Control-based channel governance and relative dependence

Control and governance theories recognize that exchange partners are subject to two general forms of control, the unilateral authority of one firm and bilateral expectations extending from their social bond. In this way, a supplier both exerts unilateral, authority-based controls and is subject to socially-based, bilateral controls as it attempts to manage its brand successfully through reseller channels. Such control is being challenged by suppliers’ growing relative dependence on increasingly dominant resellers in many industries. Yet the impact of supplier relative dependence on the efficacy of control-based governance in the supplier’s channel is not well understood. To address this gap, we specify and test a control model moderated by relative dependence involving the conceptualization and measurement of governance at the level of specific control processes: incenting, monitoring, and enforcing. Our empirical findings show relative dependence undercuts the effectiveness of certain unilateral and bilateral control processes while enhancing the effectiveness of others, largely supporting our dual suppositions that each control process operates through a specialized behavioral mechanism and that these underlying mechanisms are differentially impacted by relative dependence. We offer implications of these findings for managers and identify our contributions to channel theory and research.     

Export channel design: The use of foreign distributors and agents

Because many manufacturers are unable to integrate vertically into global distribution, the nonintegrated market entry modes of foreign distributor and agent are frequently used. Unfortunately, little is known about choosing efficiently between distributor and agent because research has only partially examined the importance of transaction and production costs in determining institutional arrangements. To specify efficient channel design, this article develops and tests hypotheses linking the characteristics of export exchange to the cost-minimizing mode of export channel governance. Based on a sample of 269 manufacturers, results suggest that market diversity, type of transaction-specific asset, and production cost economies all affect the choice between foreign-based agents and distributors. The article concludes with the implications of these results for export management and future export research. He received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University. His research interests include distribution strategy and international marketing. He has published in theJournal of Marketing, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, andJournal of Advertising. He serves on the editorial review boards of various professional journals including theJournal of Marketing and theJournal of Business Research. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. Her research interests include buyer-seller relationships and business-to-business marketing. She has published in theJournal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Global Marketing, and in the proceedings of various professional conferences.     

Decision-making patterns among international vacationers: A cross-cultural perspective

While there is a tendency to define world subcultures in terms of geographic or sociocultural criteria, the present research suggests that life styles may have become more homogeneous across geographic boundaries and could provide alternative ways of defining world subcultures. The study addresses the research question using international travel behavior. The results suggest that life style segmentation could be used to supplement geocultural criteria for defining world subcultures and formulating marketing strategy.     

The impact of e-business infusion on channel coordination, conflict and reseller performance

Manufacturer-reseller interactions are becoming more technology-enabled as channels of distribution increasingly utilize e-business tools on the Internet. This research examines the performance consequences for resellers as these technological advances are applied to distribution activities between channel members. Using a sample of 216 resellers of computer products, the research explores the impact of e-business tools in 2 areas of manufacturer-reseller interactions: supply tasks and demand tasks. The results suggest that e-business in supply tasks increases relationship coordination between manufacturer and reseller, whereas e-business in demand tasks increases coordination as well as conflict within the channel dyad. The increase of conflict constitutes a potential “dark side” of e-business in channel relationships that may provide an explanation for e-business implementation failures and negative returns on investment in technology.     

Institutions-FDI Nexus in ECOWAS Countries

ABSTRACT

Of the foreign capital flows that are required for stimulating the process of economic growth, foreign direct investment (FDI) has been the most elected candidate that is often sought. This explains why so much effort has been geared towards its attraction thus paving the way for enquiry into its determinants. Arguably, apart from the conventional FDI-drivers, the importance of institutions has been grossly undermined. On this basis, the study sets out to unravel the causal linkage between institutions and FDI with a special focus on ECOWAS countries. The results showed the existence of prevalent weak governance structure among the ECOWAS countries. Further, on component-by-component basis, this result was robust to the decomposition of the governance indicator into the six sub-indices, namely: voice and accountability, political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law and control of corruption. We split the sample size into low (poor institutions) and high regimes (better institutions) and found that countries with better institutions were able to attract FDI more than countries with poorer institutional infrastructure. Thus, instituting sustainable governance structure will offer a leeway towards attraction of more FDI into the sub-region.     

Building trust in US-Japanese business relationships: Mediating role of cultural sensitivity

While evidence suggests trust plays a fundamental role in maintaining successful buyer-seller relationships in Japan, little is known conceptually as to how foreign sellers can best develop trust in the minds of their Japanese customers. In this research, we develop and test a multi-component model of US seller actions that manifest key trust-building processes (intentionality- and capability-processes) which sellers find effective in building trust with their Japanese buyers. In this unique cultural context, theory suggests trust develops when sellers demonstrate benevolent intentions toward the buyer and exhibit a strong capability to fulfill business promises. An analysis of 181 US sellers in Japan demonstrates that a combination of trust-building efforts is recognized as being critical in seller attempts to develop and sustain trust on the part of their Japanese customers. Importantly, cultural sensitivity mediates the impact of intentionality-based practices on buyer trust, while capability-based activities directly influence trust.     

Does austerity drive public service innovation? Evidence from shared senior management teams in local government

Shared senior management teams are a recent and radical response to financial austerity. They aim to improve the efficiency of public services without the disruption, controversy and transaction costs associated with full-blown organizational mergers. This paper assesses the adoption of this management innovation by English district councils, identifies enablers and barriers to its effective implementation, offers a preliminary assessment of its impacts, and draws out practical lessons for policy-makers.     

Measuring heterogeneity,survey engagement and response quality in preferences for organic products in Nigeria

The identification of the market potentials of organic products is important in the drive towards a sustainable agricultural development in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, available evidence shows that valuing attributes of credence goods (such as organic products) while using stated preference methods faces additional obstacles compared to other normal goods. In this study, we examine consumers’ preferences and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for health and environmental attributes of organic products in Nigeria. We employ an approach that allows us to adequately capture the value of organic products by linking part of the heterogeneity across respondents to differences in scale, while making use of indicators of survey engagement, without risks of endogeneity bias and measurement error that arise from the deterministic methods. The empirical results show that market for organic products exists in Nigeria, with reduction in pesticide residues attribute attracting the highest value, followed by the certification programme. Furthermore, we observe that increases in the latent engagement variable lead to a greater probability of agreement with statements relating to survey understanding and realism, and hence more substantive output.