From a dynamic standpoint, this article aims to analyze how the buyer-supplier relationship influences the evolution of the technological, market, logistics, process and relational knowledge held by both actors. For this purpose, a qualitative case study of a relationship between two industrial firms was conducted using a longitudinal perspective. Based on data collected from a variety of sources, the results of the research point out that the transfer and/or development of knowledge in the buyer-supplier relationship under study is contingent on the type of knowledge. Furthermore, an ecological pattern of evolution of knowledge was identified in which the alteration of the dimensions of variety and depth of a type of knowledge is linked to another type of knowledge, e.g., technological/market and logistic/process.
relationship; types of knowledge; evolution; buyer; supplier
