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.     

The Impact of Relational Governance on Relational Exchange Performance: A Case of the Taiwanese Automobile Industry

Relational governance affects manufacturers’ ability to adapt flexibly to uncertainty in manufacturer–supplier relationships. Enhancing manufacturer–supplier relationships requires considering supplier willingness and opinions on the relational governance of their focal manufacturer and the effect of relational governance on relational exchange performance. After reviewing the related literature, I identified the antecedents of relational governance affecting suppliers’ relationships with their focal manufacturers and explored the effect of relational governance on relational exchange performance, taking relationship value and relationship norms as the intervening constructs. Data were collected from 241 usable questionnaires that had been completed by suppliers for all Taiwanese automobile manufacturers. The hypotheses were tested with respondent data by using a structural equation model. The results indicated that relational governance directly and positively relates to relationship value and relationship norms, relationship value and relationship norms directly and positively relate to relational exchange performance, and customer focus and competitive priorities directly and positively relate to relational governance.     

Information Search in Industrial Purchase Decisions

A substantial body of scholarly work focuses on the conditions under which industrial buyers are likely to search for information relevant to the buying decision- and on the sources of information they use most often. Yet there had been relatively little attention to the relationship between the sources of information used by industrial purchasers and the topics, which are the focus of their search effort. In this research organizational buyers provided data, which is used to reveal the underlying relationship between the sources consulted and the topics considered. The results of the exploratory research provide new empirical evidence concerning the “direction of search” and stimulate further thinking about various aspects of information search in industrial buying decisions.     

Examining the Role of Informational Justice in the Wake of Downsizing from an Organizational Relationship Management Perspective

The purpose of this study was to examine how employees’ experiences, in the wake of an organization’s downsizing, would influence employee–organization relationships and the employees’ decisions to remain with the organization. In investigating survivors’ responses to downsizing, informational justice was chosen as an antecedent of the survivors’ intentions to leave and Organization–Public Relationship (OPR) was hypothesized to function as a mediator between informational justice and turnover intentions. The results revealed significant associations between informational justice and OPR as well as associations between OPR and turnover intentions in a downsizing context. Also, it was shown that OPR mediates the relationship between informational justice perceptions during the downsizing and turnover intentions after the downsizing.     

Customer Relationship Management: A Strategic Perspective

Over the last decade and a half Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has developed into an area of major significance. However, there is considerable confusion in the academic and managerial literature about what is meant by CRM and how if differs from relationship marketing. Further, despite heavy investment by organizations in CRM, there is extensive reporting of CRM’s failure to achieve anticipated results in the literature. This article reviews the conceptual differences between CRM and relationship marketing and defines these terms. It argues that, in many organizations, CRM failures have occurred through a lack of strategic focus. Key strategic issues are identified. A CRM Strategy Matrix is presented which considers the strategic context of companies and the implications for the development of their CRM strategies. Four alternative approaches towards building customer relationships are identified and migration paths between them are reviewed. Implications for implementing CRM strategy and future research are discussed.

Relational Capital: Strategic Advantage for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises (SMEs) Through Negotiation and Collaboration

Collaborative entrepreneurship research suggests that organizations will soon pursue more collaborative relationships throughout a worldwide network of firms, driving a strategy of continuous innovation, specially small- and medium-size firms (SMEs). Tapping into a body of literature that focuses on the importance of human capital in driving long-term success, we merge ideas of collaborative research with a growing body of work on human capital or human resource management in SMEs. Our paper states that it is not the human, per se, that is the real asset but the relationships those humans have that are the most inimitable and important capital. We will discuss how companies use relational capital as the basis for collaborative entrepreneurship. Consistent with our hypotheses, our exploratory study suggests that smaller firms place more value on relational capital than do larger firms. We also have some indication that the key capital that differentiates low vs. high performance, regardless of firm size, is the relational capital aspect. To sum up, relational capital is a fundamental asset for firms, but especially for SMEs, and high performing companies are those that are able to negotiate with others and develop collaborative agreements, thus placing a high value in relational capital.     

Owner Commitment and Relational Governance in the Privately-Held Firm: An Empirical Study

This paper examines owner commitment and relational governance in the privately-held firm. The proposed model goes beyond agency theory to include research on organization commitment and organization citizenship behaviors, as well as stewardship theory, organizational social capital theory, social identity theory and social exchange theory. Results support predictions of stewardship theory and organizational social capital theory that owner commitment and firm performance are positively related.      

基于关系行为与网络结构维度融合的利益相关者管理研究

利益相关者网络视角的研究更加贴近现实的管理实践,但现有的网络视角的研究过分地强调了网络的结构属性,这使得网络中结点间互动关系中丰富的结构与行为要素无法进入分析视野。因此,必需将注重网络结构分析所抽象掉的那些关系要素重新还原到网络中去;将关系性质、关系强度、关系中的权力结构等关系要素,与总体网络分析中的网络密度、网络成员的中心性等重要的结构变量相匹配,并发现一些整体结构分析无法获得的结论。     

Transactional and Value Creational Sources of Dependence

ABSTRACT

This paper critically reviews the nature and the role of the dependence construct in buyer-seller relationships. A distinction is made between transactional sources and value creational sources of dependence, and five different variables: goals, exchange partner actions mediating goals, motivational investments in goals, the availability of alternative exchange partners and switching costs are found to account for what we refer to as “dependence.” The proposed framework adds potential clarity to discussions and disagreements regarding the dependence concept in buyer-seller relationships by providing a unifying frame of reference that permits us to compare the insights generated by different theories. One important implication is that contradictory recommendations of different governance theories are not contradictory after all since they consider different dependence situations. Accordingly, governance choices should be based on assessments of how firms depend on each other, and not only on assessments of how high this dependence is.     

内部审计在公司治理中的效用评价及其发展趋势

企业内部审计的独立性问题一直是困扰我国公司治理有效性的难题.通过内部控制在公司治理风险和控制中的作用研究,与公司治理的有关理论相结合,寻求两者的共赢区间,以扩大公司治理的有效空间,提高内部审计的效用.     

构建关系型营销渠道:一个渠道知识共生网络

在传统的交易营销理念指导下所形成的交易型营销渠道因现代营销环境的改变和关系营销理念的广泛应用,其地位和作用日益受到挑战和限制。因此,在这样的背景下,改革交易型营销渠道,建立以关系营销理念为指导的关系型营销渠道成为企业界和理论界共同关注的一个重要课题。本文首先综述了西方营销渠道关系理论的研究内容,然后在交易型营销渠道与关系型营销渠道比较的基础上提出了一个构建关系型营销渠道的渠道知识共生网络。     

An Empirical Investigation of the Formation and Implications of the Organizational Buyer's Strategic and Tactical Roles

Although research in organizational buying behavior has alluded to the importance of the purchasing agent's enacted role in the development and execution of an organization's procurement related activities, there exists little corresponding empirical evidence. This paper examined the buyer's self-perceived role, factors that affect its formation, and the impact that a buyer's role definition has on various aspects of buying behavior. Cluster analysis is employed to differentiate among purchasing agents based on their perceived participation in various stages of the purchasing decision process. Different patterns of behavior emerge from the five empirically derived clusters. These differences are presented and the managerial implications are discussed.     

Enriching Customer Value Research with a Relational Perspective

Abstract

Much of the research on customer perceived value in marketing has been guided by a transactional view, in which determinants of value perceptions are studied with a focus on discrete transactions rather than recurring exchange relationships. Using data collected from a survey of organizational buyers, we found that perceptions of both relational benefits and relational costs significantly influence organizational buyers' perceived value. These effects remained significant when compared with those of perceived episodic benefits and costs. Our research underscores the need for a relational perspective of customer perceived value, whereby both episodic and relational antecedents of value should be accounted for and influenced by elements of the marketing mix.     

Corporate Integrity and Public Interest: A Relational Approach to Business Ethics and Leadership

This paper approaches the question of corporate integrity and leadership from a civic perspective, which means that corporations are seen as members of civil society, corporate members are seen as citizens, and corporate decisions are guided by civic norms. Corporate integrity, from this perspective, requires that the communication patterns that constitute interpersonal relationships at work exhibit the civic norm of reciprocity and acknowledge the need for security and the right to participate. Since leaders are members of corporate relationships, their integrity will be determined by the integrity of these interpersonal relationships, and by their efforts to improve them.     

我国现代城市流动商贩的发展与治理研究——基于商贩演化的经济社会学视角

现代流动商贩是在古代商贩数次分化中沉淀下来的包容性最强的底层社会群体。承袭了古代商贩流动谋生的特点,但在“职业”与“身份”、发展的“时间”与“空间”、活动的“集市”与“常市”以及所处的“阶层”和“地位”等方面具有特殊性。尤其是城市化的发展,使商贩从一个概念,发展成一个群体,演变成一种现象,甚至转化为一个“问题”。进城流动商贩问题的形成包括流动性爆发和治理问题两个方面。流动商贩的治理应以民生为导向,以其城市融入为目标,在政府与市场构成的二维坐标内寻求出路。从宏观到微观形成一个“三维九元”的立体治理体系。     

组织间网络理论视野下的南水北调工程运行管理

南水北调工程涉及多个利益主体,利益主体的多元性必然会伴生利益目标的非一致性。因此,从某种意义上讲,工程的运行管理过程,就是利益相关者之间的利益冲突、协调和实现的过程。以协作为基石的组织间网络理论无疑为工程的运行管理提供了一个新的视角。     

Responsible Leadership in a Stakeholder Society – A Relational Perspective

We understand responsible leadership as a social-relational and ethical phenomenon, which occurs in social processes of interaction. While the prevailing leadership literature has for the most part focussed on the relationship between leaders and followers in the organization and defined followers as subordinates, we show in this article that leadership takes place in interaction with a multitude of followers as stakeholders inside and outside the corporation. Using an ethical lens, we discuss leadership responsibilities in a stakeholder society, thereby following Bass and Steidelmeier’s suggestion to discuss “leadership in the context of contemporary stakeholder theory” (1999: 200). Moreover, from a relational and stakeholder perspective we approach the questions: What is responsible leadership? What makes a responsible leader? What qualities are needed? Finally, we propose a so-called “roles model” of responsible leadership, which gives a gestalt to a responsible leader and describes the different roles he or she takes in leading stakeholders and business in society.     

Private Firms and Corporate Governance: An Integrated Economic and Management Perspective

This article provides a definition of corporate␣governance and highlights the challenges in adapting understanding of governance to the privately-held firm. We emphasize the need to develop the scope of governance in privately-held firms beyond the traditional agency theory focus in the financial economics literature relating to large publicly-listed corporations. There is a need to draw on and integrate an array of theoretical perspectives from both economics and other social science disciplines as well. We present a schematic model of corporate governance which places the contributions presented in the special issue in context and which serves as a guide to highlighting gaps in the research base. We review the principal issues relating to corporate governance in privately-held firms which relate to: governance in different organizational contexts (institutional context; the industrial sector within which the firm finds itself, the ownership context of the firm, and the stage within the firm’s life-cycle); the scope of corporate governance; and other internal governance mechanisms to be considered We identify areas for further research on corporate governance in privately-held firms with respect to processes of governance, organizational contexts, assumptions about the owners, executive remuneration, financial reporting, the nature of the dependent variable relating to the expected outcome of different approaches to governance and various methodological issues. We suggest a need to develop governance codes for privately-held firms that are flexible enough to take account of the different types of governance needs of firms at different stages in their life-cycle.      

我国社会治理模式选择的理论基础与现实依据——以网格化管理为视角

网格化管理已经从早期的犯罪预防扩展到对社会各类事项的综合治理。这种扩张有其深刻的社会背景并产生相应的结果：社会结构变革导致传统社会组织在社会治理中的政治功能弱化,使连接个体与政府的中介趋于消失,最终导致社会凝聚力减弱,国家与民族的核心价值观得不到认同。网格化管理带来社会组织的重生,但也在不同社会领域产生了价值冲突。只有随着现代国家治理模式和民主形式的探索,这些冲突才能逐步得到化解。     

契约型农产品营销渠道治理过程研究：收购商管理控制的中介作用

文章以渠道治理和管理控制理论为基础,从交易关系发展过程的视角,将管理控制作为渠道治理的过程机制,重点考察其在保障契约机制有效执行过程中的中介作用以及农户专有资产净投入对契约完备性与管理控制之间关系的调节影响。通过对来自参与订单农业的217份的农户调查数据进行分析发现：收购商的三种管理控制方式（结果控制、过程控制和能力控制）在契约完备性对农户绩效的提升过程中起到中介作用,过程控制也在契约完备性抑制农户投机行为的过程中起到中介作用。同时,研究证实了农户专有资产净投入高时,削弱了契约完备性对三种管理控制正向影响。