Tripartite role of communications in channel relationships: Mitigating exchange hazards,reducing opportunism,and curtailing its ill effects on relationship performance

Mitigating channel members' opportunism is critical for supplier firms to maintain superior channel relationships and sustain relationship performance. Research in marketing channels suggests that supplier-channel member communication is vital for reducing information asymmetry and developing relational bonds in channel relationships. Building on that, in this research, we integrate information asymmetry and relationship-based views to articulate how communication, directly and indirectly, influences channel members' opportunism and curtail its ill effects on relationship performance. Based on the matched data from 239 supplier-distributor dyads, we find that communications (instrumental and social) have tripartite effects on channel outcomes, i.e., a) it directly reduces channel members' opportunism, b) weakens (negatively moderate) the positive effects of exchange hazards (antecedents) on opportunism and c) curtail the ill effects of opportunism on relationship performance. Additionally, we find that instrumental and social communications can have nuanced effects on channel members' opportunism. We provide newer insight into the role of communications in managing channel outcomes and present important theoretical and managerial implications.     

Innovativeness: Its antecedents and impact on business performance

In this study, we address three research questions: (1) Why are some industrial firms more innovative than others? (2) What effect does innovativeness has on business performance? (3) Does the linkage between innovativeness and business performance depend on the environmental context? Accordingly, we draw on various theoretical perspectives to develop hypotheses that propose market orientation, entrepreneurial orientation, and learning orientation as key antecedents to innovativeness, as well as a direct relationship between innovativeness and business performance. A model is devised and tested that examines these relationships in general and in the context of varying market turbulence. Findings confirm the validity of the model and afford various insights on the role of market turbulence in the proposed relationships. Lastly, implications are offered on the antecedents and consequences of organizational innovativeness.     

The dual effects of perceived unfairness on opportunism in channel relationships

Opportunism has long-term negative consequences for channel relationships. The extant research has traditionally focused on economic forces in studying opportunism. However, social exchange theory stresses the role of social forces in shaping opportunistic behavior. In this study, we integrate transaction cost economics and justice theory to theorize and examine the impact of ‘perceived unfairness’ on distributor opportunism. We uncover the ‘dual’ effects of perceived unfairness on opportunism, i.e., 1) directly enhancing opportunism and 2) aggravating (positively moderating) the effects of economic forces on opportunism. Matched data on 247 supplier-distributor dyads in India provide empirical support for our theoretical model and research hypotheses. We find differential effects of the three dimensions of perceived unfairness (distributive, procedural, and interactional) on opportunism. We discuss the implications of our findings for theory and practice and present avenues for future research.     

Buyer opportunism in business-to-business exchange

A phenomenon of significance in buyer–supplier relationships is opportunism. In lieu of the known negative effects of opportunistic behavior on buyer–supplier relationships, the circumstances in which a sourcing professional engages in acts of opportunism are unclear. Combining theories from multiple disciplines, a comprehensive model tested buyer–supplier relationship-specific factors, environmental factors, an individual-difference factor, and situational factors likely to affect a buyer's decision to use opportunistic tactics. Results reveal how these different theories combine to provide a more comprehensive explanation of buyer behavior than existed in prior literature. Using structural equation modeling of a sample of 328 procurement transactions, factors found to affect buyer opportunism included buyer power, corporate ethical values, honesty/integrity, leader opportunism, willful ignorance, and subjective expected utility. This study also provides empirical support for distinguishing between two types of opportunism — strong and weak. The research concludes with implications for theory and practice, limitations, and areas for future research.     

Trust-opportunism paradox,relationalism, and performance in interfirm relationships: evidence from the retail industry

Building on recent theoretical work documenting that interorganizational relationships (IORs) are ‘multifaceted and multiplex’ we investigate, from the agent's perspective, the joint effects of trust and opportunism in fostering (or inhibiting) relationalism, which, in turn, is predicted to influence performance within interfirm exchange relationships. Based on longitudinal survey data on 409 catalog intermediaries affiliated with a large retail firm, we found strong support for most of the hypothesized relationships. Implications for future research are offered. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of distributor relationship commitment and relationship exploration on opportunism: The moderating roles of exchange uncertainties and network factors

Channel management entails both the evaluating of incumbent business partners and simultaneously seeking potential new partners. In supplier–distributor exchanges, distributors can explore alternative suppliers while still committing to incumbent suppliers. While the current literature has demonstrated the importance of relationship commitment, the consequences of relationship exploration and whether that exploration is harmful to any incumbent relationships remain unclear. Drawing from relational governance and social network theories, this study thus examines how distributor dual relationship strategies of commitment and exploration influence their opportunistic behavior. The findings from a survey of 328 distributor firms indicate that relationship commitment leads to reduced opportunism; yet relationship exploration exerts no significant main effect on opportunism. More interestingly, these effects are subject to two types of uncertainty and two characteristics of distributor network wherein the focal exchange relationship resides. Specifically, behavioral uncertainty—an internal source of uncertainty—aggravates the opportunism that arises from both strategies, whereas, environmental uncertainty—an external source of uncertainty—alleviates both these effects. The distributor's network density weakens the effect of relationship commitment on opportunism, but network centrality strengthens this effect. By contrasting relationship commitment with relationship exploration under multiple moderating conditions, this study advances the extant channel relationship management literature and practice.     

Leveraging affiliations by marketing to and through associations

Associations offer a wide range of benefits to their members and thus offer a rich source for understanding relationship marketing practices. Yet, the marketing academic literature is devoid of any frameworks that help us understand the process of marketing to and through associations at the firm level. What are the appropriate dimension(s) of characterizing associations, and how might they be best classified? What are organizational factors that foster or hinder such characterizations, and, what are their consequences and implications?Based on literature review and field interviews with association executives and related exploratory research, we uncover “affinity strength,” or members' attachment to the association, as the key dimension distinguishing associations. We then test to determine antecedent factors (association systems characteristics) that foster or hinder affinity strength as well as its consequences and implications. The major study involved a survey of executives of a wide range of associations, selected from the Encyclopedia of Associations.Certain association systems characteristics do predict affinity strength. Also, affinity strength's relationship with some of the antecedents as well as consequential variables was shown to be stronger or weaker, contingent upon the type of association (i.e., Professional, Cause-based, Common Interest, or Demographic) being considered. Overall, however, attributes of associations (e.g., association systems and outcomes), rather than association types, were more critical in explaining several phenomena pertaining to marketing to and through associations.     

The effects of intergroup boundary permeability and hierarchy legitimacy on immigrant entrepreneurs' affective states,exchange strategies,and intentions toward suppliers

With globalization and immigration trends accelerating, today's entrepreneurial milieu is replete with culturally diverse, sometimes opposing, expectations and norms that affect industrial relationships vastly and deeply. Notwithstanding the large and multidisciplinary body of research on immigrant entrepreneurs, researchers have yet to explore how social structure influences the exchange relationships between immigrant entrepreneurs and suppliers. The present research employs relative deprivation theory to examine the influence of social structure on immigrant entrepreneurs' affective states, exchange strategies, and intentions toward suppliers. Results from a scenario-based experiment spotlight boundary permeability and hierarchy legitimacy as two key structural determinants of immigrant entrepreneurs' affective states (e.g., hope, stress, and anger), exchange strategies (i.e., status quo acceptance, upward mobility, opportunism, relationalism), and intentions toward suppliers (i.e., preference for ethnic suppliers, commitment to mainstream suppliers). The direct and indirect effects are delineated; and findings, along with their implications for research, practice, and policy are exposed.     

Are information asymmetry and sharing good,bad, or context dependent? A meta-analytic review

Information is often distributed asymmetrically in exchange relationships, opening the door for opportunistic behaviors. Yet extant research has found that information asymmetry may decrease opportunism and increase performance in some contexts. Also contrary to expectations, information sharing has been found to decrease performance in some contexts. This study uses meta-analytic techniques to reconcile these contradictory findings. The results indicate that organizational setting, product type, market type, relationship duration, and construct operationalization can account for the inconsistent findings reported in extant research. Of particular interest: 1) information asymmetry is related negatively to performance in goods settings and positively to performance in services settings; 2) information asymmetry produces stronger deleterious effects in interorganizational (versus intraorganizational) settings; 3) information sharing generates stronger favorable effects in consumer (versus industrial) markets; and 4) the negative relationship between information sharing and opportunism is weaker in relationships that are 6 + years old.     

Managing opportunism in a developing interfirm relationship: The interrelationship of calculative and loyalty commitment

This research develops a framework for investigating associations among the duration of an exchange relationship, the interrelationship between a supplier's calculative and loyalty commitment, and opportunistic behavior on the part of a buyer. The findings indicate that (1) calculative commitment and loyalty commitment by suppliers function as substitutes; (2) a supplier's loyalty commitment increases gradually as a developing exchange relationship endures, whereas calculative commitment increases and then decreases; and (3) a supplier's calculative commitment leads to an increase in a buyer's opportunism, whereas the supplier's loyalty commitment leads to a decrease, and a supplier's loyalty commitment decreases the positive impact of calculative commitment on opportunism. These findings provide insights into how relationship duration affects buyers' opportunism through the interrelation between suppliers' calculative and loyalty commitment.     

The courage to choose! Primogeniture and leadership succession in family firms

Research Summary : Building on a unique data set with information on the nuclear structure of entrepreneurial families, we integrate leadership succession into a socioemotional wealth (SEW) logic to test the antecedents and consequences of primogeniture vis‐à‐vis second‐ or subsequent‐born selection in family firm succession. Our findings suggest that appointing a family firstborn sibling is more likely when there is a high degree of SEW endowment and the family firm has pre‐succession performance below aspiration levels. Next, we find that appointing a second‐ or subsequent‐born sibling has a positive and significant effect on post‐succession firm profitability, particularly when the firm is in its second generation or later. Managerial Summary : What drives succession choices in family firms? What are the performance implications of each succession choice? These are questions of vital relevance for every business owner. Focusing on the pool of potential family heirs at the time of succession, our study adds to the debate on the drivers of succession choices by suggesting that having a family intensive governance structure fosters primogeniture as the main succession logic, even when the family firm is experiencing lower profitability. Our study informs business owners on the implications of different succession policies, suggesting that family firms that have the courage to disregard primogeniture and choose more wisely the family successor are also the ones experiencing higher post‐succession performance.     

Formalization,Communication Quality,and Opportunistic Behavior in R&D Alliances between Competitors

For technology ventures (and also other firms), R&D alliances provide great learning opportunities and access to scarce resources. However, R&D alliances, in particular between competitors, also involve the concomitant threat of opportunistic behavior, which many firms attempt to manage by formalizing the partnership. Yet, prior research provided mixed findings suggesting that formalization alleviates opportunism, fails to do so, or, ironically, even promotes it. The questions of whether and, if so, when formalization can deter opportunism remains topical. This study differentiates two forms of opportunistic behavior, strategic manipulation and knowledge appropriation, and examines how they are affected by formalization per se and in combination with communication quality. Findings from 82 R&D alliances between competitors indicate that extensive formalization promotes opportunistic behavior. In contrast, communication quality mitigates the dysfunctional effect on strategic manipulation and also alleviates both forms of opportunism directly. Most effects vary with the type of opportunistic behavior. Our findings add to the literature by demonstrating a positive formalization–opportunism relationship in the context of R&D alliances and by suggesting that relational governance (communication quality) compensates for the dysfunctional effects of formal governance (formalization), rather than both having complementary relationships. The results also support the call for more research into nuances of opportunism: they show that differentiating forms of opportunism matters for understanding the efficacy of safeguards against opportunism. Managers are warned against over‐formalizing alliances, which spurs opportunism. Instead, they should cultivate an atmosphere of open communication while they can still maintain some “healthy distrust.” This attenuates the adverse effects of formalization, which is important since a certain level of formalization is often inevitable in R&D alliances.     

Uncertainties, resources, and supplier selection in an emerging economy

Focusing on supplier selection, this article addresses two questions: (1) What are the antecedents that lead to the adoption of various types of selection strategies? (2) What impact do these strategies have on supplier performance? We build a research model showing how both the uncertainty-based and resource-based views drive market-focused and relationship-focused supply selection strategies. Further, we argue that market-focused and relationship-focused selection strategies may have different effects on supplier performance. Specifically, market-focused selection has a positive influence, whereas relationship-focused selection has an inverted U-shaped effect on supplier performance. In addition, the interaction between these two strategies exerts a significant positive influence on supplier performance. Survey data collected from 208 Chinese manufacturers are used to test our hypotheses.     

Functions of industrial supplier relationships and their impact on relationship quality

Although recent scholarly work on business relationships often discusses relationship quality as a major issue, especially with regard to the phenomenon of vendor stratification, there is still little empirical research on this important construct. In this paper, the authors provide a thorough conceptualization of relationship quality and its possible antecedents, i.e., the direct and indirect functions of the relationship for the customer. Drawing on an empirical base of 230 buyer questionnaires, the authors show that the extent to which a supplier fulfills direct and indirect functions in a relationship has a direct positive impact on the relationship quality perceived by the customer. This impact is especially strong when the customer can easily replace the supplier or, in other words, when the supplier faces competition. The findings are discussed and the authors provide managerial implications for decision-makers from both buyer and supplier organizations.     

Relational norms and collaborative activities: Roles in reducing opportunism in marketing channels

Reducing opportunism is a critical task to support channel performance and channel member satisfaction. Recent research into marketing channels focuses on the role of relational governance in curbing opportunism; this study advances this thesis by positing that relational governance encompasses both relational norms and collaborative activities (i.e., joint planning and joint problem solving). In turn, the current research investigates how these two aspects of relational governance independently and jointly check opportunism in marketing channels. The tests of the hypotheses involve 149 Chinese manufacturer–distributor relationships. The results show that relational norms have a negative effect on opportunism, but the effect of collaborative activities is contingent on the level of consistency between the relational norms and collaborative activities that mark the relationship. A low level of relational norms prompts joint planning to inhibit opportunism and joint problem solving to exacerbate it. However, a high level of relational norms reverses these effects: Joint planning fosters opportunism, and joint problem solving curbs it. Thus collaborative activities have different properties that need to be devised in accordance with relational norms if the goal is to reduce opportunism.     

A diagnostic model of private control and collective control in buyer-supplier relationships

This study examines the control-based governance in buyer-supplier relationships. Building on boundary spanning theory and governance literature, we propose an integrated model that consists of exchange parties' private control (aimed at individual gains) and collective control (aimed at joint gains) in boundary spanning activities, along with their structural antecedents and relationship consequences in interorganizational governance. Using data collected from manufacturer-distributor dyads, we demonstrate that a buyer-supplier relationship characterized by a high degree of distributive justice and low degrees of goal difference and power asymmetry promotes exchange parties' collective control while inhibiting private control in boundary spanning conduct. The impact of private and collective controls on dyadic relationship performance is further mediated through governance costs and returns. Specifically, private control results in conflict and transaction costs that undermine dyadic relationship performance, whereas collective control leads to solidarity and reciprocity that sustain dyadic relationship performance. Recognizing and distinguishing between private control and collective control is essential to managing boundary-spanning behavior in buyer-supplier relationships and to solidifying relationship performance in supply chain and channel management.     

Rigor and Relevance in Asian Management Research: Where Are We and Where Can We Go?

Has our collective research effort focused on management in Asian contexts addressed salient questions and produced useful results? Where are we in terms of deepening and broadening our understanding of the antecedents, manifestations and implications of phenomena that are relevant in this region? What contributions have we been able to make to general theory and practice? Where should we be moving in terms of research focus, methodologies and contributions? This paper draws on 840 articles from 30 journals to assess the state of management research in Asian contexts. The basic conclusions are that too much of the research effort has been limited to simplistic comparisons, correlational analyses providing no insight into underlying processes, and skewed, idiosyncratic sampling. The result has been a lack of theory development and contribution to conceptual discourse beyond an audience specifically interested in Asia, with little relevance for management practice. This analysis points to clear recommendations for increasing both the rigor and relevance of this collective research effort, while at the same time acknowledging the considerable institutional and cognitive barriers to moving forward.     

Effectiveness of contracts in marketing exchange relationships: A meta-analytic review

Exchange partners devise and implement contracts to improve performance within a relationship. Detailed, specific contracts provide a blueprint designed to guide desired interfirm behavior, and firms may use the contract to resolve disputes and to ensure the partner fulfills its obligations. Extant research, however, reports contradictory findings on the efficacy of contracts. The objective of our research is to provide a quantitative review of contract specificity and utilization in business-to-business marketing. The findings suggest that specificity and utilization enhance economic performance, relationship quality, and relational norms. Contract specificity is found to discourage opportunism, whereas contract utilization exacerbates opportunism. Theoretical (specific investments, product complexity, and relationship length) and contextual factors (product type, market type, and study location) moderate influences of contractual properties on exchange outcomes. Discussion of these results addresses the implications of the meta-analysis for marketing theory and practice.     

The deterrence effect of Guanxi on opportunism: The moderating effects of “three institutional pillars”

Marketing channel members are subject to opportunism, and guanxi (i.e., interpersonal ties) is a useful mechanism to deter it. This article argues that the effect of guanxi on opportunism depends on the institutional environments in which firms are embedded in. Drawing on institutional theory and guanxi literature, we investigated the effects of the “Three pillars” of institutional environments. Specifically, we examined whether legal effectiveness, Confucianism, and organizational culture incongruence moderate the impact of guanxi on exchange partners' opportunism. We collected survey data from both sales managers and salespersons in 268 manufacturing firms and merged the dataset with secondary data that measure institutional factors. The results show that guanxi deters opportunism more effectively when legal effectiveness is high, where Confucianism is more prominent, and when exchange firms' organizational cultures are more incongruent. This study provides implications for marketing channel members on how to use personal ties under different institutional conditions.     

外部网络化与企业组织创新

网络是各种行为主体之间在交换资源、传递资源活动过程中发生联系而建立的各种关系的总和。网络化则是指构建网络这种组织结构的动态过程。网络中的各个主体之间不仅仅是一种交易 ,还应在比较高的信任度基础上进行相互学习和协作。网络中成员间的高度信任能够使交易过程中的谈判成本、监督成本降低 ,机会主义行为减少。网络比市场机制的协调能力更强 ,又比科层组织决策更灵活。外部环境的复杂性和不确定性要求企业能够迅速准确地把握市场需求 ,外部网络化这种组织创新形式 ,为那些以迅速革新为特征的企业提供了强有力的组织支持