Relationship stability, trust and relational risk in marketing channels: Evidence from China

This paper provides an integrated framework for examining effects of relationship stability and trust on relational risk and for exploring the moderating effects of guanxi on the relationships between trust and relational risk in marketing channels. The framework is tested with 225 dyads of questionnaires about buyer-supplier relationships in the Chinese household appliances sector. The results indicate that relationship length and dyadic solidarity can reduce the relational risk perceived by buyers through goodwill trust in their suppliers, but can increase the perceived relational risk through trust in their competence. Guanxi helps to weaken the positive relationship between a buyer's trust in suppliers' competence and its perceived relational risk, and dyadic solidarity can directly lower relational risk. This paper makes clear that buyers locked in a stable relationship will face relational risk, and it further identifies the specific variables which impact on the relational risk and the paths from which relational risk comes.     

并行工程视角下产品绿色设计评估模式构建

环保性的相关决策及绿色产业是未来企业实现可持续发展所必须重视的议题。因此,运用并行工程的概念构建了一套新产品进行绿色设计时评选开发方案的评估模式,并结合模糊理论及灰色系统的理念与方法以处理决策过程中可能存在的不确定性、模糊性及评估过程中信息不完整性的情况,最后以模拟的方式完成此评估模式。     

Asset specificity roles in interfirm cooperation: Reducing opportunistic behavior or increasing cooperative behavior?

Extant research offers two alternative mechanisms for relating the asset specificity of a cooperative relationship to partnership performance. Transaction cost economics argues that the specific assets invested in a partnership increase the hazards of opportunism. As firms select appropriate governance structures to reduce opportunistic behavior, performance increases. On the other hand, relational exchange theory suggests that asset specificity enhances the trust between partners, which in turn leads to more cooperative behavior and higher partnership performance. This paper tests both mechanisms simultaneously on a sample of procurement relationships between Hong Kong trading firms and their Chinese suppliers using SEM methods. Our results support the predictions of relational exchange theory more than those of transaction cost economics. The paper also discusses the role of the Chinese context on theory application.     

Effects of collaborative communication on the development of market-relating capabilities and relational performance metrics in industrial markets

Research in marketing suggests that collaborative communication is important for firms to sustain competitive advantage, especially in industrial markets. This study integrates relational and resource-based views to articulate how collaborative communication influences different relational performance metrics. Based on a survey of 167 marketing executives in Taiwan's electronics industry, empirical findings indicate that market-relating capabilities (i.e., market-linking and marketing capabilities) completely mediate the collaborative communication–financial performance relationship, while market-relating capabilities partially mediate the collaborative communication–customer-focused performance relationship. In addition, collaborative communication directly influences customer cooperation performance instead of indirectly affecting it through the development of market-relating capabilities. The results of this study provide new insights into the role of collaborative communication as well as important theoretical and managerial implications.     

监察与司法的管辖衔接机制研究

两法的管辖衔接问题决定了案件能否从调查阶段顺利进入审查起诉阶段。关联案件管辖是职能管辖的重要组成部分,《监察法》的关联案件处理模式太过绝对,违反了分工负责原则。监察管辖制度依旧遵循的是“条块”结合的模式,在地域管辖方面按照管辖区域进行划分,在级别管辖方面以被调查人的职务级别为标准。而《刑事诉讼法》的地域管辖是以犯罪地为主,被告人居住地为辅;级别管辖是以案件为根据,两法管辖制度的差异性在司法实践中有产生案件出现中断的可能。管辖权异议制度能够起到监督监察管辖行为的作用,也是保障当事人人权的重要组成部分。无论是在刑事诉讼程序中,还是在监察程序中,都应当建立起管辖异议制度。在两法无法调和的时候,应当充分考虑人权保障问题,在满足法治反腐的要求下,结合审判中心主义和法定法官原则,探索以司法为导向的衔接机制。     

On boundary spanners and interfirm embeddedness: The role of guanxi institution in China

Based on social embeddedness theory and institutional theory, we construct a research model that depicts how boundary spanners’ personal relationships affect dyadic embeddedness at the organizational level, under the varying influence of guanxi institution across different regions in China. We empirically test our model by analyzing data collected from 225 retail gas stations within the distribution network of a major Chinese petroleum company. Our analysis shows that boundary spanners need to first establish relational ties, which, in turn, influence interfirm dyadic embeddedness. Additionally, the results indicate that the informal institutions, such as guanxi in China, exert an indirect effect on personal trust through personal closeness. The informal institutions also moderate the effects of personal level trust on organizational level trust, which is a key linkage between personal relationship and interfirm embeddedness.     

When and how does leader humor promote customer-oriented organizational citizenship behavior in hotel employees?

This study explores whether leader humor can encourage staff to exceed job expectations in their positive behavior toward customers, even in the notoriously stressful context of the hospitality industry. Based on our findings, leaders who use humor are more likely to prompt employees to engage in customer-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Leader humor affects customer-oriented OCB through the mediating effect of relational energy. In addition, employee traditionality and relational energy differentiation moderate the process. Using time-lagged data collected from 456 employees in 71 teams in China’s hotel industry, this study adds significant knowledge to the under-researched area of humor and leader humor in the hospitality industry. The findings suggest that hospitality leaders can implement humor to obtain positive effects by raising relational energy and triggering customer-oriented OCB, particularly among less-traditional workers and in situations of low relational energy differentiation.     

Profiling the Fuzzy Latent Structure of Multidimensional Poverty: Toward Valuable Insights for Poverty Policymakers

Abstract

Several multidimensional poverty indices have been proposed, and have been extensively studied in the literature. On the other hand, the need for aggregation of poverty indicators into one multidimensional index has been questioned. It has been argued even so that this aggregation can be misleading for political targeting strategies. Subsequently, some researchers have advocated that the use of the latent class analysis would address these issues. However, this setting does not allow to take into account the fuzzy nature of the latent poverty concept. The contribution here is to use the Grade-of-Membership (GoM) model to profile the fuzzy latent structure of multidimensional poverty, for a more realistic handling of this phenomenon. The application of the GoM methodology to multivariate poverty data for the Tunisian case reveals four most prevalent multidimensional poverty profiles. The results emphasize the role played by contextual effects. Indeed, the rural cluster is suffering more intense deprivation and groups in the central and coastal regions have a more comfortable status in comparison with the group of households residing in inland regions. A thorough analysis of these patterns is put forward in this research, giving valuable insights to policy makers.     

从关系能力到网络能力：合作能力演化阶段研究及展望

在制造业全球化、融合化和智能化发展的今天，合作能力协同作用成为影响合作成功的关键因素。2015年，国务院印发《中国制造2025》，要求实施创新驱动发展战略，坚持把创新摆在制造业发展全局的核心位置，突破一批重点领域关键共性技术，推动制造业跨区域、跨领域和跨行业协同创新，进而实现我国制造强国目标。由此，合作能力成为推动我国制造业创新发展的核心力量。通过回顾和梳理合作能力相关文献，归纳合作能力内涵与构成，创新性地提出无论是关系能力、联盟能力还是网络能力都是合作能力，也是合作能力演化不同阶段的具体表现形式。同时，通过解析各阶段能力对企业绩效的不同作用路径，更清晰地说明合作能力对企业绩效影响的内在机理。     

The role of human interaction in complaint handling

While it is widely accepted that managing customer complaints is crucial for companies, the question of how best to manage these complaints is still a matter of debate. A growing number of studies highlight the effectiveness of digital complaint channels on customer behaviour and satisfaction, suggesting that direct human interaction is no longer necessary in the recovery process. Building on this observation, our research questions the interest of maintaining or not direct human interactions in the management of customer complaints. We carry a quantitative study on 427 respondents, which shows that when the recovery process involves human interaction, customers have a better perception of justice and of the company's relational efforts and are more satisfied with the resolution process. Customers are responsive to human interaction in the service recovery process. Thus, from a managerial point of view, complaint management should be part of a consumer centric approach that includes verbal exchanges (face to face or by phone). As tempting as it may seem to companies to completely digitize complaint management, we believe that maintaining direct human interactions is beneficial to customer relationships.