Abstract

The process through which social impact occurs in business relationships has largely remained unexamined. In this paper, we draw on relational contracting theory to examine relationship norms and the social impact of their legitimation. Our data consist of 27 years of historical secondary data about the business relationship between Nokia and its subcontracting partner Elcoteq (1984–2011). We reveal how the legitimation of the role integrity and contractual solidarity norms causes social impact within this relationship and how harmonization with the social matrix norm leads to social impact both within and outside of the relationship. As a result, we introduce a concept network view of social impact. This concept thus contributes to the business relationship literature by conceptualizing the ripple effect of one business relationship on a connected network.