Purpose
– The impacts of information technology on business relationships have been of interest to managers for decades, and this stream of research has also steadily gained recognition among academics. However, the emergence of mobile technologies and the use of mobile solutions within business relationships is a less well studied area. Thus, the purpose of this research is to show how mobile solutions can be deployed within industrial buyer‐supplier relationships to enhance processes, coordination and overall value creation.
Design/methodology/approach
– The empirical part of the research presents an in‐depth case study in the context of the steel industry.
Findings
– It is shown that mobile technology usage has a central role in key business relationships to improve internal and inter‐organizational coordination. Mobile technology usage grid was conceptualized from the literature to categorize the possible impacts of mobile technology deployment on coordination.