Opportunism describes the behaviour of one party in a commercial relationship that acts in its own interests when circumstances allow, without necessarily considering the longer-term consequences. For example, a buyer persuades an existing supplier to share a costing breakdown, and subsequently declines to pay the current price for the good being supplied, arguing that the supplier is making a 20% profit, double that that the buyer’s company is making. The cooperation displayed by the supplier in sharing their cost structure has been abused by the buyer’s organisation in behaving opportunistically, and as result it is likely that the relationship between supplier and buyer will change. See also Cooperation and Partnership.
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