Purpose - Inter-firm learning, or dyadic learning, has been studied
extensively in recent years: however very little attention has been
devoted to extending the concept to an international context and no
formal definition exists. The purpose of this paper is to propose
"cultural adaptation" as a special form of international dyadic learning
and link it to supply relationship performance.
Design/methodology/approach - Case studies were conducted in four
Chinese-Western buyer-supplier relationships, providing cross-case
replication, employing qualitative and quantitative methods. Data were
triangulated by questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and
documentation. Findings - Qualitative and quantitative evidence shows
that cultural adaptation can lead to mutual benefits (relationship
rents) and inbound spillover rents for both parties in a supply
relationship. Research limitations/implications - Using four cases and a
small sample of key informants completing the questionnaire limits
generalisability of findings. Practical implications - The paper
develops the causal relationship between cultural adaptation and mutual
benefits motivating managers to adapt culturally. It emphasizes that the
current relationship performance measures should include guanxi quality
in order to adapt to the Chinese context. Originality/value - Building
on extended resource based theory, stating that strategic resources may
lie beyond a firm's boundary and that relational and inbound spillover
rents may be obtained from the relationship, the research contributes to
dyadic or inter-organisational learning literature by empirically
building causal relationships between cultural adaptation (as a form of
international dyadic learning) and associated mutual benefits
(relational and inbound spillover rents), using multiple data sources
and methods and tentatively redefining the dyadic learning concept.