PARTNERING AND TRADITIONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN BUSINESS MARKETING - AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE

Many theoretical and empirical articles about channel relationships ha ve been published in the literature. However, Weitz and Jap (1995) hig hlight the lack of systematic research on the specific activities that comprise a partnering relationship in the business market. This Speci al issue represents the programmatic work of many scholars who have ad dressed this question using a case study approach. In this introductio n, background information about the project is provided along with spe cification of the research domain. The outcome of the issue is the dev elopment of a grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin, 1994) of partnershi p structure as defined by the activities of successful partnering firm s in contrast to traditional/typical interfirm relationships. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.