Examining the Nomological Network of Opportunism: A Meta-Analysis

Opportunism has prompted several orientations to the study of inter-firm interaction. Some research maintains that opportunism is an exogenous construct, whereas other research implicates opportunism as a mediator of the relationships between organizational properties and organizational effectiveness. Yet another stream of research argues that the assumption of opportunism precludes researchers from investigating collaborative governance. To examine the merits of each perspective, this study employs meta-analytic techniques and structural equation modeling to assess the nomological network of opportunism research. The analysis of 684 effect sizes extracted from 262 publications supports two of the three orientations. Implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed.     

Opportunism in Buyer–Supplier Relations: New Insights from Quantitative Synthesis

After more than two decades of empirical research examining opportunism, a wide divergence of empirical findings regarding opportunism's antecedents remains. The need for more theoretically practicable and managerially actionable insight into the identity, nature, and scope of the antecedents to opportunism is clear. As such, a meta-analysis of the opportunism literature was conducted to (a) investigate the role of six antecedents (dependence, formalization, centralization, control, uncertainty, and relational norms), (b) resolve the disparate relationships' magnitudes and directions, and (c) identify moderators that might explain the disparate effect sizes. Findings suggest extant research findings are affected by socially desirable response bias; the particular operationalization of constructs, for example, whether measured opportunism is actual or perceived or whether the study omitted key antecedents; and whether the sample included firms offering products or services. Theoretical and managerial implications are developed and discussed.     

Religion, Opportunism, and International Market Entry Via Non-Equity Alliances or Joint Ventures

One challenge that globalization has brought to business is that firms, as they expand their market globally through cross-border alliances, need to deal with partner firms from countries of different religious background. The impact of a country’s dominant religion on its firms’ international market entry mode choices has not been examined in traditional approaches. Focusing on hypothesizing the influence of Christian beliefs and atheism (i.e., the absence of belief in any deities), this research aims to fill the gap by exploring religion’s role in providing moral restraint on managers’ propensity for opportunism, which in turn affects these managers’ choices of their firms’ international market entry via non-equity alliances or joint ventures. A study of 22,156 cross-border alliances formed in 48 industries world-wide over 9 years provides new insight toward understanding religion’s influence on firms’ international market entry mode decisions through the ethical dimension of strategic leadership. This article would fit best under the International Management section for reviewing purposes.     

An Empirical Investigation of the Relationship Between Change in Corporate Social Performance and Financial Performance: A Stakeholder Theory Perspective

Stakeholder theory provides a framework for investigating the relationship between corporate social performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance. This relationship is investigated by examining how change in CSP is related to change in financial accounting measures. The findings provide some support for a tenet in stakeholder theory which asserts that the dominant stakeholder group, shareholders, financially benefit when management meets the demands of multiple stakeholders. Specifically, change in CSP was positively associated with growth in sales for the current and subsequent year. This indicates that there are short-term benefits from improving CSP. Return on sales was significantly positively related to change in CSP for the third financial period, indicating that long-term financial benefits may exist when CSP is improved.     

The Role of Ownership in Managing Interfirm Opportunism: A Dyadic Study

We extend research on transaction cost theory that shows that vertical integration enables firms to protect their investments in exchange relationships better than market mechanisms. However, extant research finds ownership to exacerbate, rather than limit, exchange partner opportunism. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate conditions under which ownership can be effective for constraining an exchange partner's opportunism. Using matched dyadic data for 296 hotel brands, we conduct multi-level hierarchical linear modeling and identify conditions under which common ownership limits hotel opportunism. Findings indicate that ownership can limit hotel opportunism when brand headquarters can easily monitor the hotel's activities.     

Information Asymmetries as Antecedents of Opportunism in Buyer-Supplier Relationships: Testing Principal-Agent Theory

ABSTRACT

Purpose: A severe problem in supplier selection refers to moral hazard: suppliers not behaving in the expected way once contracted. Principal-agent theory could provide insights on how to reduce this problem. Because buyer–supplier relationships can be interpreted as principal-agent situations, the application of agency theory should facilitate improved supplier selection. Although theoretically compelling, empirical tests verifying this assumption are not prevalent. Regarding the advancement of theory, this paper tests whether both ex ante and ex post information asymmetries influence moral hazard. In particular, in the context of a globalizing economy with a subsequent increase in information asymmetries as a problem in supplier selection, this conceptual approach may be contributive.

Design/methodology/approach: The authors use a set of 87 buyer–supplier relationships to conduct a test, applying a partial least squares model with latent variables. A particularity of the data set is that it contains information on ongoing as well as on discontinued relationships.

Findings: The analysis indicated that both ex ante information asymmetries (operationalized by a reputation variable) and ex post asymmetries (operationalized by a monitoring variable) have shown to be significant and strong antecedents explaining the occurrence of moral hazard. Interestingly, and opposed to the common assumption, the length of a relationship and the amount of direct meetings have not revealed any explanatory significance. Buyer dependency hardly showed influence on supplier opportunism.

Research limitations/implications: Data were collected from a multitude of buyer–supplier relationships from a single firm in the chemical-pharmaceutical industry. Generalizations to other industries still need to be tested. Socially desirable answering behavior cannot fully be excluded because relationship discontinuation is not a desirable situation. In terms of theory implications, this research adds to the notion that both hidden action and hidden intention can lead to moral hazard.

Practical implications: An agency-based analysis can be operationalized with the help of an agency-based supplier classification portfolio. It might be of particular value to firms to discuss those suppliers that scored high in risk of opportunism but did not (yet) reveal any signs of moral hazard. Finally, the strong explanatory power

of reputation alerts buyers to pay more attention to behavioral information on the (potential) supplier available in the market.

Originality/value: Analyzing the occurrence of moral hazard and including terminated relationships adds to the emerging stream of literature on relationship discontinuation in B2B markets. Further, the strong empirical results may encourage researchers to elaborate on principal-agent theory-based assumptions, adding another layer of explanation to buyer–supplier relationships. Findings show that reputation is unduly neglected as supplier selection criterion in current theory and practice.     

资产专用性、渠道异质性与渠道投机行为:基于中国汽车企业的实证

为了提升渠道价值和培育竞争优势,营销战略会针对特殊的渠道交易伙伴进行专用性投资。交易成本理论认为专用性投资在带来高的附加值的同时,也使得进行专用性投资的渠道成员面临投机行为风险。中国的实证数据表明,虽然销售商的专用性投资会导致制造商渠道投机行为,但这会受到制造商自身的专用性投资的影响以及渠道关系持续的影响,即双边“锁定”和渠道关系的持续会有效避免渠道投机行为。     

An Empirical Investigation of Relational Conflicts in Co-Marketing Alliances

Purpose: The focus of the present research is to ascertain reasons for potential conflict between co-marketing alliance partners and means of managing the relationship more effectively. Specifically, the investigation seeks to identify antecedents of conflict in co-marketing alliances from a strategic perspective.

Methodology/Approach: To test the study hypotheses, the authors surveyed 178 executives in the credit card industry in South Korea. The Korean market was used because of the extreme popularity of credit card usage in that country.

Findings: The empirical findings provide some support for the idea that strategic management of conflict should be of importance to co-marketing alliance partners.

Originality/Value/Contribution: As industries experience declines in profitability, co-marketing alliances have become a popular means for firms in efforts to increase sales and profitability in maturing industries. Because these alliances are interdependent and the goals or interests of both partners can differ, conflict is likely to be experienced between the alliance members. Notwithstanding this likelihood, there are still very few studies that provide comprehensive examination regarding which cognitive factors are associated with conflict in co-marketing alliances. This investigation adds to that growing body of knowledge.     

国际贸易的新制度经济学分析

主流经济学对国际贸易的理论研究一直是沿着“比较优势”这一主线进行的,目前还没有一个理论能很好地解释全部的贸易现象,与当代贸易现实更存在较大差异,因为严格的理论假设简化掉了很多重要因素,而这正是新制度经济学所重点关注的问题,本文将交易成本理论引进到贸易理论研究中来。并在生产成本和贸易成本的基础上提出了制度成本和制度收益的概念,力图使贸易研究更接近现实。     

中小企业多角化与绩效关系实证研究

企业多角化和绩效之间的关系是战略管理研究的中心之一。本文以多角化企业的范围经济优势和内部交易成本为理论起点,结合我国制度环境特征,检验了我国中小企业多角化与绩效的关系。实证分析结果证实了二者之间存在“∩”型关系,即一定程度内的多角化能促进企业绩效,超过一定程度,企业绩效将随多角化程度的增加而显著降低。     

中俄贸易的国际贸易理论实证分析

中国和俄罗斯同属于"金砖四国"(BRICS),并且是重要的地缘政治大国和战略协作伙伴国。文章考察了较长时间跨度(1992～2007年)中俄之间贸易发展的整体状况及不同细分产业的特征,应用国际贸易理论知识对中俄贸易商品结构进行深入分析,并展望两国发展的方向:大力发展比较优势商品的贸易;发展产业内贸易,减弱俄罗斯技术优势;全面部署能源战略,降低对俄罗斯的依赖性。     

Ethical Commitment,Financial Performance,and Valuation: An Empirical Investigation of Korean Companies

A variety of stakeholders including investors, corporate managers, customers, suppliers, employees, researchers, and government policy makers have long been interested in the relationship between the financial performance of a corporation and its commitment to business ethics. As a subject of research, the relations between business ethics and corporate valuation has yet to be thoroughly quantified and investigated. This article is an effort to amend this inadequacy by demonstrating a statistically significant association between ethical commitment and corporate valuation measures. Consistent with anecdotal evidence, we have found a significant association between the ethical commitment of Korean companies and their valuation on the Korean stock market. However, the result reveals that the association between ethical commitment and financial performance is not significantly supported. Tae Hee Choi received Ph.D. from the Ohio State University, Ohio, USA. Presently working as Assistant Professor in accounting at the KDI School of Public Policy and Management. Research interests are business ethics, capital market, financial accounting, managerial accounting, and valuation. Jinchul Jung received Ph.D. from Kent State University, Ohio, USA. Presently working as Assistant Professor of Business Administration Department in the College of Business at Chosun University. Research interests are business ethics, family-supportive program, and organizational commitment.     

Implementing Supplier Codes of Conduct in Global Supply Chains: Process Explanations from Theoretic and Empirical Perspectives

Western buying companies impose Supplier Codes of Conduct (SCC) on their suppliers in developing countries; however, many suppliers cannot fully comply with SCC and some of them even cheat in SCC. In this research, we link contract characteristics – price pressure, production complexity, contract duration – to the likelihood of supplier’s commitment to SCC through a mediating process: how the buying companies govern their suppliers. Our structural equation model analysis shows that the hierarchy/relational norms governance is a perfect mediator of contract characteristics’ effects on the likelihood of supplier’s commitment; the market governance, an insignificant one. The managerial implications are provided for successfully implementing SCC in global supply chains.     

The combined effects of dependence and relationalism on the use of influence in marketing distribution systems

This study uses data from the automotive replacement tire industry to test the proposition that dependence and relationship structure interact to determine frequency of influence-strategy use in distribution systems. The findings support the expectation that dependence is positively associated with recommendations, information exchanges, promises, requests, legal pleas, and threats. However, increases in dealer dependence increase the use of requests, legal pleas, and threats only in systems characterized by trivial levels of relationalism.The authors would like to express their gratitude to John Burnett, Robert Dwyer, Jule Gassenheimer, and Allen Wilhite for their helpful comments on this project.     

制造商IT资源、合同治理与分销商渠道投机

从交易成本视角入手并结合信息系统相关研究,文章分析了制造商IT资源对其合同治理手段的影响,以及对分销商渠道投机的抑制作用。经由实地收集的数据实证检验发现：第一,制造商的IT设备越先进,越有助于其与分销商制定更细致的一般合同条款与意外情况合同条款。第二,制造商IT人员提供的支持越多,则越有助于其与分销商制定更细致的一般合同条款与意外情况条款。第三,只有更细致的一般合同条款可以有效地抑制分销商投机,但更细致的意外情况条款则无助于降低分销商的投机。最后,根据上述研究结论,文章给出了企业怎样使用IT资源来提高渠道合同控制效率的相关建议。     

外部需求冲击与中国投资波动——基于“冲击—传导”关联的实证分析

随着中国参与国际市场分工程度的加深,外部需求冲击与本国经济波动的关联已非净出口所能涵盖,投资已成为净出口之外传导外部需求冲击的重要路径。从因应外部需求冲击的角度对1997年以来中国投资波动进行结构分析,运用OLS回归与ARMA组合模型和Granger因果检验识别外部需求冲击传导的投资路径。结果表明,总投资中的出口引致性投资对于外部需求冲击的反应是敏感的,外部需求与政府预算内投资、外商直接投资以及自筹资金投资之间存在着"冲击—传导"关联。     

选择与选择成本——品牌降低选择成本的机制分析

本文通过对选择爆炸式增长的描述,抽象出一般选择过程模型,并深入分析这一过程中所发生的成本及构成,证明品牌正是通过降低消费者的选择成本提高了选择效率,而企业外部顾客的选择效率决定了处于过剩阶段企业的内部价值的实现和内部效率的高低。本文区分了交易费用与选择成本的差别,进一步深化了对"品牌经济学"分析范式的核心范畴——选择成本的认识。     

融资约束与资本结构的非对称调整——基于动态门限模型的经验证据

以1999—2009年中国上市公司面板数据为研究对象,围绕融资约束对资本结构调整行为的影响,以公司规模和现金持有水平作为衡量融资约束的指标,采用动态面板门限模型展开研究。结果表明,大规模和高现金持有的公司会表现出更快的调整速度,非融资约束公司比融资约束公司的调整速度要快30%以上。本文解决了以往研究中存在的分组模糊性及忽视个体异质性缺陷的问题,实证发现融资约束程度的降低能有效提高公司的资本结构调整速度。