The impact of increases in subsidiary autonomy and network relationships on performance

This paper uses network approaches to subsidiary theory to investigate the performance impacts of interactions among the factors of autonomy, intra-organizational network relationships, and inter-organizational network relationships. The paper offers an analysis of both direct and indirect interactions among these factors. This study develops and extends existing research that uses network-based approaches in studies of subsidiary performance by considering the roles of autonomy and network relationships. In addition, the study examines changes in terms of increases in the interactions between the main factors rather than the levels of these factors. The examination of the interactions between increases in autonomy and networks and the subsequent impact of this change on performance contributes to a better understanding of subsidiary evolution. The results, which are based on data gathered from a survey of 350 foreign-owned subsidiaries in the UK, Germany, and Denmark, reveal complex interactions between increases in autonomy and network relationships, and the subsequent impact of these changes on performance. The results also highlight the central role of inter-organizational network relationships in the interaction between the factors, which produce significant and positive effects.     

Attributions of noncooperative incidents and response strategies: The role of national character

Economic and relational equity in global inter-organizational relationships can be enhanced if partners correctly attribute the cause of noncooperative incidents and employ appropriate response strategies. Integrating attribution theory, national character theory and elements of the inter-organizational management literature, we construct a conceptual framework of global inter-organizational managers’ responses to incidents of noncooperation aimed at maximizing relationship economic and relational equity. A managerial assessment process, emphasizing the importance of inpatriation, is provided to assist firms engaged in global inter-organizational relationships in minimizing attribution error in assessing and responding to noncooperative incidents.     

A Model of Collaborative Entrepreneurship for a More Humanistic Management

Inter-organizational models are both a well-documented phenomena and a well-established domain in management and business ethics. Those models rest on collaborative capabilities. However, mainstream theories and practices aimed at developing these capabilities are based on a narrow set of assumptions and ethical principles about human nature and relationships, which constrain the very development of capabilities sought by them. This article presents an Aristotelic–Thomistic approach to collaborative entrepreneurship within and across communities of firms operating in complementary markets. Adopting a scholarship of integration approach and evaluating the six studies of communities of organizations, we contribute an inter-organizational network model based on the assumptions about human motives and choice offered by Aristotle. We argue that the sustainability of inter-organizational communities depends on how rich is the set of assumptions about human nature upon which they are based. In order to develop and sustain collaborative capabilities in inter-organizational communities, a set of assumptions that takes both self-regarding and others’-regarding preferences as ends is required to avoid any kind of instrumentalization of collaboration, which is an end in itself. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

The Hunt–Vitell General Theoryof Marketing Ethics: Can it Enhance our Understanding of Principal-Agent Relationships in Channels of Distribution?

This paper advances the Hunt–Vitell General Theory of Marketing Ethics as a framework for enriching current understanding of both long-term marketing relationships in general, and principal-agent associations specifically. Under economic models of agency theory, manufacturer-distributor relationships are conceptualized as principal-agent associations where both parties are assumed be motivated exclusively by short-term financial self-interest within the logical constraints of zero-sum game conditions. As a general model of ethical decision making and behavior in marketing, the Hunt–Vitell theory illustrates how ethical decisions are predicated not only upon estimations of potential benefits or outcomes (using teleological criteria), but also deontological evaluations which invoke norms and values. Furthermore, the recent ideas advanced in "relationship marketing" perspectives suggest that distribution channel associations premised upon non-zero-sum or symbiotic assumptions may be more effective and more jointly profitable. Based upon the Hunt–Vitell model, propositions are formulated that complement the understanding of agency theory within the context of marketing channel relationships, and thus, may represent a basis for more effective agency selection and interaction in marketing practice.     

Stakeholder Multiplicity: Toward an Understanding of the Interactions between Stakeholders

While stakeholder theory has traditionally considered organization’s interactions with stakeholders in terms of independent, dyadic relationships, recent scholarship has pointed to the fact that organizations exist within a complex network of intertwining relationships [e.g., Rowley, T. J.: 1997, The Academy of Management Review 22(4), 887–910]. However, further theoretical and empirical development of the interactions between stakeholders has been lacking. In this paper, we develop a framework for understanding and measuring the effects upon the organization of competing, complementary and cooperative stakeholder interactions, which we refer to as stakeholder multiplicity. We draw upon three forms of fit (i.e. fit as matching, fit as moderation, and fit as gestalts; Venkatraman, N.: 1989) to develop a framework for understanding stakeholder multiplicity based upon the direction, strength, and synergies of the interacting claims. Additionally, we draw upon the theory of stakeholder identification and salience of Mitchell et al. (1997), which we argue provides a more relevant and significantly more illustrative explanation of the nature and effects of stakeholder interactions upon the organization than the network approach of Rowley (1997). Furthermore, we ground our framework through reference to three stakeholder groups (i.e. governments, customers, and employees) and the stakeholder issue of concern for the natural environment. We propose a hierarchy of the multiplicity strength of influence of these three stakeholder groups. Potential measurement and implications are discussed.     

Negotiator Relationships: Construct Measurement, and Demonstration of Their Impact on the Process and Outcomes of Negotiation

The study of negotiations is giving increasing attention to relationships between the negotiating parties. This study describes the development of a multidimensional index to measure the strength of the various facets of relationships. Results from a laboratory study that used this instrument show that cohesive relationships encourage information-sharing and discourage use of coercive tactics, both of which have direct or indirect effects on the attainment of integrative outcomes, negative affect, and the negotiators' ongoing relationship.     

Influence of functional conflicts on marketing capability in channel relationships

Extending the research on the positive effects of functional conflicts, this study examines how functional conflicts influence innovation capability and responsive capability in channel relationships by triggering inter-organizational knowledge sharing. The moderating effects of conflict frequency and relationship quality on the relationships between functional conflict, knowledge sharing, and capabilities are also explored. Based on a questionnaire survey of 152 small- and medium-sized enterprises in China, the results show that (1) functional conflict can stimulate inter-organizational knowledge sharing, but the frequency of conflict negatively moderates this relationship; (2) knowledge sharing has a mediating effect on the relationship between functional conflict and marketing capability; and (3) relationship quality positively moderates the relationship between functional conflict and knowledge sharing, but negatively moderates the relationship between knowledge sharing and innovation capability. These findings broaden the theoretical scope of conflict theory and refine the theoretical framework of channel conflict. This study also has significant practical implications for organizations seeking to effectively guide and resolve conflicts.     

The Dynamics of Negotiation in a Global Inter-Organizational Network: Findings from the Air Transport and Travel Industry

Networks of interdependent organizations, also known as network-based businesses, are being shaped by many forces. In supporting negotiations between the airlines and travel agencies locked in a principle/agent relationship wrought with tension, this paper uncovers the dynamics of negotiating in a global inter-organizational network. It provides guidelines for supporting such negotiations. Networks, as a form of interorganizational co-ordination, are becoming increasingly predominant. Knowledge on how to facilitate negotiations in global inter-organizational networks will become more valuable.     

Supporting Interactive Multi-Attribute Electronic Negotiations with ebXML

The inter-organizational character of electronic negotiations raises social, legal, organizational and technical research questions. One of the main weaknesses of electronic negotiation applications today is that they do not sufficiently take into consideration the integration requirements that stem from the latter two of these aspects. Our objective is to design and build an electronic negotiation application that complies with these requirements. A major task within this work is the modeling and specification of the negotiation process and negotiation objects. To meet the integration requirements, the use of standards is essential. In our paper, we apply the ebXML framework to the task of modeling interactive bilateral multi-attribute electronic negotiations. For this purpose, we introduce the negotiation process flow underlying our application scenario. We explain the significance of ebXML for standardized business transaction modeling. We develop ebXML process and object definitions and suggest modifications of and additions to the current ebXML standard. Finally, we discuss the scope and the limitations of our concept and prototype.     

The process of assisted negotiations: A network analysis

This article introduces network analysis as a supplement to current research on the process of negotiations. We briefly review the literature on negotiations involving third parties, and argue that to understand fully the dynamics of dispute resolution, it is important to examine processes in addition to outcomes. We propose social network methods as a way to examine systematically the step-by-step process through which self-interested third parties influence negotiated outcomes. To illustrate, we analyze process data from triads in an agent-assisted negotiation. We describe three classes of results. First, we describe the basic properties of the third-party-assisted negotiation process (e.g., we found agents to be the most active players in the negotiation process—they initiate interactions significantly more frequently than buyers or sellers). Second, we study the changes in the process characteristics due to experimental conditions (i.e., we found the interactive patterns to vary depending on the information made available to the third party). Finally, we examine the relationships between the systematic process measures and standard outcome measures. We argue that these measures are complementary, and that the process should be informative with respect to interpreting, predicting, and managing outcomes.This research was supported in part by a grant from the Dispute Resolution Research Center.     

Differentiation value through services in a manufacturer's delivery chain

The delivery of industrial goods includes various possibilities for service business. Previous research has concentrated on third-party logistics (3PL) providers' perspective on service opportunities. This study takes the manufacturer's perspective in inter-organizational relationships and investigates the potential for differentiation value though services associated with the delivery of industrial goods. Field observation was carried out on three high-volume construction component deliveries, to uncover differentiation value drivers and the emergence of service opportunities in a manufacturer's delivery chain. The results complement earlier 3PL-centered goods delivery research by showing that the manufacturer's unique product and process competences, and activities in the delivery chain drive differentiation value, enable new service opportunities. The findings, thereby, draw attention to manufacturers and their competences as sources of added-value service in the delivery of industrial goods. Manufacturing firms have various options for differentiation and centrality in the inter-organizational network through cooperation with third parties. The results reveal that third parties can be hidden sources of added customer value in the goods delivery chain. The differentiation value for different firms in the industrial goods' delivery chains can emerge when firms begin to develop and offer services to each other, and therefore a proactive and in-depth analysis of their customers' differentiation-oriented value hierarchies is required.     

The Confines of Stakeholder Management: Evidence from the Dutch Manufacturing Sector

Stakeholder theory is a pertinent example of a framework that has been stretched over many conceptual contexts and that has been applied to a wide variety of empirical phenomena. A pressing issue involves the scope of application of stakeholder theory, however, because it is not a comprehensive ethical scheme or problem-solving algorithm. We begin our search for the boundaries of stakeholder management by identifying a presently under-acknowledged yet major underlying assumption, notably that the approach is rooted in voluntary action and association. Building on this presumption, we argue that firm – stakeholder relationships are best to be understood in contractualist terms; i.e. as voluntary arrangements between two or more parties seeking mutual benefit. This assertion subsequently allows us to identify three boundary conditions applying to stakeholder theory: (1) the parties should be sufficiently autonomous; (2) their interests need to be alignable; and (3) they should be capableof living up to their commitments. We substantiate these criteria with evidence from a collective case study of buyer – supplier relationships in the Dutch manufacturing sector, demonstrating that the stakeholder management model fails when these boundary criteria are violated.     

How Do Chinese Firms Deal with Inter-Organizational Conflict?

Based on social exchange and customer relationship marketing theory, this study examines how ethical leadership contributes to inter-organizational conflict management (task conflict (TC) and relationship conflict), and the moderating role of task interdependence in these relationships. Data was collected from 81 suppliers and 45 corresponding managers of a large group company in China. Results show that ethical leadership is negatively associated with the levels of inter-organizational conflict, whether task or relationship. Task interdependence significantly moderates the relationship between ethical leadership and TC. Managerial implication in terms of creating sound buyer–supplier relationship through an ethical perspective is discussed.     

Conflict analysis of the NAFTA negotiations

The 1991–92 negotiations for a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are modelled at two points in time during the negotiation process from a Mexican perspective. The first model in February 1992 captures the positions of the parties on several key issues. The second model in April 1992 concentrates on the energy issue, which is of particular importance to Mexico. The formal model provided a framework for structuring the negotiation, and a communications medium for discussing and recording it. The analyses were fairly accurate as predictors of events and could have been effective in giving advice to the negotiations.     

Interactive resource development in new business relationships

Interaction in business relationships is a significant means of resource development. Studies of these processes have focused on interactive development in long-term relationships between buyer and supplier. This study explores the characteristics of joint resource development in new business relationships, where the two parties have no previous experience of interacting with each other. The study is based on the industrial network model and contains two cases of interactive development of new products with entirely different features. This research shows that joint development in a new relationship is strongly dependent on the resources of other business partners, since no previous adaptations exist between the two focal actors. Access to these resources is achieved through the established business relationships of the two parties. Furthermore, previous interactions with other business partners have a significant impact on the outcome of interactive development in a new business relationship. The main reason for these conditions is that the features of the resources of the two parties have evolved during these interactions.     

Creativity in buyer–seller relationships: The role of governance

This research proposes a framework for relating governance mechanisms (power, contracts, and trust) to the generation of creative approaches to business activities in buyer–seller relationships. The framework is tested with a survey of 262 purchasing agents. The results indicate that trust and contract affect the three facilitators of inter-organizational creativity: (1) knowledge-sharing routines (resources), (2) learning orientation (motivation), and (3) managerial support and open-mindedness (managerial practices). Also, the effects of trust and contract on the creativity in buyer–seller relationships are fully mediated by the above three facilitators. In particular, trust plays a more influential role in stimulating creativity. While power is not significantly associated with any of the facilitators, its overall effect on creativity is negative.     

Role Theory and the Management of Service Encounters

In this article, the contribution of role theory to our understanding and management of service encounters is highlighted. In the first section of the article the focus on social exchange within role theory is identified and commonalities between relational approaches to marketing and a role theoretical perspective are outlined. Thereafter the article outlines the specific contribution of role theory to our understanding of service encounters. Role theory, it is argued, permits better management of the interactive features of service provider-client interface and a clearer focus on role performance and the interpersonal dimensions of service quality. Role analysis offers both focus on role consistency in service provision and a framework for dealing with the uncertainty and evolution in long term service relationships. In services marketing, role can be incorporated as a factor in successful service performance and form a central framework for good service encounter management.     

Value Creation in Inter-Organizational Collaboration: An Empirical Study

Over the last decade, businesses, policymakers, and researchers alike have advocated the need for (and potential of) value creation through inter-organizational collaboration. Researchers have widely argued that organizations that are engaged in collaborative processes create value. Because researchers have tended to focus on the identification of organizational motivations and on key success factors for collaboration, however, both the nature and processes of value creation in inter-organizational collaboration have yet to be examined. A recent theory by Austin and Seitanidi (Nonprofit Volunt Sect Q 41(5):726–758, 2012a; Nonprofit Volunt Sect Q 41(6):929–968, 2012b) has proposed an analytical framework for analyzing value creation in inter-organizational collaboration, based on four types of value. The purpose of this current study is to empirically test this framework, and to provide key pointers for analyzing the nature of value, particularly in relation to learning. Our detailed empirical research is based on a 6-year retrospective case study of an inter-organizational partnership within an international development project for local economic development in Guatemala. The study’s contributions are twofold. First, it provides evidence of the critical path of the creation of diverse types of values in a collaborative process; second, it links the different types of value creation with the types of learning that occur in an inter-organizational process.     

Concessions Dynamics in Electronic Negotiations: A Cross-Lagged Regression Analysis

We analyze concession patterns in electronic negotiations using a modified version of the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model (APIM). Our extension of the APIM takes into account that concessions in negotiations can only be evaluated in terms of utilities of the receiving side. We show that actor and partner effects in that model can directly be related to central concepts of negotiation theory such as cooperative versus distributive bargaining tactics and reciprocity. Based on this connection, we formulate hypotheses on the differences of actor and partner effects between successful and failed negotiations. We test these hypotheses on two existing data sets. Results show consistent and strong actor effects, while partner effects are only present in specific settings.     

Managing interaction for learning and value creation in exchange relationships

Firms create value by establishing and maintaining appropriate exchange relationships. However, beyond the generally recognized importance of trust and commitment, there is a lack of specific cues as to how such value creation can be managed. In an attempt to gain more insight this study examines the success formulas in three different types of interactions in exchange relationships. The purpose is to investigate how different types of interactions can be managed so that buyer firms make important contributions to the development of their suppliers' capabilities. The study empirically examines how inter-organizational management facilitates value creation in three different types of interactions in exchange relationships: unilateral learning, unilateral development, and bilateral learning. This study uses a partial least squares analysis (PLS) to analyze survey data from 142 exchange relationships in the seafood industry. The main contribution to the literature is the assessment of how various types of inter-organizational management promote value-creation initiatives (such as information supply and coaching), and ultimately, value creation.