Abstract:

The aim of the paper is to propose a conceptual framework concerning the path of the relationship value development over time. The aim has been achieved through answering the following research questions supported with extensive literature studies: a) what is time in business relationships, b) how to define and measure the relationship value, c) how does the relationship value change over time? The main consideration of the paper content concerns the significance of time in the relationship value perception. Specifically, the following propositions have been formulated: 1) the relationship value is the balance between the value received from the exchange partner and the value provided by the enterprise, wherein the received value is the sum of benefits achieved by the company, subjectively perceived by them, and the provided value is the sum of the company's inputs on shaping the relationship that are assessed individually by them; 2) the sources of relationship value should be sought in the following dimensions: economic, product/service, organizational, behavioral; 3) the relationship value might be considered in the perspective of the past as an obtained value, in the perspective of the future as an expected value, and knowledge about them is needed to make the right decisions about interaction between business partners in the present; 4) time might be considered from both points of view as an ongoing clock-time and an event time i.e. exchange episodes in shaping relationships; 5) relationships are always dynamic and for that reason they don’t follow a predetermined pattern of a life cycle but they follow indeterminate paths from one ‘‘state’’ to another; 6) the path of the relationship value development shows the evolution of the course and changes to the relationship value in the perspectives of both clock time and event time, consisting of many pictures of relationship values described using economic, product/service, organizational and behavioral dimensions.