Controlling service delivery in service triads

Organizations are increasingly sourcing services that are directly delivered to their (end) customers by external providers. Buying organization, supplier and (end) customer operate in a triadic service relationship. In these triads, the buying organization lacks direct control over service delivery and has to rely on the supplier for a successful service experience of the (end) customer. The purpose of this study is to build theory on controlling service delivery in these supply triads by means of a single case study. We find that buying organizations are able to control service delivery in service triads by exerting control in other phases than the service delivery phase.