Lots of work has been conducted to explore and explain inter-organizational relations between supply chain partners. However, we have noticed that there is no accurate agreement between authors. Therefore, to better understand this disparity, the authors have studied supply chain inter-organizational relationship dynamics in different industries to bring out an analytical framework that allows a better understanding of such an issue. Further, the framework is subjected to expert’s opinion and ranked using the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) approach. These case studies instruct professionals and researchers so that they bring up their level of abstraction that remains appropriate to catch this dynamic in order to guide decision-making and future research and studies.

Lots of work has been conducted to explore and explain inter-organizational relations between supply chain partners. However, we have noticed that there is no accurate agreement between authors. Therefore, to better understand this disparity, the authors have studied supply chain inter-organizational relationship dynamics in different industries to bring out an analytical framework that allows a better understanding of such an issue. Further, the framework is subjected to expert’s opinion and ranked using the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) approach. These case studies instruct professionals and researchers so that they bring up their level of abstraction that remains appropriate to catch this dynamic in order to guide decision-making and future research and studies.

The social exchange perspective seeks to acknowledge, understand and predict the dynamics of social interactions. Empirical research involving social exchange constructs have grown to be highly technical including confirmatory factor analysis to assess construct distinctiveness and structural equation modeling to assess construct causality. Each study seemingly strives to assess how underlying social exchange theoretic constructs interrelate. Yet despite this methodological depth and resultant explanatory and predictive power, a significant number of studies report findings that, once synthesized, suggest an underlying persistent threat of conceptual or construct validity brought about by a search for epistemological parsimony. Further, it is argued that a methodological approach that embraces inherent complexity such as activity systems modeling facilitates the search for simplified models while not ignoring contextual factors.