Strategic Partnership in the Swedish Marine Industry : - A case study of Ryds

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe the structure of a relationship between a dealer and its manufacturer in the Swedish marine industry from a strategic partnership perspective. Design/methodology/approach: The research method is based on a deductive quantitative approach. A descripto-explanatory research design was applied and the research strategy was a combination of a case study and survey. A survey and three additional qualitative interviews have been conducted in order to gather the information. Findings: The results of this research shows no outstanding factors influencing the strategic partnership between the manufacturer and its dealers in the marine industry. Limited managerial assumption were possible to be drawn for the case company Ryds. Research Delimitations: The study was conducted in a three month period (March - June) in the spring semester 2016 therefore, the study was narrowed down to only one marine manufacture and its dealers in the Swedish market. Future recommendations: For future researcher the presented study can be used as the foundation to further investigate the connection between applied theories of the Commitment- Trust Theory and Relational Marketing through the Key Mediating Variables. It will provide the researcher with insights about, which exact areas/items influence the relationship positively or negatively, resulting in the ability to generally state how strategic partnership is managed in the marine industry