@article {1975536, title = {Taking the Leap from Dyads to Triads: Buyer-Supplier Relationships in Supply Network.}, journal = {Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management}, volume = {14}, year = {2009}, month = {2009}, pages = {263-266, 269-270}, abstract = {A network is made up of nodes and links. The smallest unit that consists of both these network elements is a dyad made up of two nodes (a buyer and a supplier) and the link that connects them (a buyer{\textendash}supplier relationship).

Naturally, the focus of the supply chain management literature has been on this dyad. For instance, a buyer affects a supplier through its supplier evaluation and certificate programs, as well as long-term agreement practices. The relationship between a buyer and its supplier has been characterized as cooperative or adversarial. We have learned a great deal about supply chains through such studies in dyadic context.

However, we submit that in a network, a dyad is not the smallest unit of a network. In fact, the smallest unit is a triad, made up of three nodes and the links that connect them. If so, how would this recognition guide us as we move forward to investigate supply chains as a network? What would be its implications to the genre of the literature on buyer{\textendash}supplier relationships?}, keywords = {Supply Chain}, author = {Choi,Thomas and Wu,Zhaohui} }