The purpose of this paper is to create a conceptual model of constraints on business relationship reactivation after bankruptcy-acquisition. Previous research has predominantly focused on contexts where positive aspects of reactivation come to the forefront; accordingly, it is argued that more research is needed on elements con- straining reactivation. A case study in the Swedish automotive industry is used to develop the model. The model contributes to studies on business relationship reactivation by showing that during different relationship episodes (ending, dormant and expected future episodes) it is possible to identify elements that constrain a subsequent reactivation. In the empirical context of the study, these elements are unsettled debts, unilateral switching costs and expected future losses.

Changes in industrial systems increase the efforts needed to attract a counterpart for resource mobilization. The purpose of the article is to elaborate on the impact of customer attractiveness on supplier resource mobilization during radical changes such as bankruptcy. We use a case study method and focus on an extreme case of supplier resource mobilization, i.e. the study of mobilization during the bankruptcy process of a large company. We investigate how the bankruptcy estate managed resource mobilization necessary for maintaining the bankrupt company's facility from the time of declaration of bankruptcy until the facility could be sold to a new owner (from dusk till dawn), providing a detailed description of how the bankruptcy estate attracted suppliers despite the bankrupt company's previous losses. Our findings show that attractiveness is a valid theoretical tool in order to understand resource mobilization also in situations that lack social aspects of relationships. Furthermore, the study shows that resource embeddedness and knowledge transfer affect customer attractiveness and impact supplier resource mobilization. Finally, we demonstrate that even in settings characterized by relationship ending, both experience- and expectation-based attractiveness exist.

This paper focuses on the period that precedes the closure of an acquisition, the pre-acquisition phase. As prior research has commonly taken the perspective of either the acquiring or the selling company, knowledge is still limited regarding situations in which both companies' shared past impacts the unfolding of the pre-acquisition phase. The purpose of the study is to develop the concept of shared past and to use it to illuminate new aspects of the pre-acquisition phase. We do so through an in-depth case study in which a Swedish automotive manufacturer ultimately acquires a bankrupt component supplier. We contribute knowledge by developing the concept of shared past and by illuminating three previously unaddressed aspects of the pre-acquisition phase. These aspects are; acquisition avoidance, involvement of a new type of actor, and maintaining access to resources because of relations in the context.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a model of a starting situation for a new business relationship where there are previous adaptations between two actors. The study therefore questions the common assumption that new business relationships start from what resembles a traditional market situation where actors have no previous adaptations between them. 

Design/Methodology/Approach – An extreme single case study in connection to a major bankruptcy in the Swedish automotive industry is used to develop the model. 

Findings – The paper illustrates how new business relationships can start from a situation where there are previous adaptations between two actors. 

Originality – The developed model makes it possible for researchers to study initiation of new relationships in a dynamic business network situation where there are previous adaptations between two actors. The developed model complements the starting situation in a traditional market where there are no such adaptations.  Keywords – Starting situation, New relationships, Initiation, Adaptations, Resources Paper type – Research paper