Group 10

Do relationship portfolios and networks provide the key to successful relationship management?

Zolkiewski and Turnbull talk about the importance of portfolio analysis and network theory in the identification of key customers, suppliers and relationships. They argue that good relationships can be a source of competiti e ad antage for any firm. The authors first re iew the e!isting portfolio models and their limitations. The e!isting models are based only on dyadic perspecti e and do not gi e a complete picture of the relationships. To o ercome this, a multi"dimensional network approach is used which is nothing but a combination of all elements. The authors propose a three step procedure to iew the portfolios in a network conte!t. This in ol es identifying the indi idual portfolio first, then the interactions within and between the portfolios. The paper is rele ant to managers as it aids them in identifying which relationships should be maintained, nurtured and dropped. #t also can help them to identify relationships which contribute to the strategic goal of the firm and suggests them where to allocate the limited resources. #t is also one of the first papers to identify that network theory can be used as a tool for $elationship %ortfolio &anagement. The limitation of this work is that it failed to de elop on the issue of indirect relationship and left it for future research.