Fonte: Journal of Tourism & Development; v. 1, n. 13/14 (2010); 151-160
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Resumo: Relationship quality (RQ) is nowadays seen as a main source of competitive advantage, rather than service quality and/or customer satisfaction. As firms move towards more collaborative relationships, the role of relationship managers is increasingly vital to organizational success. Despite their crucial role in building business-to-business (B2B) RQ, very little research has looked at the key constructs of inter-organizational RQ from an interpersonal approach. This study aims at contributing to a better understanding of the nature, determinants, and dimensions of RQ. The focus is on testing a B2B RQ model from an interpersonal perspective using LISREL. A mail survey was employed and 948 client representatives provided their perceptions of their relationships with their counterparts in hotels, yielding a 40.7 percent response rate. Goodness-of-fit estimates provided strong support for the model. An alternative model was analysed and rejected in favour of the proposed model. By focusing on relational drivers this study responds to the lack of research on the interpersonal component of RQ, and suggests theoretical and managerial guidelines regarding the social level in the governance of business relationships.
