Effects of B2B partnerships on the role stressors and well-being of alliance officers: A multi-level investigation

While occupying prominent (central) positions in business-to-business (B2B) networks provides firms with preferential access to resources and improved performance, the implications for alliance officers or B2B employees within the firm who manage and maintain their firms' B2B partnerships are less understood. This study contends that despite being beneficial to firm performance, firm prominence has a curvilinear (U-shaped) relationship with alliance officers' role stressors (well-being). Drawing on social network and role strain theories, we propose that medium levels of prominence reduce role stressors, but high prominence increases them. We further investigate the moderating effects of average strength of B2B partnerships, structured knowledge acquisition processes, alliance officers' job autonomy, and alliance officers' growth mindset on this U-shaped relationship. A multilevel analysis of primary data collected from all (42) licensed petroleum B2B organizations in an emerging economy, Tanzania, and their 533 B2B partnerships, supports the proposed hypotheses. This study advances social network and role strain theories by revealing how beneficial-to-the-firm B2B partnerships can potentially lead to negative individual outcomes, such as harming the well-being of alliance officers. • A beneficial-to-firm network position (prominence) could hamper alliance officers' well-being • Moderate levels of firm prominence is a ‘sweet spot’ for alliance officers' well-being • Partnership strength and knowledge acquisition processes may have unintended consequences • Firms can increase job autonomy to lessen negative effects of firm prominence on intensity of role stressors • Firms can encourage growth mindset to alleviate negative effects of firm prominence on intensity of role stressors