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Abstract
In order to manage supply chain
relationships effectively both aspects - the need to align
the actions in order to coordinate the network and the
alignment of interests of cooperating actors – are
important. Therefore, the coexistence of both cooperative
and competitive constructs should be
recognized, where power coexists alongside with trust.
Many scientific works have been written on power and
trust as constructs of business-to-business relationships
separately. However, most of the existing relationship
marketing literature studies power and trust in relation
to conflict or satisfaction, and the link between power
and trust in the supply chain context appears to be
largely ignored as a research topic. Some scientists
assert that power negates cooperation and call power to
be the antithesis of trust. Others argue that most social
relationships are based on a mixture of both power and
trust, that power and trust by no means exclude each
other but occur in combination and that they should
both be seen as alternative mechanisms for coordinating
supply chain relationships. In order to understand the
links between these two constructs one needs to be
specific on their nature and origin. Based on the
literature review we present ideas on how power and
trust in supply chain relationships are related.