Abstract
Scholars investigating vertical relationships argue that the collaboration of sellers and buyers facilitates value creation for both parties. Various techniques have been proven to suit this purpose. Among them, Category Management (CM) has raised growing interest in scholarly research as well as practice, becoming one of the most diffused and controversial techniques. In this paper, we tackle the issue of the collaboration between manufacturers and distributors within CM activities by pointing out the conditions that facilitate CM implementation. In doing so, we focus on the intervention of third parties that facilitate the collaborative process. The paper presents the results of a multiple in-depth case analysis of under-performing dyads where prior relationships between the seller and the buyer already exist, but CM is based on the intervention of a third party.