Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine how the pandemic impacted on business-to-business (B2B) cooperation and coordination, as well as on firms' financial and operational performance, from the B2B context in the era of knowledge economy.

Design/methodology/approach

With the help of social network theory, coordination theory and existing literature, a theoretical model was developed conceptually. Later, the conceptual model was validated using structural equation modelling technique with consideration of 712 respondents from different firms who are engaged in managing B2B relationships on behalf of their firms.

Findings

The study found that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable moderating impact on the relationship between B2B cooperation and coordination with B2B relationship satisfaction. The study also highlighted that there is a degradation of financial and operational performance of firms due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on their B2B relationship management.

Practical implications

There is a challenging and ever-evolving global economy caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it is argued that the pandemic has accelerated the growth of some online firms, it has also had a catastrophic effect, culminating in many firms failing. This study has developed a new business model which helps in improving financial as well as operational performance of the firms in post COVID-19 scenario, especially in the era of knowledge economy.

Originality/value

This is a unique study as this study (1) develops a unique theoretical model with high explanative power, (2) demonstrates how digital reliance and new business model help the firms in post COVID-19 pandemic and (3) adds to the body of literature in the domain of digital reliance, knowledge economy and B2B relationship management.

中文翻译：

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后COVID-19场景下的数字弹性与新商业模式：知识经济时代B2B视角

目的

本研究的目的是从知识经济时代的 B2B 背景下，研究疫情如何影响企业对企业 (B2B) 的合作与协调，以及企业的财务和运营绩效。

设计/方法/途径

借助社会网络理论、协调理论和现有文献，从概念上开发了一个理论模型。后来，该概念模型使用结构方程建模技术进行了验证，并考虑了来自不同公司的 712 名受访者，他们代表其公司从事 B2B 关系管理。

发现

研究发现，COVID-19 大流行对 B2B 合作与协调与 B2B 关系满意度之间的关系产生了相当大的调节作用。该研究还强调，由于 COVID-19 大流行对其 B2B 关系管理的影响，公司的财务和运营绩效有所下降。

实际影响

COVID-19 大流行导致全球经济充满挑战且不断发展。尽管有人认为这种流行病加速了一些在线公司的发展，但它也产生了灾难性的影响，最终导致许多公司倒闭。这项研究开发了一种新的商业模式，有助于提高公司在后 COVID-19 情景下的财务和运营绩效，尤其是在知识经济时代。

原创性/价值

这是一项独特的研究，因为这项研究 (1) 开发了一个具有高解释力的独特理论模型，(2) 展示了数字依赖和新的商业模式如何帮助公司度过 COVID-19 大流行之后，以及 (3) 增加了数字依赖、知识经济和 B2B 关系管理领域的文献。