Business-to-business relationships of small and medium growers in agricultural imports and exports: The case of tropical fruits in Sweden

Abstract: The present thesis explores the elements that affect the relationship between importers and exporters of agricultural products, using as case study the market for tropical fruits in Sweden. For this, the thesis looks into secondary data, backed with some interviews, to i) identify some of the perceptions and expectations that importers of tropical fruit have, ii) the way these affect the possibility of doing business directly with a small or medium grower of tropical fruits, and iii) the kind of measures that may increase the chances of importers doing business with this kind of growers. The data is analyzed from a theoretical framework that uses Michael Porter’s value chain concept, as well as the approach of relationship marketing (RM) to explore the interaction between these two links of the trading of tropical fruits: producers and importers. With this, it seeks to offer an academic approach to the elements that influence the relationship, ultimately affecting the internationalization of these products. It presents a unique analysis that can complement the general understanding of this field. The results suggest that transaction-specific investments are the most important factor affecting both trust and commitment in the relationship between importers and exporters, followed by cultural sensitivity on the exporter’s side, which impacts commitment; interfirm psychic distance, that affects trust; and internal uncertainty also affecting trust. Opportunistic behavior has a negative effect in both trust and commitment, and is hindered by a combination of all the measures above. Chapter 1 offers an introduction to the topic, while Chapter 2 presents the theoretical framework used for this thesis. Chapter 3 explains the methodology employed. Chapter 4 presents the results of the data collected, using the research questions to organize it in sections. Chapter 5 offers a discussion of the data collected, linking the findings with the thesis’ theoretical framework. Finally, chapter 6 presents some conclusions.