Limitations and future research
A limitation of our study is that we use cross-sectional data toexamine the relationships in the study. Since some of the activities and relationships in the study are developed over time, longitudinal data might be able to better capture some of the relationships examined in the study. Future studies can examine the relationships in this study using longitudinal data. Another limitation associated with our use of cross- sectional data is that our results should not be interpreted as proof of causal relationships. To test for causal relationships between the constructs examined in the study, further research should consider testing the framework developed in the study using experimental and quasi-experimental
methods.
Since the MBA framework has been underutilized in the
literature (Ramaswami et al., 2009) future studies should
continue to test the efficacy of the framework under multiple
conditions. Future research should also be conducted to
examine the relationship between a firm’s supplier
development activities and its marketing activities. Those
studies should not only focus on the positive impact of
supplier development activities but should also consider the
negative impacts of such activities. For example, this study
found a negative relationship between knowledge transfer
frequency and marketing process improvements. Future
studies should delve deeper into this issue and examine
both the positive and negative effects of heavy interaction
between suppliers and buyers. Some questions to consider
include: do suppliers welcome the knowledge that their buyers
provide them or do the suppliers look at supplier development
programs as interference from their buyers? Are there
conditions under which suppliers welcome supplier
development programs and other conditions under which
they resent them?