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© 1995 Oxford University Press

research-article

Multifaceted Buyer and Seller Relationships in the Telecommunications Services Industry

MICHAEL DOWLING

(Department of Management, Terry College of Business, University of Georgia Athens, GA 30602, USA)

Abstract

This paper analyzes an increasingly common type of complex relationship faced by telecommunications firms: a situation in which a major competitor is also an important supplier, buyer or partner (a ‘multifaceted relationship’). Based on interview data from several firms and descriptions of other such relationships in the business press, different kinds of multifaceted relationships are defined, before the discussion of a number of external environmental forces and internal organizational factors that influence the creation of such relationships. Furthermore, evidence suggests that firms adopt a variety of strategies to deal with such relationships. Finally, how one major telecommunications services firm, BellSouth Corporation, has attempted to manage the complexity of its multifaceted relationships is discussed.


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