When alignment fails but cooperation persists: The paradox of executive–managerial misalignment in B2B partnerships

Abstract

This study examines how perceptual misalignment between executives and frontline managers affects cooperation and performance in B2B partnerships. Drawing on two-wave panel data from 361 interorganizational dyads, we develop and test a temporal cross-lagged model to determine if divergences in strategic orientation and relational expectations hinder cooperative behavior over time. The results indicate that neither form of misalignment at T1 significantly reduces cooperation at T2, suggesting that collaborative routines in partnerships may persist despite cognitive differences across organizational levels. However, cooperative behavior strongly predicts partnership performance, highlighting cooperation as a key behavioral mechanism linking internal perceptions to outcomes. Relationship length and partner dependence moderate the indirect pathway from misalignment to performance through collaboration, with adverse effects emerging primarily in short-duration or low-dependence partnerships and diminishing under conditions of relational maturity and structural interdependence. These findings suggest that the implications of perceptual misalignment are contingent rather than universally harmful. This study contributes to B2B relationship research by clarifying when cross-level perceptual divergence results in behavioral consequences and by identifying boundary conditions under which cooperation remains stable over time.