Exercised power as a driver of trust and commitment in cross-border industrial buyer-seller relationships

The article reports the findings of a study conducted among 151 U.S. export manufacturers of industrial goods regarding their working relationships with foreign customers. Specifically, the emphasis is on the sources of power exercised and how these affect trust and commitment in the relationship through the mediating role of conflict and satisfaction. Using structural equation modelling, it was confirmed that the exercise of power derived from coercive sources increases conflict and reduces satisfaction, while the exercise of non-coercive power sources leads to lower conflict (but not significantly increasing satisfaction). Conflict was found to be negatively associated with trust, as opposed to satisfaction which enhances trust. Trust was subsequently revealed to foster commitment in the relationship. Conclusions and implications are derived from the study findings and directions for further research are provided.     

Employee Mobility and Interfirm Relationship Transfer: Evidence from the Mobility and Client Attachments of United States Federal Lobbyists, 1998–2014

Research summary : Employee mobility can erode competitive advantage by facilitating interfirm knowledge and relationship transfer. This study investigates the latter and identifies factors that influence the likelihood of its occurrence. Using a novel database that tracks the employment and client attachments of U.S. federal lobbyists, I show that repeated exchange with employees (firms) increases (decreases) the likelihood clients follow employees who switch firms. Structurally, multiplexity reduces the likelihood of client transfer and weakens the effect of employee–client repeated exchange, with the multiplexity effect strongest when team members have specialized expertise. By examining the main and interactive effects of repeated exchange, multiplexity, and specialized human capital, this study extends prior work by demonstrating how individual, organizational, and structural relationship characteristics affect client transfer and retention ex‐post employee mobility . Managerial summary : When do clients follow employees who switch firms? What can firms do to guard against it? These questions are important in service‐based industries where clients may become loyal to individual employees within the firm rather than to the firm itself. This study provides evidence that helps practicing managers: (a) identify which clients are most at risk of defecting if employees exit, and (b) structure relationships in ways that mitigate the likelihood that employee exit results in client loss. Findings suggest that a client is more likely to defect when she has extensive history working with the exiting employee, particularly if the employee was the sole link between the client and firm. Managers, however, can reduce the risk of client loss following employee exit by structuring relationships so that clients work with teams of employees rather than exclusively with an individual and by increasing the degree of specialization within these teams . Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

客户关系管理在建筑施工企业中的应用研究

建筑市场竞争的加剧使施工企业的利润减少,越来越多的企业开始把利润放在客户资源开发和客户关系的整合上.从建筑施工企业的角度界定了施工企业的客户、客户关系、客户关系生命周期和客户关系管理的相关概念,从交易成本理论和差异化战略两个角度分析施工企业实施客户关系管理的必要性,根据客户关系的生命周期建立了施工企业客户关系管理的过程模型.该模型旨在帮助施工企业在各个阶段更好的满足客户需求,规避客户风险,提高客户满意度.     

Innovation strategy and sanctioned conflict: a new edge in innovation?

Teamwork and harmony are worthy objectives, but a healthy dose of conflict also plays an important role in fostering innovation. In their pursuit of teamwork and harmony, companies run the risk of suppressing the creative tension that brings vitality to new-product development (NPD) efforts. Furthermore, a firm's choice of innovation strategy may have a significant effect on the organization's capability for managing conflict. Using results from a survey of 290 marketing and R&D managers from U.S. firms in the electronics industries, Barbara Dyer and X. Michael Song explore the link between strategy and conflict, and the effect this link has on NPD success. Their study examines the following issues: the influence of business strategy on specific conflict-handling behaviors; the relationship between those conflict-handling behaviors and positive conflict outcomes; and the relationship between constructive conflict and new-product success. The study classifies firms predominantly pursuing a more aggressive NPD strategy as prospectors and less aggressive firms as defenders. Three conflict-handling mechanisms are identified: integrating behaviors, forcing behaviors, and avoiding behaviors. Compared to the prospector firms, the defender firms in this study perceived significantly higher levels of conflict in their organizations. In handling conflict, the prospector firms perceived a higher level of integrative behavior than the defender firms. The defenders perceived higher levels of forcing and avoiding conflict behaviors. The study identifies a strong, positive relationship between integrative behaviors and constructive conflict. Positive relationships are also identified between constructive conflict and the success of cross-functional relationships, as well as between constructive conflict and NPD business success. For the firms in this study, the results indicate that strategy is associated with the conflict-handling mechanisms the firm uses. For example, the results suggest that an NPD manager in a prospector firm will encounter high use of integrative behaviors, a high number of complex conflicts, a relatively low level of perceived conflict, a high level of formalization, and frequent exchanges of written and verbal communication among the firm's personnel. The results suggest that managers may help to create an environment conducive to NPD success by assessing their firms' strategies, emphasizing integrative conflict-handling behaviors, and employing formalization of organizational procedures.     

Buyers' perspectives of buyer-seller relationship development

Long-term buyer-seller relationships have been a focus of research for several years. The present study draws on interaction/network theory to test a model examining the interaction mechanisms and relationship characteristics of buyer-seller relationships during four progressive phases of relationship development. Data from 174 members of the Institute for Supply Management offer empirical support for the associations proposed in the model, as well as some surprising results. One of the most useful findings of the research is that the patterns of these associations vary as buyer-seller relationships progress through the four phases of relationship development. Specifically: in the awareness phase, joint problem solving increases buyer uncertainty; in the exploration phase, communication quality and joint problem solving increase relationship-specific investments; and in the expansion phase, joint problem solving increases relationship-specific investments and severe conflict resolution increases buyer uncertainty. Seller reputation moderates many of these relationships. The major conclusion of the research is that buyers and sellers should recognize that while information exchange and conflict resolution are important aspects of buyer-seller relationships, their use may not always lead to the desired relationship characteristics. Managerial implications of these findings and further research ideas are presented.     

CEO incentives,innovation, and performance in technology‐intensive firms: a reconciliation of outcome and behavior‐based incentive schemes

Building on the agency view of corporate governance, we propose that technology‐intensive firms use both outcome and behavior‐based performance criteria for rewarding CEOs. Using a sample of 206 firms from 12 U.S. manufacturing industries, we find that as technological intensity increases CEO bonuses are more closely linked to financial results and that total CEO incentives are associated with two indicators of desirable innovation behaviors: invention resonance and science harvesting. Invention resonance refers to the impact a firm's inventions have on other firms' inventions, while science harvesting reflects a firm's commitment to scientific research. As technological intensity increases, aligning bonus with financial results, total incentives with invention resonance, and total incentives with science harvesting predict firm market performance. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An investigation into commitment in non-Western industrial marketing relationships

This paper reports an investigation into the antecedents of commitment in non-Western industrial marketing relationships. The authors draw the antecedents from extant literature and posit that commitment is related to trust (integrity and reliability), communication quality, conflict, and similarity (social, ethnic, and economic). It is further argued that trust mediates the effects of communication, conflict, and similarity on commitment. As an extension, the authors examine the moderating effects of normative contracts (an implicit understanding of roles and responsibilities) on the construct interrelationships. The hypotheses are tested using data collected from approximately 150 industrial marketing relationships sampled from overseas Chinese firms. The results generally support the authors' framework; however, the mediating hypotheses are not supported. There is evidence of systematic differences in the effects of the studied antecedents on commitment and trust. Furthermore, a multigroup analysis provides evidence of significant moderating effects due to contracting mode. The study provides new insights into the theory and practice of industrial marketing.     

顾客集中与管理层治理——基于薪酬契约和代理成本的视角

本文以创业板上市公司为研究样本，从薪酬契约和代理成本的视角，检验了顾客集中与管理层治理的关系。实证分析结果显示，顾客集中度与高管薪酬和代理成本存在显著负相关关系。结果表明：顾客集中显著影响公司薪酬契约，顾客集中降低了高管薪酬；顾客集中降低代理成本，减轻管理层代理冲突问题。这些研究结论丰富了公司治理的理论内容，同时对于缓解公司代理冲突、改善公司治理矛盾具有重要的现实意义。     

成长性 第二类代理冲突与债务期限结构

本文基于我国非金融类上市公司2006-2010年数据,从成长性、代理冲突、债务期限结构的多维视角分析,重点将成长性差异作为一个关键变量,结合代理冲突研究对债务期限结构的影响,以及债务期限对代理冲突的治理效果。研究结果发现:(1)企业成长性和长期负债呈负相关性。(2)大股东与中小股东代理冲突与债务期限结构显著负相关。(3)高成长性企业选择短期债务缓解大股东与中小股东之间代理冲突的效果显著于低成长性企业。(4)非国有的企业中,选择短期债务缓解大股东与中小股东之间代理冲突的效果显著于国有企业。     

The Role of Trustworthiness in Maintaining Employee Commitment During Restructuring in China

The influence of competency- and affect-based attributions of managerial trustworthiness on employee commitment during restructuring is investigated within a large telecommunications firm in greater China. It was found that competency-based attributions are positively related to employees' value commitment, whereas affect-based attributions are positively related to employees' continuance commitment (i.e., the propensity to maintain employment). Attributions of trustworthiness were also found to interact with perceptions of uncertainty associated with restructuring. Although no interaction effects were found for continuance commitment, three moderating effects involving trustworthiness attributions were observed between uncertainty and value commitment. Generally speaking, these moderating influences of trustworthiness tended to attenuate the influences of uncertainties on commitment. Overall, the relationships between uncertainties associated with restructuring and organizational commitment were negative with the exception of uncertainty about the restructuring effort itself, which was positively related to continuance commitment.     

Exporter-importer relationship quality: The inhibiting role of uncertainty, distance, and conflict

The article examines the impact of uncertainty, distance, and conflict on key elements comprising the quality of the relationship between U.S. industrial exporters and their overseas customers. Information received from 151 manufacturers revealed that these three parameters play a significant negative role in building sound relationship quality, in terms of adaptation, commitment, communication, cooperation, satisfaction, trust, and understanding — which, in turn, may inhibit the firm's progression along the internationalization path. Specifically, an inverse association was found between uncertainty, distance, and conflict, on one hand, and commitment, cooperation, and satisfaction, on the other. In addition, in relationships characterized by high uncertainty, adaptation, communication, trust, and understanding were low. In high distance relationships, communication was insufficient, and in high conflict situations, trust and understanding were low. Several managerial implications are extracted from the study, as well as directions for future research.     

Supplier adaptation: A qualitative investigation of customer and supplier perspectives

Differing views and goals in the buyer–supplier dyad can create underlying tension in supply chain relationships. Although research recognizes that adaptation is often expected from both customers and suppliers in exchange relationships, researchers have not adequately explored the long-range relational implications of customer adaptation requests. This research uses data from two qualitative focus groups to examine the interaction of customers and suppliers surrounding adaptation, as prior research has not yet considered how the customer's response to adaptation may change if they are aware of how the supplier actually perceives and evaluates specific adaptation requests. The first focus group included 20 active participants representing both customer and supplier perspectives, while the second focus group included five participants to provide a more in-depth examination of issues that emerged in the first focus group. Results suggest that customers' and suppliers' adaptation expectations differ; each has difficulty recognizing adaptation conflict because of perceived benefits and biases surrounding adaptation. Results suggest several adaptation conflict management behaviors are utilized to minimize its negative impacts on supply chain relationships, including blameshifting, justifying and negotiating techniques. Results suggest that trust can create blind spots in relationships, potentially causing customers and their suppliers to have difficulty recognizing conflict until it deteriorates relationships' foundational trust.     

Client dependence and vendor innovation: The moderating role of organizational culture

With the dramatic increase in technological interconnectedness between firms and the overall speed of technological change, organizations depend on each other to survive and stay competitive. While it is generally believed that dyads and networks can offer advantages over internal development in the innovation process, the authors suggest that it is not necessarily the case. Using a sample of 120 vendor firms that work in information technology industries in the Indian subcontinent, they find that client dependence in the inter-organizational relationship decreases vendor innovation. To resolve this dark side of business relationships, they further examine how the organizational culture can impact the dependence-innovation relationship. In line with organization literature, the authors distinguish two sub-dimensions of outcome-oriented culture: performance orientation, which reflects a firm's internal focus on employee performance, and competitiveness, which reflects a firm's focus on external competitors and markets. It is found that a vendor's competitiveness facilitates innovation, and that it weakens the negative effect of client dependence on vendor innovation. However, performance orientation strengthens the negative effect of client dependence on vendor innovation. Accordingly, in order to prevent themselves from falling into the dependence trap in the innovation process, firms need to build an externally oriented competitive culture and avoid overemphasizing their internal performance.     

An exploration of the ‘dark side’ associations of conflict,power and dependence in customer–supplier relationships

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings from a critical literature review of the ‘dark side’ issues related to three constructs, namely conflict, power and dependence, in customer–supplier relationships. Previous research has focused on discrete characteristics that influence relationships, but there is a paucity of research that considers the intertwining of a set of characteristics that may create darker associations or consequences for relationships. The paper contributes to IMP literature through this investigation of darker associations of relationships as much of the previous literature on customer–supplier relationship development has been concerned with building trust, developing commitment or managing long-term goals and mutuality (IMP Group, 1982).The paper considers the research on conflict, power and dependence in relationships, tracing its development from January 1980 to the end of 2014, and assessing the dark side issues raised in previous research, placing particular emphasis on ‘asymmetric’ customer–supplier relationships.The contribution of the paper lies in its critique of this focused body of literature and in the development of a better understanding for future IMP researchers on the derivations, foundations and findings concomitant to the ‘dark side’ of conflict, power and dependence in customer–supplier relationships. The paper proposes themes and future avenues of research related to the dark side of conflict, power and dependence, placing emphasis on the ‘bi-polarity’ of each relationship characteristic, the dynamics of relational benefits, the consequences of their evolution on inter-organizational trust and its impact on the dark side of relationships. Hence, the paper contributes through the identification of potential research areas and propositions to guide future conceptual developments in the field.     

Testing the conflict-performance assumption in business-to-business relationships

There is little empirical research published testing the interdependency between conflict in business-to-business relationships and commercial performance. The “conflict-performance assumption”—all other factors being equal, relationships where conflict is low will outperform relationships where conflict levels are higher—remains central in the marketing channels' literature despite insufficient and contradictory empirical evidence. There are several explanations for the lack of a clear relationship between conflict and performance. Rosenbloom [J. Mark. 37 (1973) 26] theorises that the relationship between conflict and channel performance follows an inverted U-shaped curve, where conflict is most productive at moderate levels and least productive at very low or high levels. Others have argued for a simpler, linear relationship between conflict and performance, usually negative in nature. Various theories about the conflict-performance relationship are empirically tested in a large marketing channel, using a number of dyadic and monadic measures of conflict (latent, perceived, and affective) and two objective measures of performance (effectiveness and efficiency). A linear model (performance declining as conflict increases) is adequate to explain the relationship between dyadic measures of both perceived and affective conflict and channel effectiveness. A threshold model is found to be superior to a linear model in explaining the relationship between dyadic measures of perceived and affective conflict and efficiency. Conflict increases slowly as efficiency falls until a threshold is reached when conflict escalates. Practical implications include that companies need to consider whether performance criteria affecting efficiency are as important to their business partners as those affecting effectiveness. If they are not, then business partners should be rewarded for meeting any such criteria that are more important to the one side of a relationship dyad than to the other.     

Conflict-coordination learning in marketing channel relationships: The distributor view

Although a fairly large body of literature exists on channel conflict management, little research has been done from an interorganizational conflict-learning perspective. This study explores how channel members can use conflict-coordination learning (CCL), as a conflict resolution mechanism, which leads to improved capabilities, which in turn can enhance co-created value in marketing channel relationships from a distributor point of view. Drawing on both a resource-based view of the firm, an absorptive capacity perspective, and an interorganizational learning approach, we propose that conflict values (positive conflict attitudes and avoidance of conflict behaviors) can be viewed as firm resources that directly influence CCL, which in turn can enhance co-created value (joint marketing strategy quality and joint profit performance). To explore these issues, we developed and tested our hypotheses with data from 101 distributors within the food industry in Taiwan. As predicted, we find that positive conflict attitudes are positively related to CCL, and that avoidance of conflict behaviors is negatively related to CCL. Furthermore, the results indicate that joint marketing strategy quality mediates the relationship between CCL and joint profit performance. Specifically, under high positive conflict attitudes, CCL strongly appears related to joint marketing strategy quality.     

Interaction behaviors in business relationships and heuristics: Issues for management and research agenda

Various empirical studies have evidenced that interaction is a critical process in the development of buyer–seller relationships in business-to-business markets. Research examining the different aspects of interaction processes and the consequences of interaction in business relationships for the development of the businesses involved has tended to black-box the interaction process. Limited attention has been given to how interaction behaviors of individuals arise and the interplay between cognition and behaviors in interaction. At the same time, recent research offers some insights into the use and role of heuristics in contexts analogous to those individual actors face when they interact in business relationships. In this paper we review current research on interaction processes in business relationships as well as on heuristics in the management context and argue that focusing on heuristics used in interaction in business relationships offers valuable insights on how interaction behaviors emerge. In particular, we discuss the notion of heuristics as an “adaptive toolbox,” and how it relates to adaptations in business relationships. We also discuss implications for management and outline a future research agenda.     

Conflict handling, trust and commitment in outsourcing relationship: A Chinese and Indian study

This paper presents a theoretical and empirical model that identifies conflict handling typologies which affect trust and commitment in B2B outsourcing relationship. Three typologies of conflict handling namely integrating, accommodating and compromising were examined for their effects on trust and commitment of Chinese and Indian human resource (HR) outsourcing service providers. The paper also considered the moderating effect of culture in the relationship. Data was collected from Chinese and Indian firms providing HR outsourcing services and analyzed using factor and hierarchical multiple regression analyses. We found both similarities and dissimilarities in the outcomes of the study. Specifically, conflict handling styles are significantly associated with trust and commitment. Trust mediates in the association of conflict handling styles with commitment. The impact of compromising conflict handling on trust and commitment is moderated by culture — significantly higher for the Chinese service providers compared to the Indians. Culture has also a direct impact on commitment but not on trust. Theoretical, cultural and managerial implications of the findings are presented.     

A multilevel model of affect and organizational commitment

This multilevel study investigates affective antecedents of organizational commitment. 230 individuals from 56 working groups were surveyed in eight mainland Chinese firms. The results showed that frequently experienced feelings of guilt and determination in organizations were positively related to increased organizational commitment. In addition, the increase of intragroup relationship conflict strengthened the negative association between chaotic emotions and organizational commitment. The findings suggest that the overall commitment to an organization is related to certain emotions in an organizational setting. This study, which employed a large sample from mainland China, proved consistent with past theory and empirical evidence from the West. A multilevel model of affective events theory with wide applicability is correspondingly proposed.