This literature review scrutinises 41 quantitative studies dealing with dependence asymmetry in supply chains. Strategically, behaviours ranging from exploitation to win-win problem solving can arise. Five research questions are explored. The systematic literature review method and a content analysis was applied to articles from premier journals in operations management and supply chain management. We found the number of studies markedly rose over the past 15 years. Five outcome categories (i.e. performance, relationship characteristics, practice and process, information sharing, and innovation) and three subcategories (i.e. supplier, customer and partner dependence) were identified that encompass each of the sample studies. The most commonly used theories proved to be resource dependence theory and transaction cost theory. We examined whether dependence asymmetry resulted in overall benefits or detriments. There were largely positive significant results in performance, practice and process, and information sharing. The results in relationship characteristics and innovation were mixed. The overall picture was more complex than the stronger firm simply taking advantage of the weaker firm.

这篇文献综述仔细审查了 41 项处理供应链中依赖不对称问题的定量研究。从战略上讲，可能会出现从剥削到双赢解决问题的行为。探讨了五个研究问题。系统的文献综述方法和内容分析被应用于运营管理和供应链管理领域的主要期刊的文章。我们发现研究的数量在过去 15 年中显着增加。确定了包含每个样本研究的五个结果类别（即绩效、关系特征、实践和过程、信息共享和创新）和三个子类别（即供应商、客户和合作伙伴依赖性）。最常用的理论被证明是资源依赖理论和交易成本理论。我们检查了依赖性不对称是否会导致总体收益或损害。在绩效、实践和过程以及信息共享方面取得了很大的积极意义。关系特征和创新的结果喜忧参半。整体情况比强大的公司简单地利用较弱的公司更为复杂。