced disruptions
Switching
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:While the literature tends to take a dichotomous view of supplier‐induced disruptions, we take a continuum perspective: a buyer perceives a disruption induced by the supplier to varying degrees (i.e., attributing varying levels of responsibility to the supplier), thus affecting the buyer's decisions in switching suppliers. By focusing on the recurrent disruptions, we argue that imputed buyers' attributions of responsibility are characterized by disruptions' recurrent nature and locus of causality—whether the disruptions were repeatedly triggered by recurrent events internal or external to the supplier. Furthermore, while previous studies have identified either buyers' attributions of disruptions or suppliers' justice approaches (to resolve disruptions) as independent factors driving buyers' decisions, we integrate attribution and justice theories and investigate their combined effect—how responsibility attributions affect buyers' switching intentions given suppliers' justice approaches. Using three vignette‐based studies of 705 purchasing managers (supplemented by three robustness check studies), we show that distributive justice attenuates the damaging impact of disruptions triggered by suppliers' internal incidents (internal locus) on buyers' switching intentions, whereas procedural and interactional justice are more instrumental in disruptions triggered by external events (external locus). We conclude by offering substantive guidance for suppliers regarding appropriate actions in preserving the relationship.
ISSN:0272-6963
1873-1317
DOI:10.1002/joom.1165