Search results

We introduce agency and team production theories to explain the international joint venture (IJV) phenomenon. We regard IJV partners as participants in a team production and identified agency conflicts among partners as well as between parents and IJV affi liates. We empirically test the stability of IJVs with such determinants as the existence of monitoring principal, the history of repeated exchanges between partners, the efficiency of mutual monitoring by partners, the effi ciency of affiliate monitoring by parent firms, and the degree of international experience of the partners. The test results show that the existence of monitoring principal and the degree of international experience prove to be significant factors for IJV stability.

The purpose of this paper is to verify the moderating role of trust in the relationships between environmental uncertainty and a manufacturer's propensity for vertical control over its supplier, and between environmental uncertainty and the manufacturer's satisfaction with the supplier performance. It also confirms a threshold effect of trust, i.e. the moderating role of trust is present up until a threshold value of trust is reached.

Survey research was conducted to collect data from manufacturers; structural equation modeling was used to purify measurement scales, and multiple regression was conducted to test the hypotheses.

This study confirmed that a manufacturer's perception of a supplier's trustworthy behavior weakens the justification for a higher degree of vertical control over its supplier's key decisions. Trust also reduces the manufacturer's discontent with its supplier's performance.

Traditional transaction cost analysis (TCA models) put too much emphasis on rationality and seldom consider the complexity of inter‐firm control in social contexts. This study demonstrates that considering trust in TCA supplements the explanations offered by TCA on buyer‐seller behaviors.

Manufacturers should determine the level of needed vertical control after assessing the level of inter‐firm trust to avoid unnecessary vertical control, which is as costly as, if not costlier than, supplier opportunism. Manufacturers should also realize the importance of formalizing continuous, two‐way information flow to further reduce supply market uncertainty, which cannot be done by trust beyond the threshold value.

This study considers both social embeddedness and TCA to enhance the explanatory power of the TCA framework. Additionally, this study shows that the moderating effect of trust is statistically significant at lower levels while the effect fades away at higher levels of trust.

Despite the growing importance of logistics in corporate strategy and the global economy, the logistics literature reveals little effort to build a unified theory of logistics (i.e. a theory of the role of logistics in the firm). Thus, the purpose of this paper is to move toward a unified theory of logistics within the contexts of the strategic role and capabilities of logistics. Considering the importance of logistics in today's corporate strategy, various theories of the firm are adapted to explain the reasons for logistics activities within the firm. The proposed theory should serve as a conceptual reference point for future theory development and empirical research in logistics.

Employing means‐end theory, this paper seeks to examine the influence of specific types of product attributes upon desired consumption consequences and the mediating impact of desired consequences upon purchase frequency.

The research employed means‐end interviews to generate specific attribute and consequence measures. These measures were then administered in a survey instrument within the context of a fashion product. Partial least squares was used for testing the measurement validity of the survey instrument and testing the structural model and related hypotheses.

Style attributes significantly related to desired psychological and social consequences but did not significantly relate to functional consequences. Quality significantly related to functional consequences and social consequences but not psychological consequences. Price significantly related to all consequences. Psychological consequences were the strongest predictor of purchase frequency followed by functional consequences. Finally, desired consequences played a mediating role between product attributes and purchase frequency, with no direct influence of attributes upon purchase frequency.

The findings demonstrate the value of understanding the consumption consequences that consumers desire for products, especially after initial purchase. In doing so, the findings also provide some evidence that consequences may be better predictors of behavioral outcomes than product attributes.

This study demonstrates that the consumer means‐end value hierarchy can be used as a tool for understanding the meanings that consumers construct around products and services. Moreover, it indicates that marketers should consider customer value analysis as a segmentation tool.

This paper represents one of the few to test the chain of cause‐and‐effect relationships of the means‐end hierarchy within an integrated framework. It is original in that it specifically tests the relationships between major attributes (i.e. style, quality, and price) and particular consequence types (i.e. psychological, social, and functional).

This conceptual paper argues that the emergence of Internet commerce is presenting a significant challenge to traditional internationalization explanations. Given rapid accessibility to customers and suppliers around the world, businesses appear to be turning towards networks of cooperation rather than external control structures. International supply chain management is proposed as a process of internationalization representing the implementation of a global uncertainty‐driven new network orientation. A network orientation is proposed to encourage more integrated levels of I‐commerce adoption which, in turn, further strengthens the relationship between a network orientation and its implementation. A number of propositions are presented along with a discussion of future research issues.

Collaboration has been referred to as the driving force behind effective supply chain management and may be the ultimate core capability. However, there is a fairly widespread belief that few firms have truly capitalized on its potential. A study was undertaken to assess the current level of supply chain collaboration and identify best practice.

Supply chain executives provided insights into collaboration. Survey data, personal interviews, and a review of the collaboration literature were used to develop a conceptual model profiling behavior, culture, and relational interactions associated with successful collaboration.

Positive collaboration‐related outcomes include enhancements to efficiency, effectiveness, and market positions for the respondents' firms.

The small sample size represents a limitation, but is balanced by the quality of the respondent base and their expertise/experience. Another limitation involves securing input from only one party to the collaborative relationships. Developing a longitudinal study would help determine how collaboration‐related factors and relationships change over time.

Several respondents mentioned a “blurring of lines” between organizations contrasted to an “us vs them” approach. This was expressed in a number of different ways – treating the arrangements as if they both were part of the same operation, treating them as co‐owned, and employing a new focus on the best common solution. Many of the respondents indicating rewards are not distributed evenly still admitted they get enough “out of” the collaborative arrangements to make it worthwhile.

Real‐world practical experiences are recounted involving many of today's top companies.

The concept of supply chain management (SCM) started in the logistics literature, and logistics has continued to have a significant impact on the concept. This study, however, proposes that the concepts of the marketing concept, a market orientation, relationship marketing, and SCM are not separate. Rather they are inextricably intertwined. The main purpose of this study is to highlight the role of marketing in the implementation of SCM by suggesting cause‐and‐effect relationships. Research propositions are presented and future empirical studies are called for to test the cause‐and‐effect relationships suggested in an integrative model.