The contrast between partnership and adversarial relationship is described below from several views. When the economy scale is not considered an adversarial relationship, it is used. There might be a lower switching cost, or competitiveness is poor. But to gain economy of scale, the partnership is used. This helps to reduce the cost in the long run. The adversarial relationship is building up short-term relations when the purchaser gains some short-term advantage or one-time purchase. Partnership relation is building up for a long-run relationship. In this case, the purchaser may have recurrent purchases from the suppliers.
In the long run, the adversarial relationship cannot boost the profit margin, whereas partnership reduces the cost of goods sold and switching costs. The efficiency of the product cannot be obtained through an adversarial relationship as the communication time span is irregular. In the case of partnership relations, this perennial advantage can be obtained as the purchaser can scrutinize the product and can refund the inferior goods in exchange for a better product. Supplier switching cost is a considerable issue in the purchase. In the case of a partnership, it is low as both of the parties can obtain long-term advantages. In an adversarial relationship, this is quite impossible if the supplier market is competitive.
When suppliers are more and purchasers are less, the partnership is building up. In the case of an adversarial relationship, a supplier might be higher, but the purchaser might be lower. This is matched with demand-supply equilibrium. If the demand for the product is high, the partnership can take the lead, and it is vice versa in adversarial. When the purchasers are forced to make frequent purchases or goods that require long-term support, the partnership is better. In a time of one-time purchase and if it is not required long-term support, an adversarial relationship is happened for reducing the price by breaching the relation in pursuit of another.
In the case of tailored-made products, when the company wants to tailor their product, a long-term relationship through a partnership is mostly required. Adversarial can not do anything. In partnership, knowledge, and skill can be transferred, whereas in adversarial, it is possible or may not be effective. Relationships can influence a company’s strategic movement. So, it is required to determine the relationship’s nature. In a survey, it is found that partnership can change the strategic movement in a positive way. When any company formulates its strategy, it is depicted with backward and forward integration. In forwarding integration, the long-run relationship is required, whereas, in the backward stage, it may require a short span or long span of time depending on the ranges of products or services.