Due to the current shift towards solution provision in many industrial markets, buyers are under increasing pressure to develop sourcing strategies to procure custom solutions for their firm in order to achieve competitive advantage. The question arises as to how buyers can ensure they get the best solutions from their suppliers and whether social capital can be applied to improve solution provision processes and value creation. Existing empirical research, however, has paid only little attention to the antecedents of suppliers’ solution provision performance, i.e., their capability to diagnose buyer needs and to design and implement solutions to meet them. We tested how social capital dimensions (relational, cognitive, and structural) relate to solution provision. The study uses empirical data obtained from a survey of 475 suppliers representing both manufacturing and service industries. Partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling (SEM) and polynomial regression were used to analyze the data. The results demonstrate that the availability of social capital in a buyer-supplier relationship is a relevant antecedent to successful solution provision activities. However, the different dimensions of social capital are found to compensate for each other to some extent. Our study further demonstrates that solution provision is not a monolithic activity but can better be understood as a multi-phase process (diagnosis, solution design, and implementation). Different aspects of social capital may have a different impact depending on the phase of solution provision. The successful diagnosis of buyer needs mediates the effect of social capital on solution design and implementation. It is also found that production characteristics of a buyer and the type of a supplier solution affect the role of social capital in solution provision process.

由于当前在许多工业市场上都朝着提供解决方案的方向发展，买方面临越来越大的压力来制定采购策略以为其公司采购定制解决方案，以获得竞争优势。出现了一个问题，即买家如何才能确保他们从供应商那里获得最佳解决方案，以及社会资本是否可以用于改善解决方案提供流程和价值创造。但是，现有的经验研究仅很少关注供应商的解决方案供应绩效的前身，即他们诊断买方需求以及设计和实施满足需求的能力。我们测试了社会资本维度（关系，认知和结构）与解决方案提供之间的关系。该研究使用的经验数据来自对代表制造业和服务业的475家供应商的调查。使用偏最小二乘（PLS）结构方程模型（SEM）和多项式回归分析数据。结果表明，买卖双方关系中社会资本的可获得性是成功提供解决方案活动的相关先决条件。但是，发现社会资本的不同维度在某种程度上可以相互补偿。我们的研究进一步证明，解决方案的提供不是一个整体活动，而是可以更好地理解为一个多阶段的过程（诊断，解决方案设计和实施）。根据解决方案提供的阶段，社会资本的不同方面可能会产生不同的影响。成功诊断出购买者需求后，中介了社会资本对解决方案设计和实施的影响。还发现买方的生产特征和供应商解决方案的类型会影响社会资本在解决方案提供过程中的作用。