The Structures of Cooperation: Downscaling,Outsourcing and the Networked Alliance

This article explores interfirm cooperation and its relationship with downscaling, cooperative outsourcing, and the network structures of multiple firm alliances. Downscaling is defined and related to cooperative outsourcing, as major influences shaping interfirm relations. The advantages of embedding cooperative outsourcing in strategic alliances are then addressed, with special relevance to small and medium-size firms. Five types of network structures that may develop within alliances are considered, relating their main characteristics and internal division of labor to various aspects of interfirm cooperation, such as embeddedness, disparities, commitment and trust.     

Interfirm collaboration and exchange relationships: An agenda for future research

Interfirm collaboration and exchange relationships are fundamental to how value is created, managed, and exchanged between firms. In this paper we first identify three major research themes (nature, governance, and outcomes) that existing research has focused on and then propose three structural shifts (technology, platforms, and globalization) that might influence nature, governance, and outcomes associated with interfirm collaboration. We also synthesize a research agenda for the future and develop multiple research propositions that might become the foundation to integrate the structural shifts into research on interfirm collaboration. We provide guidance on how existing theories can help scholars address new research questions arising due to the structural shifts. Finally, we provide insights to managers on the type of data that they need to access to make more effective decisions related to interfirm collaboration in a dynamic business environment.     

How do business and political Networking shape overseas dispute resolution for state-owned enterprise from emerging economies

We examine how networking in host countries by state-owned multinational enterprises from emerging economies (EMNEs) influences the approaches used to resolve interfirm disputes in overseas markets. To test our hypotheses, we surveyed 127 senior Chinese executives working for overseas subsidiaries in 56 countries. The results indicate that EMNEs’ business networking experience facilitates the adoption of the cooperative approach in subsequent interfirm disputes but has an insignificant effect on the competitive approach. In contrast, EMNEs’ political networking experience enables them to avoid a competitive approach but has a negligible effect on the cooperative approach. Although the business networking experience of state-owned EMNEs headquartered in the capital is conducive to facilitating the cooperative approach, their political networking experience is ineffective in avoiding the competitive approach and even hinders their adoption of the cooperative approach. Overall, we highlight how networking with the key institutional actors in host countries affects EMNEs’ post-entry operations.     

A resource-based-view of the socially responsible firm: Stakeholder interdependence,ethical awareness,and issue responsiveness as strategic assets

In recent years the resource-based view of the firm has made significant headway in explaining differences in interfirm performance. However, this perspective has not considered the social and ethical dimensions of organizational resources. This paper seeks to provide such an integration. Using Kuhn's three stage model of adaptive behavior, the resource worthiness of stakeholder management, business ethics, and issues management are explored. The paper concludes by drawing on prospect theory to understand the reasons for this conceptual lacuna.Reginald A. Litz is assistant professor of business administration specializing in strategic management and corporate social responsibility at the Faculty of Management at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. His current research interests include corporate social responsibility and executive self-deception.     

基于社会资本理论的平台企业与合作伙伴的动态合作演化研究——菜鸟网络纵向案例研究

生态合作关系的建立与良性运转能够有效调动各方资源解决行业发展困境、共同互助提升。基于社会资本理论，研究探索了平台企业与合作伙伴如何识别不同阶段发展瓶颈、应对措施、产生结果等生态合作演化过程。以菜鸟平台作为案例研究对象，解锁了生态合作不同阶段的动态合作演化路径与规律。研究发现：（1）平台企业与合作伙伴共经历基于需求与供给的绑定、基于价值获取与能力提升、基于共生共赢的合作三个阶段；（2）三阶段分别着重于建立伙伴间连接与信任、提升伙伴能力与协同配合、增强伙伴责任共担、贡献自身的意识；（3）各阶段均形成以“瓶颈—策略—结果”为内在逻辑的合作演化路径，最终建立生态合作演化整合模型。研究通过拓展对社会资本理论的认知，深化了对平台生态系统领域内合作演化过程的理解。     

The trickle-down effect of trust in business-to-business relationships: How can a supplier ensure cooperation from multiple customers?

Abstract

Although several interfirm cooperation studies have expanded the unit of analysis from dyads to triads (networks), there is scant literature focusing on whether and how a supplier’s relationship with a customer influences its relationships with other customers. Individual relationship dyads are not isolated but interact with one another. Particularly, mutual trust in a supplier–customer relationship dyad may influence other customers’ cooperative behavior. This cross-dyadic influence is called the “trickle-down effect of trust.” A hypothesis for the mechanism by which this effect occurs was generated, focusing on the customers’ demand information offerings as a cooperative behavior. The results of an empirical analysis indicate that (1) a supplier’s mutual trust with its primary customer encourages nonprimary customers to offer their demand information to the supplier and (2) the quality of information from customers helps the supplier to make their new product more meaningful.     

Do strategic marketing and social capital really matter in regional clusters? Lessons from an emerging economy of Latin America

This research explores the relationship between geographic proximity and the building of social capital and inter-firm cooperation in strategic marketing. By emphasizing social interactions and the building of social capital, we extend the research on industry clusters beyond traditional economic perspectives and factors motivating cooperation between firms. The empirical study is based on a survey of 90 senior managers from three natural resources-based industries (two non-clustered and one clustered) in Chile. The results show that managers in clustered versus non-clustered industries differ in terms of the perceived value of location, the perceived value of building social capital, their involvement in activities that build social capital, their attitudes toward cooperative marketing, their history of involvement in cooperative marketing activities, and their intentions for engaging in cooperative marketing activities in the future. Trade associations in clustered versus non-clustered industries play different roles in regard to creating social capital. The article concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for researchers, managers and policy makers.     

The Space Between: Towards a Typology of Interfirm Relations

ABSTRACT

Understanding and managing the relationships between firms is the central issue in business to business marketing. Some of the results of a program of research undertaken in Australia to study interfirm relations are used to develop an empirically based typology of interfirm relations focusing on the mix of cooperative and competitive elements coexisting in a relationship. Measures are developed of relationship cooperativeness and competitiveness and relations are classified into one of four types based on whether they score high or low on each dimension. A dynamic process model of interfirm relationships is developed as a basis for identifying the main factors driving relationship development. Measures of these factors form the basis for regression analysis to identify the characteristics of each of the four types of relations and examples of particular relationships are used to illustrate the characteristics identified.     

Leadership Centrality and Corporate Social Ir-Responsibility (CSIR): The Potential Ameliorating Effects of Self and Shared Leadership on CSIR

Recent scandals involving executive leadership have significantly contributed to the topic of corporate social responsibility (CSR) becoming one of the most important concerns of the management literature in the twenty-first century. The antithesis of CSR is embodied in executive corruption and malfeasance. Unfortunately such things are all too frequent. We view the degree of centrality of leadership, and the primary power motivation of leaders, as key factors that influence the engagement in corruptive leader behavior and consequent corporate social ir-responsibility (CSIR) in organizations. Shared and self-leadership, on the other hand, we introduce as alternatives to traditional top-down centralized views of leadership that can establish needed checks and balances capable of reducing corruptive tendencies. We offer a conceptual model along with several propositions to help guide future research and practice.     

Cooperative or competitive in alliance formation: Alliance patterns with respect to rivals

Premised on the assumption that strategic alliance is a type of competitive action toward rivals, this study explores how a firm uses alliances differently with respect to rivals. I distinguish between two types of alliances that directly involve rivals: alliance with a rival and with a rival's partner. The former and the latter reflect cooperative‐ and competitive‐orientations respectively. Further, I investigate what drives a focal firm to adopt a particular alliance rather than another. The findings indicate that the key consideration explaining different alliance patterns is the resource profiles of focal and rival firms. This study contributes to the literature on competitive dynamics and strategic alliance by suggesting a new approach to integrate interfirm competition and cooperation. Copyright © 2016 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Information technology-enabled interactions,mutual monitoring,and supplier-buyer cooperation: A network perspective

This study, which integrates the literature on IT (information technology)-enabled interactions and governance mechanisms in interfirm relationships, proposes facilitated access to a network of partners as a key feature that distinguishes IT-enabled interactions from those that occur offline. Specifically, IT-enabled interactions improve interfirm network embeddedness, which in turn improves firms' perceived ability to mutually monitor each other. In contrast to the unilateral monitoring prevalent in prior research, the network-induced mutual monitoring, which reduces information asymmetry and improves power equity, improves cooperation performance without the backfiring “reactance” effect. Moreover, this study offers conceptual distinctions between formal and informal IT-enabled interactions and their different roles in supplier-buyer cooperation. A sample of 240 manufacturing firms in China contributes to this research, and the results strongly support the hypotheses. Overall, this study provides a better understanding of the role of IT-enabled interactions in supplier-buyer cooperation.     

Performance impacts of interorganizational cooperation: a transaction cost perspective

This study builds on the transaction cost theory to examine the performance effects of interorganizational cooperation and develops an understanding of how different forms of cooperative relationships affect organizational performance within a major service sector, namely the healthcare industry. The authors study, in particular, two cooperative forms applied to hospitals: hospital-based health networks and health systems. An empirical investigation of 382 hospitals in Taiwan shows that interorganizational cooperation exerts positive effects on hospital performance. In addition, health systems have greater positive effects on hospital efficiency than health networks. Furthermore, this study finds that the positive impact of participation in health systems is especially significant for private hospitals, local community hospitals, and hospitals in highly competitive regions. The findings reveal that performance impacts of interorganizational cooperation are contingent on the cooperative arrangements in the healthcare industry.     

Knowledge transfer among the small businesses of a Brazilian cluster

This study verifies how knowledge is transferred among small businesses operating in industrial clusters, how this competitive resource circulates and is accessed within the cluster. Interfirm cooperation, industrial support institutions, workforce mobility and social ties, concepts highlighted in the literature as dimensions of the knowledge transfer process, were used to structure the survey instrument, which was applied in the cluster that leads Brazilian furniture exports. Questionnaire responses were received from 198 firms and submitted to factor analysis. Conclusions and theoretical contributions of the study are that: (i) the knowledge transfer process is multi-dimensional; (ii) knowledge transfer can occur in clusters even in the absence of interfirm cooperation; (iii) the dimensions of the process can be combined in various ways to facilitate knowledge transfer; (iv) this combination may differ from cluster to cluster; and (v) producers are more likely than suppliers to perceive and access knowledge available in the cluster.     

How Economic Incentives May Destroy Social,Ecological and Existential Values: The Case of Executive Compensation

Executive compensation has long been a prominent topic in the management literature. A main question that is also given substantial attention in the business ethics literature—even more so in the wake of the recent financial crisis—is whether increasing levels of executive compensation can be justified from an ethical point of view. Also, the relationship of executive compensation to instances of unethical behavior or outcomes has received considerable attention. The purpose of this paper is to explore the social, ecological, and existential costs of economic incentives, by discussing how relying on increasing levels of executive compensation may have an adverse effect on managerial performance in a broad sense. Specifically, we argue that one-dimensional economic incentives may destroy existential, social, and systemic values that influence the manager’s commitment to ensure responsible business conduct, and have negative spillover effects that may reduce the manager’s performance. There are well-documented findings that demonstrate that reliance on sources of extrinsic motivation (such as economic incentives) may displace intrinsic motivation. Our perspective is a holistic one, in the sense that we will explore the influence of sources of extrinsic motivation on the manager’s intrinsic commitment to different types of values. We will in particular investigate how it may influence the manager’s ethical reflection and behavior or lack thereof.     

Individual,Organizational, and Institutional Determinants of Formal and Informal Inter‐Firm Cooperation in SMEs

Inter‐firm cooperation has been considered an important strategy for SMEs to overcome competitive difficulties. Despite the relevance of this strategy there are no studies that jointly consider how entrepreneurs' characteristics, organizational factors, and institutional features influence SMEs to establish cooperative agreements. In order to bridge this gap, we analyze what factors at these three levels explain inter‐firm cooperation and whether formal and informal inter‐firm agreements are explained by different factors. Our research is based on a survey of 1,587 Spanish SMEs and the results show that individual, organizational, and institutional factors contribute to jointly shape the decisions concerning inter‐firm cooperation.     

Power,CSR strategy,and performance in foreign-owned subsidiaries

We investigate how a subsidiary's power base influences its strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR) focus on international and local issues, and performance. We develop a theoretical framework and test symmetric hypotheses as well as non-symmetric research queries based on insights from resource dependency theory and institutional theory. We use survey data collected from foreign-owned subsidiaries located in the mid-range emerging economy of Taiwan. We find that a large power base positively influences an international CSR strategic focus in subsidiaries. Furthermore, our symmetric results indicated that only international CSR strategies are conducive to performance. However, our complementing non-symmetric results show that the distinct power-base dimensions in combination with a local CSR strategic focus can also lead to high performance outcomes.     

Management of international strategic business cooperation: Situational conditions,performance criteria,and success factors

In recent years, international strategic business cooperation has attracted great attention in both international management theory and practice. Several prominent examples demonstrate that interfirm alliances can no longer be viewed as second‐best solutions but must be recognized as efficient forms of internationalization. In this article, the specific management problems of international strategic business cooperation are analyzed and a systematic approach for their solution is presented. After outlining three examples that represent three different forms of international strategic business cooperation, a conceptual framework is developed that integrates three different perspectives: situational conditions, management instruments, and performance criteria. In the main part of the article, five success factors of international strategic business cooperation (partner selection, cooperation agreement, management structure, acculturation process, and knowledge management) are discussed. The article ends with a short summary and implications for further research. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Building the Theoretical Puzzle of Employees’ Reactions to Corporate Social Responsibility: An Integrative Conceptual Framework and Research Agenda

Research on employees’ responses to corporate social responsibility (CSR) has recently accelerated and begun appearing in top-tier academic journals. However, existing findings are still largely fragmented, and this stream of research lacks theoretical consolidation. This article integrates the diffuse and multi-disciplinary literature on CSR micro-level influences in a theoretically driven conceptual framework that contributes to explain and predict when, why, and how employees might react to CSR activity in a way that influences organizations’ economic and social performance. Drawing on social identity theory and social exchange theory, we delineate the different but interdependent psychological mechanisms that explain how CSR can strengthen the employee–organization relationship and subsequently foster employee-related, micro-level outcomes. Contributions of our framework to extant literature and potential extensions for future research are then discussed.     

The Transformation of an Old Industrial District: Firms, Family, and Mutuality in the Zaanstreek between 1840 and 1920

The Zaanstreek—northwest of Amsterdam, The Netherlands—hasbeen a highly industrialized region for nearly four hundredyears. For most of this period, it showed a strong sense ofcommunity and a high degree of cooperation between firms, whichis usually considered to be typical for an "industrial district."However, between about 1840 and the First World War the characterof this industrial district was dramatically transformed. Inresponse to the rapidly growing integration of markets in thenational and international economies since the 1840s, the Zaanstreekwent through a radical change in energy base, as well as a fundamentalshift in industrial structure. This essay addresses the questionsof what happened to interfirm cooperation in the Zaanstreekwhen this fundamental transition in energy base and shift inindustrial structure came about and how and to what extent entrepreneursin the Zaan district between 1840 and 1920 managed to preservethe sense of community and interfirm cooperation that were thehallmarks of this region since the seventeenth century. It showsthat the principle of mutuality eventually proved no longerstrong enough to keep the actors in these institutions together.Ties between firms within the industrial district were in severalrespects replaced by, or subordinated to, ties between firmsoutside the industrial district. What kept interfirm cooperationin the district nevertheless intact for much of the period after1920 were ties of regional family networks. The essay concludeswith a few observations about the relevance to the study ofindustrial districts in general.     

政府采购政策的理论性定位

制定和具体落实政府采购政策,是当前政府采购如何实现其社会职能的一项重要内容。本文对政府采购政策定位,可执行程序和标准,保障措施做了理论方向性的研究和探讨。