A Temporal Model of Vertical Relationships

Purpose: The authors developed a model framework for buyer–supplier relationships and used it to extend theory in 4 areas: (a) maintenance of long-term relationships; (b) conversion of relationships from adversarial to cooperative; (c) changes in relationships over their lives; and (d) levels of commitment and trust between partners.

Methodology/approach: The authors analyzed existing research on buyer–seller relationships and theoretical concepts in various disciplines to develop a 3-stage temporal relationship model consisting of pre-deal (t–1), deal enactment (t), and deal continuation (t+1) stages. From the model and existing research, the authors drew propositions for relationships in the areas of buyer and seller power, several forms of commitment and trust, intellectual capital, and financial performance.

Findings: Briefly, the authors proposed that (a) at the pre-deal stage, increased buyer power may instigate supplier input commitment or vice versa; (b) at deal enactment, both parties may commit to a written contract and build contractual trust through a low degree of relational commitment; and (c) in the deal continuation stage, contractual trust, and attitudinal commitment of one of the parties is likely to foster attitudinal commitment in the other party. The authors found that buyer's and supplier's total commitment fosters goodwill trust and helps build intellectual capital and financial performance, and that the weaker party in the relationship likely gains more from the partnership than the stronger party.

Research implications: In addition to existing research, the authors used several actual situations to provide support for our propositions. However, more research should be done in all areas to additionally confirm our propositions and otherwise add to theory development.

Practical implications: By looking at buyer–seller relationships in three stages, the authors developed several implications for both parties. These included long-term results of short-term actions, importance of industry factors on buyer and seller commitment, and the role of commitment in determining whether long-term relationships are developed.

Originality/value/contribution: The authors extended and coordinated existing theory by consolidating the implications of previous research into a cohesive buyer–supplier relationship model. This model should enable both researchers and managers to better comprehend the dynamics of vertical relationships with a multi-dimensional, reciprocal approach. The results should also provide managers an additional tool to gauge and forecast the fate of a relationship by analyzing levels of trust and commitment as the relationship progresses.     

Mutually Dependent: Power,Trust, Affect and the Use of Deception in Negotiation

Using a simulated two-party negotiation, we examined how trustworthiness and power balance affected deception. In order to trigger deception, we used an issue that had no value for one of the two parties. We found that high cognitive trust increased deception whereas high affective trust decreased deception. Negotiators who expressed anxiety also used more deception whereas those who expressed optimism also used less deception. The nature of the negotiating relationship (mutuality and level of dependence) interacted with trust and negotiators’ affect to influence levels of deception. Deception was most likely to occur when negotiators reported low trust or expressed negative emotions in the context of nonmutual or low dependence relationships. In these relationships, emotions that signaled certainty were associated with misrepresentation whereas emotions that signaled uncertainty were associated with concealment of information. Negotiators who expressed positive emotions in the context of a nonmutual or high dependence relationship also used less deception. Our results are consistent with a fair trade model in which negotiator increases deception when contextual and interpersonal cues heighten concerns about exploitation and decrease deception when these cues attenuate concerns about exploitation.     

Deception and defection from ethical norms in market relationships: a general analytic framework

Market relationships built on trust and governed by commonly accepted ethical norms are generally viewed as economically positive and beneficial to both parties; however, such relationships are occasionally the situs of a variety of unexpected and ethically questionable behaviours. This study examines the narratives provided by participants who share their experience as an exchange partner in a market relationship or as a close observer of an exchange partner in a market relationship to identify the use of short‐term deceptions and ethics defections in managing these relationships. The data demonstrate a number of instances in which one exchange partner is willing to deceive another. Situations identified include deceiving current customers, new customers, current suppliers, governmental bodies, and employees and managers for the purposes of: protecting an existing relationship, pursuing a new relationship, ensuring product or service quality, and exerting control over a relationship. This research develops a general analytic framework for the occurrence of deception and defection from ethical norms in market relationships from elements of the study participants' narrative reports. This framework can be used by future researchers to design studies that examine the specific antecedents of these behaviours.     

An Empirical Investigation of the Relationships between Ethical Beliefs, Ethical Ideology, Political Preference and Need for Closure

An analysis is presented of the relationships between consumers ethical beliefs, ethical ideology, Machiavellianism, political preference and the individual difference variable "need for closure". It is based on a representative survey of 286 Belgian respondents. Standard measurement tools of proven reliability and robustness are used to measure ethical beliefs (consumer ethics scale), ethical ideology (ethical positioning), Machiavellianism (Mach IV scale) and need for closure. The analysis finds the following. First, individuals with a high need for closure tend to have beliefs that are more ethical as regards possible consumer actions, and score higher on idealism and lower on Machiavellianism, than those with a low need for closure. Second, a correlation exists between political preference and ethical beliefs. Third, a significant relationship exists between ethical ideology and political preference for the two largest political parties. Fourth, individuals with a high and low need for closure have different political preferences for right-wing and left-wing parties.     

Advertising agency planning – conceptualising network relationships

This study investigated the networked relationships between agency parties involved in the process of advertising planning, internal and external to advertising agencies. The study provides a conceptual grounding for understanding the shift from dyadic to multiple relationships in advertising planning. It focuses on the degree of collaboration and integrative relationships inherent. Using a theoretically derived, grounded theory approach, depth interviews were conducted with twenty two practitioners spread across four dominant parties: advertising account management and creatives, independent media planners and researchers. Four core constructs were abstracted from the data forming the conceptual basis for a model. These were shared (agency) purpose and philosophy, personal chemistry between involved parties, power relations between parties with their incumbent conflictual tensions and finally trust between parties. The study provides an important bridgehead, opening up and exploring the increasingly networked foundations for advertising planning.     

Business Ethics and the Development of Intellectual Capital

This paper documents that business ethics has positive impacts upon the development of intellectual capital. Knowledge has become the most important asset of modern businesses, and this study argues that business ethics is associated with the development of intangible knowledge resources—intellectual capital. Businesses with ethical values at the core reinforce ethical conducts and successfully build trust with their various stakeholders, leading to the formation of an ethical and trustworthy corporate culture and a positive corporate environment. Thus, in this reasoning, an ethical approach to business can encourage open communication, problems solving, knowledge sharing and creativity among employees to increase organisational capital; enhance interactions and relationships with suppliers, customers and other stakeholders to increase social capital; attract and retain good talent to increase human capital. Questionnaire survey is adopted as the research method with businesses in the electronic and information technology industries in Taiwan as sample. The results suggest that business ethics is associated with increased intellectual capital. Thus, this study demonstrates that the development of intellectual capital is in line with strengthened ethics. It contributes to the literature through combining research on business ethics with intellectual capital theories and extends the extant intellectual capital literature.     

生态伦理视角下的民族地区可持续发展研究

民族地区可持续发展是我国构建和谐社会的迫切要求,是国家生态文明建设和解决贫困问题与民族问题的需要。生态伦理观与民族地区的可持续发展具有内在一致性:生态伦理观为民族地区物质文化和精神文化发展提供借鉴;生态伦理的"公平原则"是实现民族地区可持续发展的首要原则;可持续发展观蕴涵和谐共生的生态伦理精神。我国民族地区应在坚持科学发展观的前提下,运用生态伦理理念构建经济可持续发展的运行机制,实现生态文明建设与经济持续和谐发展。     

International buyer behaviour–commitment relationship: An investigation of the empirical link in importing

Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm this article examines relationships between knowledge, trust, communication, volatility and sustainable competitive advantage as the exogenous and endogenous variables with importer commitment as the dependent variable. The primary data was gathered from a survey of 224 commercial and industrial firms, headquartered in Bangladesh, coming from a wide cross section of industries. Statistical analysis was carried out using Structural Equation Modelling via AMOS. The study's key findings revealed that all exogenous/endogenous variables had a significant impact on importer commitment. That is, knowledge, trust, communication, volatility and sustainable competitive advantage had a significant direct impact on importer commitment. Additionally, cultural similarity, communication, volatility and supplier opportunism all had a significant indirect impact on importer commitment. This finding makes a significant contribution to the relational side of the RBV.     

Green cooperation in last-mile logistics and consumer loyalty: An empirical analysis of a theoretical framework

Based on the contingency, transaction, and trust theories, this paper explored how the green cooperation between supplier and customer in last-mile logistics contributes to consumers’ sustainable consumption behaviors and trust and transaction cost's contingency role. We collected survey data from 453 users of green shopping platforms in South Korea (e.g., Homepick and Smart Locker) and analyzed the data using structural equation modeling. The results suggest that green cooperation with companies positively affects consumers’ sustainable consumption behaviors and trust, and transaction costs negatively moderate such relationships. In addition, customer trust positively affects sustainable consumption behavior and loyalty. We also found that improved sustainable consumption behavior can form loyalty, but transaction cost decreases its positive impact. This paper evaluates the last-mile delivery through green cooperation and enriches the literature on contingency, transaction cost, and trust theories.     

The Theoretical Ground for Public Relations Practice and Ethics: A Koehnian Analysis

Public relations literature laments the lack of a theoretical base for the practice and ethics of public relations. Drawing primarily upon Koehn (The Ground of Professional Ethics, 1994) and Hutton (Public Relations Review, 1999), this paper proposes such a theoretical ground.The paper adopts Hutton's assertion that "the central organizing theme of public relations theory and practice" is relationships(Hutton, 1999, p. 209). It also relies upon Koehn (1994) to provide a theoretical discussion of the nature of professions, and the ground upon which professional ethics and public trust in the professions are based. It concludes, from a Koehnian perspective, that for public relations to move from the expertise and contractual models of practice into a covenantal model as a profession worthy of public trust, the field must devote itself to a defined human good (relationships), and must be grounded in a public pledge to serve this good.     

Buyouts,information asymmetry and the family management dyad

Management buyouts (MBOs) and buyins (MBIs) are an alternative solution to the private family firm ownership succession issue. It is typically assumed that MBO/MBIs of private family firms progress more smoothly than other types of MBO/MBI, due to fewer information asymmetries and closer relationships between the parties involved. This study provides novel evidence from eight private family firms that had selected an MBO or an MBI. The myths surrounding the succession issues of family firms who have selected an MBO/MBI are specifically explored. The MBO/MBI process is examined within an agency theory framework with particular emphasis on the balance of information and the relationships between vendors and purchasers. Complementary theoretical frameworks relating to trust and negotiation behavior are utilized. Interviews were held with former family owners as well as the current members of the MBO/MBI teams. Triangulation of opinions was considered, thus strengthening the validity of presented results. The case studies confirmed that information asymmetries were widespread, providing opportunities for the parties with more information to negotiate a price and structure the deal to their advantage. Good relationships and trust between the vendor and MBO/MBI team mitigated information asymmetries. Where the MBO/MBI was part of the family firm's long-term strategy, there were fewer information asymmetries, and knowledge transfer was facilitated.     

ANTECEDENTS AND DIMENSIONS OF CUSTOMER PARTNERING BEHAVIOR IN LOGISTICS OUTSOURCING RELATIONSHIPS

In order to be successful in today's competitive environment, third‐party logistics providers (3PLs) increasingly strive to develop close, mutually beneficial long‐term relationships with customers. The current study identifies inter‐organizational conditions and firm‐specific factors that influence a firm's partnering behavior with its 3PL. A model of the antecedents and dimensions of partnering behavior is developed and tested with a diverse set of relationships between a focal 3PL and members of its customer base.     

Trust and Co-operation in Business Relationship Development: Exploring the Influence of National Values

This paper makes an initial exploration of whether and to what extent different national values may affect the development of business relationships between individuals in different countries, by specifically examining the development of trust and co-operation between people. It first identifies key factors that may determine the nature and effect of trust in business relationships. Trust based on calculus, knowledge, and identification are distinguished. Inhibitions to co-operation are also identified, which include the perceptions of economic value, of social returns, of risk, and of competence of the potential co-operating parties. A model of trust formation and its impact on co-operation enabling detailed interpretation of empirical data is presented.

Notions of national values developed in previous research are outlined, and a set of formal tabulated propositions regarding how these may be expected to influence different aspects of trust formation in different European countries is developed. The relevance and applicability in understanding different approaches to business development in different countries is then explored. The trust relationships of three matched case companies, one each from France, Holland and the United Kingdom are examined in terms of the propositions detailed, by means of verbal protocol analysis. Marked differences were found between the three individual business leaders, and these largely matched the theoretical propositions generated. Different types of trust relationships were sought and required by the individuals examined, and they each needed different co-operation criteria to be addressed before they would co-operate.

This study is only exploratory, and stereotypes need to be avoided, but more concrete propositions can be suggested as to why and how national values influence business to business relationships. National values appear to influence the relative importance placed by individuals in the types of trust they require to co-operate with others, and the criteria they implicitly employ in deciding whether to co-operate or not.     

Trustworthiness and trust: influences and implications

Abstract

This paper frames trustworthiness as the key upstream construct of trust and recognises that trust operates at two levels in services relationships, with a number of key drivers that are mediated by trustworthiness. Our findings are supported by survey data from customers of UK financial services, with the data points captured over a number of years which allow for fluctuations in trust level.

Empirically we find that trustworthiness impacts both the cognitive and affecting dimensions of trust, with the impact being greatest on cognitive trust. As a result of our findings it is possible for practitioner to implement policies to not only build trust but also deal with issues where there is a need to rebuild it, as in the case of our research setting.     

Influence factors of trust building in cooperation agreements

Trust is a key success factor in cooperation agreements. Therefore, identifying the factors that make the greatest contribution toward building trust is fundamental for an understanding of cooperation agreements. This paper analyzes two factors that might contribute to generating trust for successful agreements during the initial stages of the relationship. These factors are the partner's reputation and prior partnering experience. The study aims to confirm and complete the understanding of the relationship between these two variables and the success of cooperation agreements, by examining the indirect effect, through trust building, that these factors have on the success of agreements. The study analyzes these relationships by applying a structural equation model on the basis of partial least squares (PLS) methodology. The total impact of previous cooperation experience and the partner's reputation on the success of cooperation agreements is strong, positive, and significant.     

A Virtue-Ethics Analysis of Supply Chain Collaboration

Technological advancements in information systems over the past few decades have enabled firms to work with the major suppliers and customers in their supply chain in order to improve the performance of the entire channel. Tremendous benefits for all parties can be realized by sharing information and coordinating operations to reduce inventory requirements, improve quality, and increase customer satisfaction; but the companies must collaborate effectively to bring these gains to fruition. We consider two alternative methods of managing these interfirm supply chain relationships in this article. The first, which we have named “dictatorial collaboration,” occurs when a dominant supply chain entity assumes control of the channel and forces the other firms to follow its edicts. We compare and contrast this method with “sustainable collaboration,” in which the parties share resources and engage in joint problem solving to improve the performance of the system as a whole. We use a virtue ethics lens to describe these methods of relationship management to suggest that sustainable collaboration is preferable to dictatorial collaboration both operationally and ethically in the long run.     

Team Virtues and Performance: An Examination of Transparency, Behavioral Integrity, and Trust

Virtue-based research in business ethics has increased over the last two decades, but most of the research has focused on the actions of an individual person. In this article, we examine the associations among team-level virtues using data from two studies. Specifically, we investigate whether transparency (usually thought to be an organizational- or collective-level construct), behavioral integrity (usually thought to be an individual-level construct), and trust (usually thought to be an individual-level construct) can be conceptualized and operate at the team level of analysis and, if so, what their relationships are to team performance. Using Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis, we found in both studies that team transparency was positively related to team behavioral integrity, which in turn was positively related to team trust. We also found evidence of a positive relationship between team trust and team performance. Implications of these findings for future teams and ethics research are discussed.     

论我国信托法律制度的完善

目前,随着“一法两规”的颁布实施,信托业正处于一个相对较好的发展时期。从行业发展的实践与规律来看,必须树立可持续发展的观念,认识并发展行业的比较优势。确立科学的市场功能定位,创造适应经济发展的信托市场与有效的信托产品供给,并建立完善的分层次的法规体系。     

MNE-NGO partnerships for sustainability and social responsibility in the global fast-fashion industry: A loose-coupling perspective

Stakeholders are increasingly aware of the environmental and human rights issues related to highly conspicuous fashion merchandising. To mitigate the negative responses from environmentally conscious consumer groups, fashion merchandisers have sought to partner with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). While there is a growing body of literature on sustainability and social responsibility (SSR), the increasingly popular practice of fast-fashion industry partnering with NGOs has been neglected, and so far, remained under the radar. Such partnerships may be of success, but at the same time while promising on the surface, they can actually go awry, resulting in adverse outcomes for both parties. We build upon the loose-coupling theory to explain the relationships between fast-fashion multinational enterprises (MNEs) and NGOs. We discuss three causes (casual indeterminacy; fragmented external environment; discrete internal environment) and four key benefits (adaptability to environmental changes, flexibility, innovation, and firewalls for separate identity) for loosely-coupled partnerships. We then explore the dark side of such partnerships, identifying three challenges (power imbalance, mistrust and opportunism, and misaligning goals). Finally, we offer a set of propositions as a way of advancing our knowledge of partnerships in fashion merchandising industry.     

好的表演需要好的观众——顾客察觉准确性在员工情绪劳动影响中的作用

基于385对顾客和员工的问卷调查的配对数据,考察了员工的情绪劳动如何影响顾客的信任和忠诚,以及顾客察觉准确性在其中的调节作用。研究结果表明员工的深层表演会促进顾客的信任,进而促进顾客忠诚;顾客对深层扮演的高察觉准确性会加强员工的深层扮演与顾客信任之间的正向关系,而当顾客对表面扮演察觉准确性低时,员工的表面扮演会对顾客信任有正向的影响;顾客的深层/表面扮演察觉准确性加强了深层/表面扮演、顾客信任和忠诚之间的中介效应。研究帮助从情绪的视角更好地理解服务情境中信任的前因变量,发现顾客的察觉准确性在情绪劳动影响过程中的重要作用,有助于服务企业从情绪劳动的角度来建立顾客信任和忠诚。