Trustworthiness in buyer-supplier relation on supply chain collaboration among SMEs

Due to the growth of operational complexity and global competitiveness, firms have recognized the worth of establishing collaborative relationships with their supply chain partners. Research found that the level of collaboration in Malaysian SMEs manufacturers is too low to gain any relational advantage from collaborative relationships in supply chain. This research is sought to review the literature to determine the factors that create trustworthiness in buyer-supplier relation on supply chain collaboration among SMEs manufacturers. According to past researches, five behavioral signals are determined to be contributing to creating trustworthiness in supply chain collaboration. They are performance to promise signals, professional relationship signals, openness signals, benevolent collaboration signals and empathy signals. This conceptual paper reveals the factors that contribute in creating trustworthiness among Malaysian SMEs manufacturers. This research provides practical implications to the Malaysian SMEs in understanding how trust-building can be produced and enhanced in developing supply chain collaborative relationships.