The interaction effect of relational norms and agent cooperativeness on opportunism in buyer–supplier relationships

In this study, we examined the effect of relational norms and agent cooperativeness on opportunism in buyer–supplier relationships. Drawing from the theoretical grounding of transaction cost economics, personality trait theory, and contingency theory, we proposed three distinct perspectives on opportunism mitigation in buyer–supplier relationships: (1) organizationalist, (2) individualist, and (3) interactionist, where relational norms, agent cooperativeness, and the interaction between them, respectively, serve as the key predictors in these three perspectives. The results of replicated experiments indicated that relational norms and agent cooperativeness interact with each other in mitigating opportunism and that the interactionist perspective yielded the highest explained variance in opportunism. This suggests that the interactionist perspective, a multi-level theoretical lens encompassing the dynamic interplay between organization-level and individual-level factors, was a more complete model in explaining opportunism than either the organizationalist or individualist perspectives. The consensus which emerged from post-experimental interviews of purchasing professionals is that agent personalities play an important role in buyer–supplier relationships. Some purchasing professionals had observed that uncooperative agents or personnel turnover in the boundary-spanning functions can substantially undermine even established relational exchanges. These qualitative findings are in line with our theoretical arguments and experimental outcomes.     

Content analytic approach to measuring constructs in operations and supply chain management

This paper presents and illustrates the content analytic approach to measuring constructs in operations and supply chain management (OSCM). In this paper, a methodological review of OSCM empirical research in 2002-2007 is provided to highlight that OSCM empirical studies, unlike those in other business disciplines, have rarely used content analysis as a methodological tool. This paper then reviews the methodological strengths of content analysis, which lie primarily in its malleability, economy of data collection, repeatability, and unobtrusiveness. These strengths not only make content analysis a viable empirical method but also position it as a method that can be used in concert with other empirical methods in OSCM research, such as survey, case study, and secondary research methodologies. This paper also proposes a generic framework for a content analytic approach to measuring theoretical constructs, illustrates the application of the framework to a construct in the OSCM literature (buyer-supplier relationalism), and reports the satisfactory results of reliability and validity tests for the content analysis-based measure of buyer-supplier relationalism. In addition, this paper proposes and demonstrates that the use of convergence study in tandem with content analysis can substantially reduce the content analysis efforts needed in measuring the construct of interest, thus improving the overall efficiency of the process of content analysis.     

Cooperation Between Co-operative Business Organization and Investor Owned Firm to Stimulate Economic Growth of a Country： A Cooperative Advantage Approach

This study elaborates that the economic growth of a country depending on not only the business performance of the investor owned firms （IOFs）, but also the business surplus of the cooperative organizations （Co-ops）. The policy maker should have the level of understanding and competence to blend five different factors related to organizational structure and business model of the Co-ops and the IOFs to the five similarities factors on the managerial approach of them into one marked. The study investigated five similarities factors and included into a conceptual structural model with its six measurement models, economic growth model, general national factor model, market and industry factors model, Co-ops/IOFs opportunities/threat model, Co-ops/IOFs strength /weakness model, and lastly the Co-ops/IOFs firm dynamic/active： sales, profit, and lost model. Reliability of the six similarities measurement models was tested by the Delphi technique with a sample of 33 respondents. The study found that, apart from the six measurement models, it also has two intervening factor variables that will reduce the power and magnitude of the economic growth which will come from mismanagement of policy maker： These factors are the different in intemational culture among countries, and the global warming and natural disaster from the excess consumption and excess production. These selfish, competition and economic greedy of people will lead to economic, social, and natural disaster problems. To reduce the socioeconomic disadvantages and global disaster, board＇s committee, and Co-ops manager as well as chief executive officer （CEO） of the IOFs must have a good understanding on these five similarities factors. Appropriate management of these five similarities factors will lead the firms to reach their high managerial efficiency, customer value, firm value, and finally economic growth.     

A Temporal Approach to Retrenchment and Successful Turnaround in Declining Firms

This study extends current understanding of the retrenchment–turnaround relationship in declining firms by introducing a temporal approach and arguing that the effectiveness of retrenchment as a strategy is contingent on its adoption early in turnaround attempts. Drawing from the two‐stage turnaround model and insights from the literature on downward spirals in organizations, we develop and test a theoretical model that explains how temporal considerations in retrenchment influence the likelihood of successful turnaround. Using a matched pair sample of 96 US firms, we find that declining firms that implement retrenchment actions early have a higher likelihood of successful turnaround. The findings also indicate that while two specific retrenchment actions, early divestments and early geographic market exits, significantly contribute to the likelihood of successful turnaround, early layoffs do not. Overall, the findings shed some light on the importance of timing strategic actions in organizational turnarounds. Implications for research and practice are discussed.