Dynamic effects of business cycles on business relationships

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to identify the effects of business cycles on industrial business-to-business relationships within extremely volatile industries. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is an in-depth case study on Outotec plc, a leading provider of technologies for the mining and metal industries. Findings - The study identifies the changes in a business relationship during a business cycle as the dominance between the parties and the cooperative and the competitive nature of the relationship alternate. Practical implications - The study identifies ways to smooth the effects of business cycles in extremely volatile industries from the viewpoint of a project-based technology provider. Originality/value - While a significant amount of macroeconomic research on cycles and a few studies on industry-specific business cycles can be found, this study is a rare example of company-specific research on surviving business cycles.