IMP Journal

Quality management systems as indicators for stability and change in customer-

supplier relationships
Peter Hallberg, Nina Hasche, Johan Kask, Christina Öberg,
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Peter Hallberg, Nina Hasche, Johan Kask, Christina Öberg, (2018) "Quality management systems
as indicators for stability and change in customer-supplier relationships", IMP Journal, https://
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Customer-
Quality management systems as supplier
indicators for stability and change relationships

in customer-supplier relationships
Peter Hallberg, Nina Hasche, Johan Kask and Christina Öberg
Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
Received 12 January 2018
Revised 27 March 2018
Accepted 16 May 2018
Abstract
Purpose – This paper extends the discussion on stability and change through focus on specific relationship
characteristics. Quality management systems prescribe established routines for supplier selection and
monitoring, and may thereby designate the nature and longevity of customer–supplier relationships. The
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purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss the effects of quality management systems on stability and
change in different forms of customer–supplier relationships.
Design/methodology/approach – A number of illustrative examples based on participatory data
and interviews help to capture different types of customer–supplier relationships (private/public; certified/
non-certified) related to quality management systems.
Findings – While certified customers in most sectors only need to prove that their suppliers have procedures
in place, many customers equate this with requiring that their suppliers should be certified. The paper further
shows that customers replace deeper understandings for their suppliers’ procedures with the requirement
that they be certified.
Originality/value – The paper contributes to the existing literature through integrating
quality management systems literature with the business network approach. For business network
studies, the discussion on quality management systems as constricting regimes is interesting and provides
practical insights to the business network studies as such quality management systems increase in
importance and spread.
Keywords Certification, Business relationships, ISO, Quality management systems, Stability and change
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Stability has been seen as one of the main characteristic of business relationships, denoting
how the relationships continue over time (Gadde and Mattsson, 1987). Change in such
circumstances refers to the continuous development of the relationship, including
adaptation between the parties (Hallén et al., 1991) and knowledge accumulation among
them. For change to be disruptive, the literature on business relationships has mainly
pointed at external circumstances (Halinen et al., 1999; Havila and Salmi, 2000), while the
selection and deselection of business parties may also occur as the consequence of changed
circumstances of the focal firm (Öberg et al., 2016).
Stability and change, as two contradictory yet interrelated items to describe business
relationships, are connected to items such as commitment, trust, appropriateness and
resource complementarities, with an underlying assumption being that it is often
economically worthwhile to remain in a relationship and develop it, rather than shift to a
new one. There are, though, several intervening factors influencing such stability and
change. This paper focuses on one of them: quality management systems.
Quality management systems, such as various systems related to ISO certifications, have
become a means for companies to secure internal routines, increase performance and
achieve competitiveness (Zelnik et al., 2012). While the systems are largely directed at
internal processes, they would have implications for the selection of business partners (e.g.
Lee et al., 2003; Corbett, 2006) in the way they describe how the company needs to follow IMP Journal
routines for evaluating its suppliers; in certain sectors (the aerospace and car industry, for © Emerald Publishing Limited
2059-1403
instance), such routines require that the suppliers are ISO certified. DOI 10.1108/IMP-01-2018-0006
 IMP Quality management systems could thus delimit the selection of qualified business
partners – or at least suppliers – and thereby demonstrate an upstream pressure for such
quality management systems. In the very choice of business partners, the process of selecting
and deselecting would impact the business network structures. The selection and deselection,
based on routines for supplier evaluations, may potentially impact the ongoing business
relationship developments as well, constructing a “thickness” or inertia in the network
structures. This is because there would be a limitation on partners to choose from,
demonstrating a further reason for remaining in current relationships. But there may also be
other ways in which quality management systems affect partner selection and the
development of business relationships, thereby linking it to the discussion on stability and
change in business relationships. This is what this paper sets out to explore. Specifically, the
paper aims to describe and discuss the effects of quality management systems on stability and
change in business relationships. It does so by drawing theoretically from the discussion on
stability and change (Gadde and Mattsson, 1987; Tähtinen and Holmlund, 2017) and their
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consequences and it empirically focuses on customer–supplier relationships where at least one

actor (i.e. the customer or the supplier) is an ISO-certified company. It also targets how
customer–supplier business relationships among companies are established based on quality
management system selection and deselection processes, and how such processes affect the
continuation, in terms of stability and change, of the business relationships.
Contributions are made to previous research through integrating quality management
systems with the business network, or IMP, approach. This helps to capture the business
network effects of such systems and broadens the quality management system lens beyond
the efficiency and performance of the individual companies. For business network studies,
the discussion on management systems as constricting regimes is interesting and provides
practical insights to the business network studies as such quality management systems
increase in importance and spread.
The paper continues as follows: the next section reviews the theoretical background and
framing, that is, the discussion of stability and change related to business relationships from
an IMP point of view, along with a brief introduction of quality management systems.
The research design and a description of the study setting appear in the succeeding section,
followed by the empirical illustrations. These are followed by an analysis. The paper ends
with conclusions, including theoretical and managerial implications, along with ideas for
further research.

Theoretical background and framing

Research on business networks emphasizes the continuity of business relationships and
how parties turn to the same supplier and customer in repeated episodes of exchanges
(Håkansson, 1982). This is thus the consequence of commitment and trust between parties,
while the commitment and trust in turn include how parties adjust to one another in
continuing adaptation processes (Hallén et al., 1991), thereby creating a dynamic change in
those processes. Stability and change, as coined by Gadde and Mattsson (1987), thereby
interact as descriptions and fundamental characteristics of business relationships.
Many researchers (see, e.g. Ford, 1980; Ford and Rosson, 1982; Dwyer et al., 1987;
Batonda and Perry, 2003; Kaunonen, 2010) have tried to understand and explain how
business relationships develop over time. Some researchers use stages theory (e.g. Ford,
1980; Dwyer et al., 1987), which focuses on a progression of change processes in business
relationship development through stages, where episodes of interaction are linked over time
in a development process. Ford (1980) describes five different stages, namely the
pre-relationship stage, early stage, development stage, long-term stage and final stage.
Dwyer et al. (1987) discuss the five stages of awareness, exploration, expansion,
commitment and dissolution. The assumption in stage models is that business relationship
 development processes occur in sequential and irreversible stages over long periods of time. Customer-
The stages are described in terms of experience, uncertainty, commitment and mutual supplier
adaptation of the two parties as well as the distance that exists between them. relationships
Searching for and evaluating new partners are often the starting points of new business
relationships, as making evaluations of a future potential business relationship is described
as problematic in previous research (Dwyer et al., 1987). Ulaga (2003) argues that many
customers in industrial markets pre-select suppliers in advance based on, e.g., price, quality
and ISO requirements. The pre-selected suppliers are then added to a pool of qualified
suppliers to be chosen from. Over time, initial evaluations develop into negotiations about
possible exchanges between the parties. Lambe et al. (2001) argue that the initial
negotiations between customers and suppliers in business relationships are critical for the
future development of the relationship. Commitment issues arise as question marks toward
the other party’s commitment at the evaluation stage, during negotiations and as initial
interactions occur, where each party needs to commit to the relationship to increase the level
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of trust between the interacting parties (Ford, 1980; Dwyer et al., 1987).
Over time, the customer’s and the supplier’s joint adaptations increase and their
commitments grow. In the long-term perspective, it is assumed that companies reach a
certain stability in terms of trust, commitment and learning about the counterpart within the
relationship (Ford, 1980; Håkansson, 1982). Sooner or later, all relationships enter an
evaluation stage where both the customer and the supplier question whether to continue or
end the business relationship. The process is described as a gradual development, taking
place in a sequential manner and over long periods of time.
Ford and Rosson (1982), Batonda and Perry (2003) and Kaunonen (2010) utilize states
theory, proposing that the relationship development process is an evolution of unpredictable
states in which companies move from one state to another randomly. State models thus
assume that the relationship development process is neither necessarily orderly nor
progressive over time. The model accommodates fluctuations in relationships (Ford and
Rosson, 1982). During the development process, relationships can move forward and
backward or even stay in the same state for an undetermined period of time. Thus, states
models focus on the unpredictable states of the relationship at any point in time (Rao and
Perry, 2002). State models can be used to describe and interpret the dynamics of business
relationship development. A series of interlinked episodes put business relationships into
different states that illustrate the complexity and dynamism of business relationship
development (Schurr et al., 2005). Success situations and failure circumstances of business
relationship development are both part of state models (Ford and Rosson, 1982).
Most scholars describe the different states in terms of beginning, middle and end,
although with a varying number of states and epithets used. Ford and Rosson (1982) discuss
five states: new, static, troubled, growing and inert. Rosson and Ford (1982) include conflict
as an additional middle state. Rosson (1986) adds termination as an end state of business
relationship development. Batonda and Perry (2003) describe the different states in terms of
searching, starting, developing, maintaining, dormant and terminating. The beginning
states include search processes of suitable counterparts, where an agreement to work
together is made, but where there is little experience interacting between the involved
parties. The middle states are often characterized in terms of different development paths
such as conflict, troubled, decline, static or growing. The relationship can scarcely be
justified when business relationships evolve into the end states (inert, dormant and
termination). In these states, the involved parties develop strategies to dissolve the
relationship mutually (Batonda and Perry, 2003), although for all states between start and
end, the business relationship can take many different development paths.
Criticisms have been directed at the appropriateness of both stage and states models in
understanding and explaining business relationship development. However, the approaches
 IMP are useful as starting points, since both types of models suggest that business relationships
have both periods of change and stability over time. They also indicate a start of
relationships including the selection of a partner, a continuation with them and a possible
end. The start and end would be of disruptive character, while the continuation would
include the interplay between stability and change, allowing the relationship to possibly
move backwards and forwards between stages and states.

A background to quality management systems and ISO 9001 certificates

Quality management systems refer to certification systems for companies to ensure that the
company has processes in place for various routines. SS-EN-ISO 9001, in different updates,
consists of international standards for quality and is part of the larger ISO standardization
family of quality management systems. The prefix SS-EN means that this standard is
approved by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), consisting of the national
standards bodies of the member states of the EU, Norway and Switzerland. CEN, in turn, is a
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member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) for conformity across accreditation
bodies, which has made a multilateral recognition agreement that a certificate issued to an
organization by a national certification body is valid in all countries that are part of the IAF.
ISO certification is a voluntary act by organizations and there are no legal requirements to
become certified. An organization that wants to become certified according to ISO 9001 must
have a process-based approach and operational routines in place when developing and
implementing its quality management system. In other words, ISO 9001 is neither a quality
system for the products and services of the holder, nor an industry or product-specific standard,
but a general standard that can be applied to all industries regardless of product manufacturing
or service provision. There are no minimum or predefined requirements that the organization
must achieve to become certified. Instead, each organization formulates its own missions.
Previous research on quality management systems has focused on how the systems
affect the performance of companies (e.g. Yeung et al., 2003; Dick et al., 2008), and how it is
spread in various sectors and among different kinds of companies (SMEs, service
organizations, public bodies, etc.). The internal focus is a key concern, also supported by
how most research activities are performed in the niche of quality management and control.
Some studies, however, have extended the lens to include how the quality management
system connects to the company’s context. To exemplify, Corbett (2006) points to how
suppliers commit to those quality management systems that their customers have adopted.
This means that a supplier selects a system similar to the customer’s system, implying an
upstream adoption or imitation of routines between companies. Prajogo et al. (2012) describe
how quality management systems create structure and processes for the selection of
suppliers. Lee et al. (2003) point at how quality management systems may have a decisive
impact on the choice of suppliers. The scholars conclude that quality management systems
are more important than price in those choices, thus indicating how companies, in reality,
select suppliers based on if they are certified.
In practice, there is a common misunderstanding that a certified organization is required
to use only suppliers that are certified as well, but this is not the case, the exception being
public procurement and some few industry sectors (cars and aircrafts), where this is a
requirement. According to the 2015 version of ISO 9001, the certified organization is
required to ensure that externally provided processes, products and services conform to
requirements and remain under control. Another requirement in the standard is to
communicate the requirements and continuously monitor the suppliers’ methods,
competences and improvements. In other words, it is not enough to just approve a
supplier based on its ISO 9001 certification.
Su et al. (2010) refer to customer relationship management systems as an extension of
quality systems, thus also partly incorporating the effect on customer selection.
 The inclusion of customers in studies on quality management systems is rare, as is research Customer-
on how quality management systems affect business relationship developments. supplier
The assumed constraints that quality management systems would have on partner relationships
selection, and their impact on the continuation of business relationships, would impact the
development of business relationships, both as stability and change factors.

Analytical framework
With the purpose to describe and discuss the effects of quality management systems on
stability and change in business relationships, the business relationship development was
divided into its partner selection and continuation phases (see Figure 1). The partner
selection phase denotes the first stage or state of a business relationship (e.g. Ford, 1980;
Ford and Rosson, 1982) and those thoughts and concerns that play a part at that point.
The continuation refers to every stage or state thereafter. In both circumstances, focus is on
the stability and change, respectively.
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In the partner selection processes of companies (Wilkinson et al., 2005; Kask and Linton,
2013), the processes would be based on several circumstances. Given that the company has
functioning business relationships and provided that the company does not attempt to
reposition itself and thereby interconnect with new actors at other “locations” in the network,
current interactions would delimit the number of new partner selection processes. At the point
when new parties are indeed introduced as new direct relationships (Anderson et al., 1994),
resource complementarities, but also goal alignment, could expect to affect the choice
(Anderson and Narus, 1991; Wilkinson et al., 2005; Öberg and Shih, 2014). Similar contexts and
expectations also play a part (Håkansson, 1982; Wilkinson et al., 2005), indicating how a
business partner is judged on the probably to survive in the future and also its willingness to
develop in line with the selecting company. Symmetry is underlined as this would create a
balance (Emerson, 1962; Hertz, 1998), and at the length commitment and trust rather than
exercised power.
Along the lines of business relationship development (e.g. Ford, 1980; Dwyer et al., 1987),
these aspects (expectations for the future, goal alignment, balance and complementarities of
resources) would continue to be questioned and ensured along with the development of
commitment and trust. This also includes how the companies start adjusting to one another,
again creating constraints to replace one business partner for another. The commitment and
trust become fundamental for the parties to adjust and thereby for continuous developments
of new ideas between parties. Such ideas, however, are mostly incremental in their character,
while more radical ideas either come from inside the company (Öberg, 2018) or require the

Partner selection (Before relationship) Continuation phases (During relationship)

Each party’s analysis Each party’s past and Each party’s past and Each party’s past and
of the prospective present exchange from present exchange from present exchange from
partner other relationships in the focal relationship other relationships in
its network (direct or its network (direct or
indirect involvement) indirect involvement)

Each party’s Each party’s Each party’s Each party’s

expectations of future expectations of other expectations (shared expectations of other Figure 1.
alternatives and non-shared) of alternatives
exchange from the
future exchange from
Flowchart of
prospective relationships business relationship
the focal relationship
development, that is,
the partner selection
Each party’s willingness to enter into the focal Each party’s willingness to continue as before, and continuation
relationship develop but keep, or end the focal relationship phases
 IMP company to connect with new parties (Story et al., 2008). An inertia could thereby be argued
for in the sense that companies perhaps stay “too long” in present relationships, and thereby
potentially miss out on scopes of renewal, not the least since present relationships make
them feel reassured about the continuity of the present also into the future.
Stability and change in a relationship between two companies would, in short, depend on
what each of the two parties has previously learned from other relationships, that is, lessons
from relationships outside of the focal one; present exchanges in the focal relationship; and
the shared and non-shared expectations (e.g. goal alignment) of the future interactions,
relative to the parties’ expectations on their future alternatives. Figure 1 outlines these
various dimensions. It is conceivable that there could be a high amplitude of change in the
relationship’s setup and activities without the relationship coming to an end. Hence, there is
a difference between change within relationships that leaves the network-level structure
unaffected and change that disbands relationships and thus creates a disruptive change.
The left and the right sides of Figure 1 (marked with two different nuances of gray) show
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the business relationship development process, that is, partner selection (left) and
continuation (right), from the customer or supplier point of view. In both phases, two lines
are described, symbolizing the trade-off made when deciding to enter the specific focal
relationship in light of other alternatives, as well as the willingness to continue as before,
develop but keep, or end the focal relationship.

Research design
To provide theoretical and managerial insights on the researched phenomenon, this paper
adopts an explorative, qualitative approach. Empirical illustrations were chosen in order to
give comparable insights and to capture business relationships under different regimes, that
is, unconstrained partner selections and relationship developments in the private sector as
well as more restricted practices as part of public purchasing processes. This latter division
came across as important based on experiences from quality management systems auditing
by one of the authors, and given the difference between suppliers’ required certifications in
public procurement, which is not present for private-sector purchasing (but for certain
industry sectors).

Data collection
The empirical work for the paper is based on participation and in-depth knowledge on
quality management systems as obtained by the author working as a professional lead
auditor for quality management systems for the last 10 years, focusing, for instance, on the
ISO 9001 quality standards. The examples in the paper all come from clients of that author,
which assured data access. The yearly audit reports of the example firms are also part of the
collected data. Hence, integrated with the findings but also as the inspiration for this paper,
and as a mechanism to verify findings through participation and observation, the in-depth
knowledge on quality management systems was important. It also allowed for the data
collection to be performed addressing issues from a pre-understanding point of view, and
thereby capture critical issues easily overseen by less informed researchers.
Interviews were also conducted with four companies. The representatives were either
CEOs or chairmen of the board, so as to thereby capture a company-wide view on partner
selection and further relationship development from someone well informed about the quality
management system of the company. The interviewees also had qualified knowledge on the
operational part of the businesses, since all companies are micro or small-sized companies.
The questions applied an open-ended question approach and covered areas of partner
selection and continuity in relation to customers, suppliers, public procurement, specific
sectors, and the general take on partner selection and continuity as the consequence of quality
management systems. Table I summarizes key features of the four companies.
 Analysis of data Customer-
The analysis of data focused on the effects of quality management systems on stability and supplier
change in business relationships, that is, in the partner selection and continuation phases. relationships
In every business relationship described, at least one party is an ISO certified company, or in
other words, the customer, the supplier or both have adopted the quality management system.
Structural analyses were performed (Pratt, 2009), where different business relationships
(customers/suppliers, private/public) were analyzed in isolation so as to see how the partner
selection and business relationship continuum were affected by the quality management
systems. From the focal companies’ point of view, individual business relationships with the
same features were treated as aggregates and representatives for each category of business
relationships (customers/suppliers, private/public). This meant that the focal company
representatives may well have described several relationships falling into the same category
(e.g. private-sector suppliers), while these descriptions were treated as statements between
the focal company and that specific category, rather than divided among each individual
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private-sector supplier of that company. Both the customer and supplier side of the
companies were captured, but thus in different categories. Different categories of customers/
suppliers and private/public were then compared. Here, the different categories were in
focus and the analysis aimed to contrast these and figure out whether and how companies
based on these categories treated the partner selection and business relationships in
different ways.
Findings were also synthesized toward previous research so as to ensure the theoretical
contribution of this paper, and also to increase the accuracy of the findings. For quality
management literature, this was also done initially so as to establish the research gap, while
for business network studies this was iterated to see how descriptions of business
relationships under quality management system regimes possibly diverged from how
business relationships are portrayed in such studies. As for the latter, this was specifically
compared in terms of descriptions of partner selection (Wilkinson et al., 2005) and business
relationship continuums (Gadde and Mattsson, 1987; Ford and Håkansson, 2006).

Findings
Lessons from certified suppliers in relation to non-certified customers in the private sector
Krafft Måleri works predominantly with large private construction companies that have no
requirement that their paint subcontractors have an ISO quality management system. As a
supplier, Krafft Måleri assumes that the certificate itself has not led to new business deals
recently, because the company has been certified for a long time and mostly works within
existing and well-established customer–supplier relationships. There is the sense, however,
that the certification status renders a more serious image of the company in the eyes of their
non-certified customers, especially in comparison to non-certified competitors. This, in turn, has
contributed to the long and stable relationships. There has been a change over time, though.

No. of ISO 9001

Company, location Area of business employees since Interviewee

Dreisen, Linköping Soldering services 7 2009 Anna-Maria Gyllenhammar, CEO

KP Måleri, Paint and paintwork 36 2011 Jonas Groeger, CEO
Gothenburg
Krafft Måleri, Örebro Paint and paintwork 80 2006 Gunnar Wändell, Chairman of Table I.
board; previous CEO Focal certified
Krusmans Manufacturing of 7 2013 Daniel Krusman, CEO companies in
Nödduschar, Västerås emergency showers the study
 IMP Earlier (10 – 15 years ago) a new customer relationship could follow from being certified, but
today this is no longer the case. According to Gunnar Wändell, price is the most important
factor to get a job, where existing relationships would put the company in the position to
negotiate, but the price would still need to be the lowest.
For Dreisen to attract new customers, the decisive factor has not been the certificate per
se, even though in some cases it has been an enabler. Instead, Dreisen claims to have unique
resources to offer and quite a few competitors in its niche of business, while the larger
marketplace is under keen price competition. While there are no explicit requirements to be
certified, the company feels that it has begun to become a requirement and that the
customers count on suppliers to be certified:
We have completed a survey of the result of being certified. It was directed at the largest customers
and then found that, if the certificate had not been retained, the customer had not been retained. We
asked ten companies, eight responded and four of them said that they would switch supplier if we
no longer were certified. (Anna-Maria Gyllenhammar, Dreisen)
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According to company representatives, purchasers rarely have the competence to review

the quality management system; they just note that the supplier is certified. But there are
exceptions: companies that not only require certificates, but also do second-party audits to
make sure all requirements are fulfilled. And there are the sector requirements: without a
certificate, Dreisen would not have had the chance to become a subcontractor for the
automotive industry. Dreisen uses the benefit of being certified in its marketing and in
connection with new clients through putting forward that when it became certified in ISO
9001 in 2009, it was one of the first SMEs in its hometown of Linköping, Sweden, to do
have done so.
For Krusman Nödduschar, the certificate has opened doors to customers that would not
have been accessible otherwise, making certification a strategic decision for the company.
As an example, an international company required a certificate to begin on a second-party
audit, and representatives of Krusman Nödduschar also point at how the company gets a
higher status if it is certified. But while certification has opened doors to customers, price is
the most essential consideration when customers choose their suppliers. The certificate only
helps the company to be considered in the first place. Some competitors are not certified, but
these need to fill in a lot of forms to prove that they have operational control and working
procedures in place. Representatives of Krusman Nödduschar think that the value of the
certificate has decreased over the years because it is too easy to become certified.
Daniel Krusman argues that being certified is a good start to be an interested party in the
beginning of a relationship.

Lessons from certified suppliers in relation to certified customers in the public sector
Customers in public procurement have raised their requirements over time so that,
currently, a supplier needs to be certified to be considered. If the company is not certified, it
will not be in consideration for the public tender. The certification had a value-adding effect
in the past, but now it is seen more as a basic requirement:
Previously, certification gave more value and you could be a bit more expensive but still get the job.
Now, the certification has been given a lower value in the review. It is the price that determines, it is
required that you are certified to be included, it is the lowest level. (Gunnar Wändell, Krafft Måleri)
Most of KP Måleri’s customers are in the public sector and, thus, the company needs to
abide by public procurement tenders. For KP Måleri, it is a requirement to have a
third-party accredited certificate when bidding on public procurement. However,
representatives of KP Måleri point at the difficulties, as a small company, to reach these
large customers due to problems maintaining an ISO-certified system over time, while the
 public customers check regularly for the certificates and that they are valid. It is seldom Customer-
that public customers perform any additional analyses in regard to the content of the quality supplier
management systems of the suppliers; however, they only ensure that they are certified. relationships
Customers may also have difficulties to actually look into the suppliers’ systems and
evaluate them, since the customers often have low competence in the actual content of the
systems and may have difficulties fulfilling their own requirements. Large property owners
like Specialfastigheter (prisons, courts, police stations, etc.) and Akademiska Hus (university
buildings) do require certification, and they are good at reviewing management systems,
unlike local property owners that are not.

Lessons from non-certified suppliers in relation to certified customers in the private sector
As for suppliers, Dreisen does not require them to be certified. On the other hand, Dreisen
forces its procedures for nonconformities, complaints and documentation on the suppliers.
The company reviews the suppliers according to the demands in ISO 9001, and the main
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focus is delivery assurance and delivery precision, with price remaining an important factor
due to pricing in the soldering market.
Krafft Måleri does not require its subcontractors to be certified. The company has,
however, worked to have fewer subcontractors and deepen the collaborations with them.
This is a result of the quality management system due to improvement in procurement,
fewer suppliers giving less internal administration, and the company having worked out a
partner program. In short, it means that the contractor and subcontractors cooperate from
the beginning, starting with the projecting and thereafter working together during the
contract, also enabling Krafft Måleri to take on larger public projects. Price is not that
important; instead, the company chooses suppliers based on efficiency and availability.
By being certified, Krafft Måleri has affected its subcontractors to become systematic and
effective as if the subcontractors were certified. The suppliers are forced to have procedures
and work systematically with nonconformities and self-monitoring.
KP Måleri does not require its suppliers to be certified, but most of them are and these
are at the forefront. In cases of public procurement, the company needs to secure that its
suppliers’ material (mostly chemicals such as paint, glue, etc.) is acceptable to be built into
the customers’ buildings.
Representatives of Krusman Nödduschar think it is positive that the company’s
suppliers are certified, but it is not a requirement. Krusman Nödduschar, however, works
systematically and with controlled procurement procedures. Earlier, the company had part
of its production outsourced and then introduced active operational control to ensure that
suppliers followed Krusman Nödduschar’s procedures. As a means to systemize the
business, the company insourced the production for better control.

Lessons from certified suppliers in relation to certified customers in the private sector
For Dreisen, the ISO system is a tool for improvement. Representatives of the company
believe that being certified has improved their customer focus by helping them to be better
at understanding customer requirements and needs. Through better understanding of
customer requirements and needs, Dreisen has increased requirements on its suppliers and
subcontractors. The company has also been better to meet customer expectations during
customer audits, including, for instance, second-party audits for supplier control. According
to audit reports, Dreisen has improved by finding nonconformities during the indoor process
instead of getting them back from customers as reclamation.
Krusman Nödduschar has also become better at meeting customer expectations during
customer audits. The ISO system has helped the company to act in a uniform way and meet
customer requirements and needs during periods of high workload. One notable aspect of
customer satisfaction is that Krusman Nödduschar has insourced production from
 IMP subcontractors in order to increase product quality. Suppliers that do not meet the
requirements of the company have been replaced by other suppliers. Implementing a MPS
system has improved traceability and strengthened the purchase basis. By self-monitoring
all products, Krusman Nödduschar has ensured that no incorrect products are delivered.

Lessons from public-sector suppliers in relation to customers

KP Måleri has improved its knowledge on legislation, rules and customer requirements due
to public procurement. This has increased awareness and lowered the risk for mistakes. The
main target for KP Måleri in business with public customers is to lower quality costs and
just achieve, not exceed, customer requirements. This is due to how the public procurement
only measures toward target, since overachieving would still not lead to any benefits when
new tenders are asked for. The company has improved internal administration and
efficiency by managing the business and work uniformly as a target to reduce costs and
minimize nonconformities and reclamation.
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Analysis
Looking at the different illustrations, the quality management systems suggest to play
different parts along the axis of public and private suppliers and in the partner selection and
continuation of the relationship, respectively. More specifically, the systems delimit the
choice of suppliers as the quality management system becomes a prerequisite for being
chosen, and this applies regardless of if it is a formal requirement or not. An interesting
observation from the empirical data is how customers sometimes seem to replace their
further analysis of the suppliers’ operations with the request for certification. Rather than
analyzing the supplier’s business, the customer simply requires the certification, while this
as such does not provide a specific quality standard. A difference is seen here between
certified and non-certified customers, as the latter tends to rather focus on actual processes
of the supplier, while the former indeed sees a certification as the reassurance of the
supplier’s operations and quality work.
During the ongoing business relationships, the certifications seem to not be as important.
Expectations are again that customers and suppliers would work according to specific routines
and that the certification could be seen as providing such reassurance. Here, the certification
seems to function in a similar way as the trust-building components (Mayer et al., 1995).
The certification also plays a part in how the adjustment between suppliers and sub-suppliers/
partners (cf. Hallén et al., 1991) includes the adjustment of procedures between the parties.
The examples also indicate how certification may lead to the insourcing of activities to have
better control of these, thus impacting the existence of business relationships.
In public procurement, suppliers are contracted for a definite period of time, after which
there is a new tender. Here, certification is a requirement to be selected. What is more, during
the contracted period there are specified requirements that the supplier should fulfill, and
there are no benefits in exceeding these requirements. The suppliers’ focus is on reducing
costs by internal efficiency, as there is no value in making adjusting investments in the other
party. In every new public procurement there is a high risk that the customer is forced to
change suppliers independently of their delivered product or service quality during the
previous cycle due to procurement starting over at zero; that is, the previous performance of
suppliers is not considered in the new tender. Figure 2 indicates these various effects of
certification in the partner selection and in the continuation phases for the private and
public sectors, respectively.
To summarize, a partner selection process in the private sector is often marked by stability
in the sense that the quality management system creates a sort of reassurance, reducing
uncertainty or at least creating a “false” belief that the supplier has systems for its operations.
Based on how many customers see the quality management system as a requirement,
 it somewhat reduces the number of supplier choices, while this aspect has decreased in Customer-
importance since many companies are now certified. The ongoing relationships in the private supplier
sector are marked by similar developments, adaptations and thereby progressive relationships
development as referred to in most previous studies on business relationship development
(Ford, 1980; Dwyer et al., 1987).
For public procurement, the rules of procurement mean that the supplier selection is
much more random, focusing on suppliers that meet prescribed criteria, and where history
does not play a part for the selection. The ongoing relationship is marked by stability in how
it does not develop, as the supplier does not have an advantage to do so. Figure 3
summarizes these dimensions.

Conclusions
As indicated by the illustrations in this paper, quality management systems are an inherited
part of partner selection, and this has been overlooked in previous studies focusing on such
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processes. While previous studies have emphasized resource complementarities, goal

alignment (Anderson and Narus, 1991; Wilkinson et al., 2005; Öberg and Shih, 2014),
similarities in contexts and expectations (Håkansson, 1982; Wilkinson et al., 2005), and
symmetry to establish balance (Emerson, 1962; Hertz, 1998) as partner selection criteria, this
paper shows how certification has a decisive impact on the selection of a partner.
Specifically, the certification allows for the company to be further considered for purchases.
The paper also indicates that this is the case regardless of if the customer is part of public
procurement or those sectors where certification of suppliers (aerospace and car

Partner selection (Before relationship) Continuation phases (During relationship)

Private • Certification enforces control, and, thus, is seen as • Certification increases insourcing for control
an alternative to analyze prospective partner
sector • Certification coerces conformity in the partners’
• Certification increases expectations of a consistent expectations vis-à-vis each other over time; more
quality with less variation in the partner’s expectations are shared, while fewer are non-shared
operations
• Development as a means to operate
• Partner selection as the exception; continuity as
the core
Figure 2.
Public • Certification is a prerequisite of potential suppliers • Extra investments made into the relationship makes no Influence of
sector • Supplier’s past and present performance does not
guarantee for the next cycle of public procurement management control
play a part in formulating the tender, and is • Non-development as a means to operate systems on business
unrelated to the expectations of winning the public relationship
procurement development in the
• Partner selection as the core; continuity as the private and public
exception sector

Partner selection Continuation phases

(Before relationship) (During relationship)

Private
sector Stability Change

Public Change Stability

sector Figure 3.
Summary of findings
 IMP manufacturing) is a requirement. Hence, while certified customers in most sectors only need
to prove that their suppliers have systems and procedures in place, many customers equate
this with requiring that their suppliers should be certified.
The paper further shows that customers replace deeper understanding of their suppliers’
procedures with the requirement that they be certified. This is the case, although each certified
organization determines its own routines and quality levels and could hence be considered as a
false reassurance based on how the customers lack deeper understanding of the certifications.
The paper indicates how the certifications primarily have consequences for the partner
selection, but through how non-certified suppliers are excluded, the certifications also affect the
continuum of business relationships. This is based on how other suppliers are not considered,
and the quality management systems thereby create an exclusive club, as part of, or separated
from, other business partners. The spread of certified companies has decreased this effect, but
requirements on quality control have partly increased insourcing. Public procurement creates a
specific circumstance for the ongoing relationships, as new tenders mean that all certified
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suppliers are evaluated based on their tenders, not on previous achievements, thus creating a
situation of change each time new tenders are asked for, while also leading to an unwillingness
to deliver beyond target once the relationship has been formed.
The illustrations in this paper, hence, seem to suggest that yet another parameter needs
to be added to the partner selection variables (cf. Wilkinson et al., 2005; Kask and Linton,
2013). Certification as visual “proof” of internal routines should be added, and this seems to
be regardless of whether it is actually required by the customers. Partly, such certification
could be thought to answer questions about similarities in the context and to create
reassurance as a trust-establishing parameter. Furthermore, public procurement and its
effects on the continuation of business relationships need to be included in studies on
business relationships and their stability and change.

Theoretical contributions
Contributions are made to previous research through integrating quality management
systems with the business network approach. This helps to capture the business network
effects of such systems and broadens the lens beyond the efficiency and performance
of the individual companies. For business network studies, the discussion on management
systems as constricting regimes is interesting, as it provides practical insights to
the business network studies as such quality management systems increase in
importance and spread (also including the sustainability management systems such as
ISO 14000 standards).
More specifically, this paper points to how quality management systems add to those
parameters described in previous literature on partner selection, and how the quality
management systems become excluding to other suppliers, thereby creating an exclusive
club of certified companies as part of a broader business network.
For IMP research specifically, quality management systems help to further understand
the dynamics of business relationships, potential insourcing and how evaluations of
partners are based on a delimited number of potential suppliers. All of this points to quite
stable structures and links a practical dimension of management of firms to those theories
advocating the understanding of long-term business relationships.

Managerial implications
For managers, it is important to consider how quality management systems affect the
likelihood to be selected, or deselected, as a business partner, as well as how certifications
can and should be used and dealt with in purchasing and marketing/sales activities.
For sales managers and purchasers in the private sector, where suppliers’ certification may
or may not be used as the basis of customers’ purchasing decisions, this paper has two
 practical implications: First, certification is not a measure of quality; it merely states that the Customer-
company has a systematic approach to improving quality. Finding a certified supplier may supplier
create a false belief of a certain quality level, because even suppliers that improve from very relationships
moderate levels can be certified. Thus, on the one hand, sales managers need to show
prospective customers both the ability to deliver in line with their needs and to work
systematically to improve quality – just showing the certificate is not enough. On the other
hand, since there is no threshold level of quality required to become certified, purchasers
should be aware of that and evaluate the prospective suppliers themselves.
Second, the quality management system itself has, as shown, a limited impact in
established relationships for whether or not the relationship continues or ends; as partners
tend to evaluate outcomes rather than certifications, meeting or exceeding expectations is
what really matters to stay as a supplier in the private sector. Nonetheless, certified
customers’ expectations may relate to their own quality management systems. Thus, in the
long-term they may expect their suppliers to match or exceed their own levels.
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For managers in the public sector, the paper has the following implications: First, as every
new procurement is based on new tenders, the public procurement is per se history-blind; the
outcomes of a quality management system are seemingly less important than in the private
sector, while being certified is what qualifies the suppliers to take part in a public procurement.
However, as a public purchaser it should be of self-interest to thoroughly evaluate the quality
management system of the suppliers to secure the fulfillment of the agreement, and not merely
tick off certification as one necessity among others. This requires knowledge on quality
management systems and evaluation activities, and second-part opinions may be one means to
achieve this. Second, during the contracted period, suppliers in public procurement only need to
deliver what is agreed upon. This creates a behavior that need not necessarily develop the
supplier business in a positive way. Hence, it would be important to balance public procurement
tenders with private customers so as not to fall behind in development.

Ideas for further research

This research is based on a limited number of investigated relationships of micro and small-sized
companies. For further studies, it would be interesting to broaden the data collection to include
other types of companies such as large-scale organizations and international companies, and also
to make comparisons among various kinds of companies. The development over time is partly
captured in the present data collection, however, through retrospective studies (Huber and Power,
1985). For additional studies, it would be interesting to more systematically capture the role of
certificates for business relationship dynamics over time, so as to see whether and how they have
increased or decreased in importance as a facilitator for stability and change in various forms of
relationships and their various stages/states.

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About the authors

Peter Hallberg is a half-time Industrial PhD Student at Örebro University School of Business, Sweden.
On the other half, Peter performs national and international ISO assessments for quality, environment,
health and safety as well as energy management as Lead Auditor and responsible for internal
accreditation work as Assessment Manager at Scandinavian Business Certification AB. Peter is one of
the Founders and Owners of the company.
Nina Hasche is Assistant Professor at Örebro University School of Business, Sweden. Her research
interests focus on change and development processes in business relationships and networks, with
recent projects looking at business collaborations and the creation of trust, value and legitimacy.
Johan Kask is Assistant Professor at Örebro University School of Business, Sweden. He has done
research on inter-organizational units of analysis, including business networks, relationships and
marketing channels. His specific focus is long-term evolution, interactions and strategy, as well as
entrepreneurship and innovations
Christina Öberg is Professor/Chair in Marketing at Örebro University and also associated with The Ratio
Institute, University of Exeter and Leeds University. She has a background from Linköping University and
Lund University and has also been Visiting Scholar at Stanford, University of Bath, and Manchester
University. Her research interests concern mergers and acquisitions, customer relationships, innovations and
new ways to pursue business, including the sharing economy and the effects of additive manufacturing. She
has previously published in journals such as Journal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing
Management, International Marketing Review, European Journal of Marketing and Production Planning &
Control. Christina Öberg is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: christina.oberg@oru.se

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