Co-operation and Collusion: Making the Distinction in Marketing Relationships

Co-operative relationships between organisations may create added value for the partners involved, but they can also pose a threat to the competitiveness of markets. This paper reviews the economic and legal frameworks of co-operative marketing relationships and seeks to distinguish these from collusive relationships. A model of development from competition to co-operation to collusion is proposed, in which definitions of collusion are continually evolving in response to environmental change. This paper seeks to reconcile the benefits accruing to businesses involved in co-operative relationships, with the possible welfare loss resulting from restrictive relationships. Conceptual frameworks underlying buyer-seller relationships are evaluated from the perspective of models of economic efficiency and legal frameworks. A number of recent cases are evaluated in the context of this discussion.     

A Cultural Perspective of Relationship Orientation: Using Organisational Culture to Support a Supply Relationship Orientation

Relationship marketing theory maintains that firms can engage in a multitude of relationships oriented towards key stakeholders such as customers and suppliers. This study explores one type of relationship orientation from the viewpoint of the relationships firms have with their suppliers, referred to as a Supply Relationship Orientation (SRO). We take an organisational culture perspective positing that an SRO is manifested through the basic assumptions, values, artifacts and behaviours of the organisation and introduce a measurement tool for SRO. Based on a study of buyers' perceptions of their firms' relationship orientation towards suppliers, the results indicate that an organisational culture perspective of relationship orientation appears valid and enhances previous studies of relationship orientation by providing support for being culturally embedded     

Buying a sponsor's brand: the role of affective commitment to the sponsored team

Sponsorship is increasingly important in a firm's communication mix. Research to date has focused on the impact of sponsorship on brand awareness and its subsequent consequences for image congruency and consumer attitudes towards sponsors' brands. A lesser studied area is the effect of sponsorship on consumers' purchase intentions and behaviours. We argue that existing models of sponsorship driven purchase behaviour fail to account for affective commitment, which mediates relationship between affiliation with the team and social identification with the team. We propose a modified framework describing the effect of sponsorship on purchase intentions in the context of low and high performing sports teams. The framework is tested using structural equations modelling; employing PLS estimation and data collected via online survey of AFL chat room participants. Results confirm the role of affective commitment in sport sponsorship purchase intentions and indicate that team success has a significant influence on fans' purchase behaviours.     

The meaning of commitment in professional service relationships: a study of the meaning of commitment used by lawyers and their clients

Several authors have identified the importance of commitment in successful business relationships. However, few studies have considered the meaning of commitment, especially within the context of customer-supplier relationships.

Most studies of commitment within the marketing literature use existing conceptualisations developed within the psychology and organisational behaviour literatures. The purpose of this paper is to explore the meaning of commitment in a customer-supplier relationship context, and to compare this with traditional conceptualisation of commitment.

This study investigates the meaning of commitment used by both lawyers and their clients, within the context of their relationship. The findings show that the meaning of commitment used in professional relationships may be more complex than its traditional conceptualisation and should be extended to include at least three additional components including: 'partnership commitment', 'impression management commitment' and 'personal commitment'. It is argued that it is inappropriate to 'borrow' the conceptualisation of the construct of commitment from other disciplines, without considering the market-based context in which it is used. Implications for professional service relationships include that professionals and clients would benefit from sharing a similar meaning of commitment and this meaning may be influenced by the culture, systems and processes of their organisation.     

The Impacts of Affective and Cognitive Social Conflict in Business-to-Business Buyer-Seller Relationships: A Comparison of New versus Ongoing Buyer-Seller Relationships

ABSTRACT

Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to report empirical research that examined the impact of conflict in two different buyer-seller situations, an ongoing relationship and a choice situation where the buyer had to choose between two or more alternative suppliers. Conflict was defined as social conflict and has two distinct types, affective and cognitive.

Methodology/Approach. The methodology used was two mail surveys to a random sample of purchasing association members who had buying responsibilities in their firms. In one survey respondents were asked to self-select a current buyer-seller relationship they had for a period of at least one year and to indicate the degree of perceived conflict they had with the key supplier representative as well as the amount of relationship loyalty they perceived they had with that supplier. The second survey randomly assigned respondents to evaluate either a supplier whom they gave business to in a choice situation or one they did not, thus establishing as the dependent variable the actual choice of whom they gave business to.

Findings. The findings are clear for affective types of conflict. When affective conflict is perceived as higher the chance of getting an order in a choice situation as well as the magnitude of the relationship loyalty perception is negatively related. Cognitive conflict is not as clear. In choice situations conflict was negatively related to choice, whereas in on going relationships there was no impact. There was no indication of cognitive conflict having a positive relationship.

Originality/Value/Contribution of the paper. This study is the first to examine perceptions of conflict with a significant other in a buyer-seller relationship to try to determine how those perceptions might relate to either buyer choice or loyalty. While the findings support the expected relationship between affective conflict and outcomes, the findings with regards to cognitive conflict suggest that this may be more complex then originally thought and further points out the difficulty in managing conflict across organizational boundaries.     

Stereotypical Notions of the Entrepreneur: An Analysis from a Perspective of Gender

The principal objective of this paper is an analysis of the stereotypical figure of the entrepreneur in the Spanish context, from a perspective of gender. We provide evidence that the characteristics largely associated with an entrepreneurial individual are stereotypically male or androgynous, with a notable absence of female typologies. Our findings suggest that this relationship has an influence on the continued predominance of male entrepreneurial activity. This study contributes to the growing empirical literature on female entrepreneurship from an understudied perspective; gender stereotyping, demonstrating that socially constructed gender stereotyping persists in contemporary Spanish culture.     

Philanthropy and the Making of a New Moral Order: A History of Developing Community

Journal of Business Ethics - Community development, or the socio-economic transformation of local communities, has been a significant focus of organizational ethics. Such community development...     

中国股票市场:2005年回顾和2006年展望

本文系统地概括了中国股票市场2005年的重大事件,其中包括股权分置改革、新的<公司法>和<证券法>出台、证券产品创新和证券公司的整合,既分析了这些重大事件的成因,也探讨了它们的后续效应.并对2006年股市的可能走势进行了研讨,提出了一系列政策建议.     

新老年抚养比调整指数视角下的中日韩老龄化比较研究

基于一种考虑老年人健康状况和劳动力教育水平的新老年抚养比指数方法,对中国、日本和韩国的老龄化问题做了全面的比较分析.研究表明,与日本和韩国相比,中国的人口老龄化在步入老龄化社会的初期并没有日本和韩国那么严重,但是老年人口系数的增速即老龄化的速度越来越快,呈现出更加快速老龄化的特点;从新老年抚养比指数的角度看,在考虑教育和健康因素后,日本和韩国养老负担的下降比中国多,这说明中国老龄化实际带来的养老负担比日本和韩国更重,也意味着如果不综合考虑教育和健康方面的因素,传统老年抚养比指数可能会低估老龄化对发展中国家带来的影响;从劳动力的教育水平来看,中国在高等教育普及上取得了较大的成就,但劳动力整体受教育水平与日本和韩国相比仍然有较大的差距.中国加快普及高等教育将会成为应对人口老龄化的一项有效措施.     

城市与流通的互动:城市流通系统--城市与流通问题研究的新视角

本文从历史发展的角度,分析了城市与流通的互动关系,提出了城市流通系统的概念,并将城市流通系统划分为城市批发流通系统与城市零售流通系统,进而揭示了这两个系统的相互依存关系.在此基础上,运用经济地理理论、商业集聚理论,对城市流通系统的空间与功能分化、竞争结构、城市的层级性以及城市流通系统与城市经济发展的互动机制,进行了较为深入的分析.     

中国制造业升级路径的新视角:文化产业与制造业融合

前人的研究主要是从技术创新的视角来探讨产业升级,却忽视产业升级应该是多种路径的综合运用.文章认为中国制造业的升级在坚持技术创新传统路径的基础上,还可以开辟文化产业与制造业融合的新路径.通过文化产业与制造业的延伸融合、交叉融合以及关联融合,充分发挥文化产业既是消费服务业,又是生产服务业的作用,提升制造业的文化附加值,促进制造业升级.     

Moral Choice and the Concept of Motivational Typologies: An Extended Stakeholder Perspective in a Western Context

Accountants and auditors are often faced with ethical dilemmas, which they have to process using resources available to them. Although they may be sensitive to the ethicality of the issues and have the cognitive ability to work through a judgment process, the final action they take may be dependent on a number of motivational factors, endogenous to the issue. Agency issues are a continuing area of concern providing accountants with an ability to shirk their responsibilities and hide confidential information, which may affect their career prospects if disclosed. This ongoing study explores these notions within a stakeholder context and uses a post test only field experiment to gain evidence to support the existence of an agency problem and that membership to one of a number of motivational typologies directly affects the way accountants respond to ethical issues. This association causes them to adopt informational heuristics that may result in less than optimal decisions. This study identified two specific endogenous constructs, namely social consensus and venal intent that discriminate between motivational types and which possibly provide psychological underpinnings explaining membership orientation. Gordon Woodbine PhD, FCPA, is a senior lecturer with the School of Accounting, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia involved primarily with research and supervision activities. He has taught in universities in the People’s Republic of China and Papua New Guinea and has been published in a number of local and overseas refereed journals. He is interested in behavioural ethics, auditing, governance issues and ethics in education.     

The effect of a geographically dispersed supply base on downside risk: Developing and testing the N-shaped theory

Globalisation, and its resultant complexity, has been called the most significant factor in the increase of supply chain risk. In this paper, we investigate the effects of supply base complexity that result from geographic dispersion and how that affects supply chain risk. Informed by several theories, an N-shaped theory for the relationship is hypothesised. A regression analysis that uses survey data from manufacturing firms operating in Finland is utilised to test the hypothesis. Contrary to our hypothesis, we find support for an inverse U-shaped association of supply base complexity due to geographic dispersion and the negative effects of supply risk. The possible causes of the result and how it can be reconciled with the N-shaped theory are discussed. Supply managers are advised to avoid international complexity creeping into supply and to engage in cross-functional discussion about the implications of supply base dispersion.     

试析劳动者合法权益保护存在缺陷及解决方案——以《劳动合同法》的理论上的精确解读为视角

劳动者权益保护的问题既是重要法律问题,也是重要社会问题。当前,现行《劳动合同法》劳动者权益保护存在缺陷,企业裁员对劳动者权益损害严重,过渡条款适用对劳动者产生不利影响。完善《劳动合同法》对劳动者合法权益保护,应重视农民工权益的保护,提高裁员后对劳动者的经济补偿水平,加强对过渡条款适用范围限制,从劳动合同签订的主体入手,加强其法律意识,从根本上解决法律缺陷对劳动者权益带来损害。     

中国新一轮农产品价格波动的审视与剖析——“中国城乡市场协调发展高峰论坛”观点综述

农产品价格波动关系到整体物价水平的变动,直接影响国民经济的健康可持续发展.针对近年来中国农产品价格非正常波动的现象,一些专家在“中国城乡市场协调发展高峰论坛”上通过考察农产品价格波动与农产品供求、流通体系建设及宏观经济环境的关系,深入探讨了中国新一轮农产品价格波动的机理及成因,着重讨论流通领域如何缓解农产品价格非正常波动的对策,提出未来农产品价格波动的相关预测及研究展望.     

回顾 研判 部署 谱写黑龙江省商务事业新篇章——开拓进取 求实创新 推动商务工作更好更快发展

2011年——"十二五"开局之年,黑龙江省商务事业实现了开门红,成绩斐然。2012年是实施"十二五"规划承上启下的关键一年、是加速发展的一年。2012年,国际环境错综复杂,世界经济增长动力明显减弱;国内经济总体运行态势向好,工业化、信息化、市场化、城镇化、国际化深入发展,区域梯次发展格局正在形成,消费需求增长空间很大;商务领域成本推动价格上涨压力依然存在,自然灾害、市场调控手段和流通设施相对薄弱问题依然突出,扩大消费面临的制约因素仍然较多。基于上述研判,黑龙江省商务事业唯有开拓进取、求实创新、方能实现更好更快发展,谱写新的篇章,方能以商务事业的新跨越推动全省经济社会的大发展。     

美国国际贸易法院拒绝中国河北兴茂轮胎有限公司就非公路用轮胎“反倾销和反补贴”发布临时限制令案评析

中国河北兴茂轮胎有限公司出口至美国的某些非公路用轮胎在美国被指控构成倾销和补贴。美国商务部、美国国际贸易委员会分别做出了倾销及补贴存在、损害成立的裁定。中国河北兴茂轮胎有限公司联合美国进口商向美国国际贸易法院提出发布临时禁令的动议,但美国国际贸易法院给予了否定。本文对本案的基本案情做了梳理,归纳了美国法院的判决思路,最后将本案涉及的美国相关程序制度上的临时禁止令进行了分析,并指出了美国法院可能存在的判决推理错误。本案对中国企业今后积极抗衡美国的反倾销和反补贴指控,有一定的借鉴意义。