01606nas a2200157 4500008004100000245009000041210006900131260000900200300002100209490000700230520104600237653001701283100001701300700001601317856011501333 2009 eng d00aTaking the Leap from Dyads to Triads: Buyer-Supplier Relationships in Supply Network.0 aTaking the Leap from Dyads to Triads BuyerSupplier Relationships c2009 a263-266, 269-2700 v143 aA 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–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–supplier relationships?10aSupply Chain1 aChoi, Thomas1 aWu, Zhaohui uhttps://business.oregonstate.edu/biblio/taking-leap-dyads-triads-buyer-supplier-relationships-supply-network-0