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1 – 10 of over 2000This study seeks to investigate the benefits that trigger exporters' attitudinal commitment and examines their effects by taking into account the temporal dynamics of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to investigate the benefits that trigger exporters' attitudinal commitment and examines their effects by taking into account the temporal dynamics of cross‐border interfirm relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative field study led to the generation of hypotheses that were subsequently tested with structural equations modeling using data collected during two consecutive surveys of exporters.
Findings
The economic benefits that foster exporter's commitment include importer's specific investments, importer role performance, and exporter economic performance.
Practical implications
Importers can secure their foreign suppliers' commitment by investing in their business relationships and improving their distributive performance. They also need to monitor exporters' economic performance. The study highlights the importance of exporters' perceptions in building their commitment. Thus, importers need to communicate intensively about their actions to promote exporters' brands.
Originality/value
Unlike previous research, which has focused mostly on behavioral antecedents of commitment, this study depicts the exporting context using the exporter perspective and highlights the importance of economic benefits in shaping their attitudes. A mixed design involving both qualitative and quantitative methodologies facilitates this approach. Relational exchange theory's temporal assumptions about business relationships are reflected by the use of longitudinal data.
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Constanza Bianchi and Abu Saleh
Relationship trust and commitment are two key dimensions of international exchanges. Both have been extensively investigated from an exporter (as opposed to importer…
Abstract
Purpose
Relationship trust and commitment are two key dimensions of international exchanges. Both have been extensively investigated from an exporter (as opposed to importer) perspective in developed country (as opposed to developing country) contexts. To address these gaps, this paper aims to develop a model of antecedents and outcomes of importer trust and commitment in two developing countries.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper tests the proposed model using data from Chile and Bangladesh. Hypotheses are tested using structural equation modeling (SEM).
Findings
SEM analysis reveals that most of the hypotheses are supported in both the Bangladeshi and Chilean context. The findings of this paper also suggest that the effects of importer transaction‐specific investments on importer commitment are distinct in the Bangladeshi context.
Practical implications
Practically, these results show that trust and commitment are essential for enhancing importer relationship performance in developing countries. Importer trust in a foreign supplier is effective when suppliers are competent and provide relatively superior facilities, as opposed to opportunistic proclivity. Importer commitment to a foreign supplier is stronger when importers perceive that the foreign supplier is not opportunistic, but is knowledgeable and experienced with the importer market, and they perceive that it is an advantage importing from that supplier. Cultural similarity between importers and foreign suppliers improves importer trust in both countries. However, importer commitment in Chile increases with importer transaction‐specific investment, but this is not found to be the case in Bangladesh.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the importer‐exporter exchange relationship literature by testing a model of antecedents and outcomes of importer trust and commitment. The tested model is one of few that considers developing country contexts and incorporates two novel antecedents of trust and commitment: importer knowledge and experience, and supplier resource competency.
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Importer commitment is important to the improvement of exporter performance. More committed importers contribute more to the exporters’ performance than do less committed…
Abstract
Purpose
Importer commitment is important to the improvement of exporter performance. More committed importers contribute more to the exporters’ performance than do less committed importers. The purpose of this paper is to examine one of the factors that motivate importers to be committed to their overseas exporters: exporter fairness. Specifically, this study examines the role of exporter fairness in developing importer commitment. Fairness is conceptualized as three dimensions: distributive justice, procedural justice, and interactional justice.
Design/methodology/approach
The relationship between the three dimensions of exporter fairness and importer commitment is empirically examined using data collected from 120 Korean importers. Partial least squares technique was employed to test the hypotheses.
Findings
It was found that importers’ perceptions of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice contribute to increasing or decreasing importer commitment. Furthermore, when a sample of Korean importers was split into two groups, the three dimensions of justice were positively related to commitment for importers facing a highly volatile business environment, while only interactional justice significantly affected commitment for importers facing a low-volatile environment. These findings indicate that importers facing a highly volatile environment are much more sensitive to exporter fairness than are those facing a low-volatile environment.
Originality/value
The study demonstrates that importer commitment can be developed, particularly in highly volatile environments, if vulnerable importers are treated fairly by their more powerful exporters. Volatile environments offer more opportunity for overseas exporter opportunism than stable environments do, aking importers vulnerable to the opportunistic behaviors of overseas exporters. Such importers are likely to respond sensitively to exporter fairness in the form of increased or decreased importer commitment.
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Md Abu Saleh, M. Yunus Ali, Ali Quazi and Deborah Blackman
The purpose of this paper is to explore international buyer–supplier relationships in an emerging developing country context. The study examines a number of factors…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore international buyer–supplier relationships in an emerging developing country context. The study examines a number of factors derived from internationalization process (IP) theory and their impacts in a novel research setting. The relational variables of trust and commitment, and their drivers, are integrated into a model examining importers’ perspectives of their supplier relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
This study applied a sequential methodological approach. Initially, a conceptual framework was developed from qualitative research and then quantitatively validated using structural equation modeling (SEM). The data for this study were collected conducting in-depth interviews and survey questionnaires. For empirical validation, the SEM technique was applied to assess the proposed model.
Findings
Importing firm managers perceived that the commitment of their suppliers bolstered their trust in the relationship, this contrasts with the conventional contention of a reverse relationship. The findings confirm cultural similarity facilitates communication, leading to increased knowledge and experience of importers, thereby contributing to an enhanced commitment to build trust in the relationship.
Practical implications
The conceptual framework developed in this study provides a direction to manage and enhance understanding of IP and relationship outcome. The findings have strategic implications for practicing managers in developing and supporting their importer–foreign supplier relationships.
Originality/value
This study is unique in assessing as well as validating key constructs of IP theory in an international exchange (importer–supplier) relationship. The study offers completely a new insight in relation to applying IP theory’s relational perspectives.
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This paper aims to shed light on how small- and medium-sized enterprises can use export promotion programmes (EPPs) to improve their performance. The proposed conceptual…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to shed light on how small- and medium-sized enterprises can use export promotion programmes (EPPs) to improve their performance. The proposed conceptual model focuses on the need that the mechanism of awareness and use of EPPs should play a more active strategic role in shaping the firm’s export performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A meta-analysis of the pertinent literature reveals 16 studies on EPPs.
Findings
This study reveals that there are 16 relationships which are important based on the meta-analytic correlations. The analysis of these relationships shows that EPPs, export performance, strategy, knowledge, commitment, capabilities, competitive advantage and experience are the mostly used constructs.
Originality/value
This investigation supports the view that the moderating effects of the improvement of trust relationship between partners, i.e. importers to exporter and public policymakers to exporter, and the mechanism of awareness and use of EPPs accelerate the firm’s export performance. EPPs explain 31.3 per cent of the variance in export performance indicating their catalytic role in the exports’ growth.
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M. Abu Saleh, M. Yunus Ali and Syed Saad Andaleeb
This study seeks to provide insights concerning the predictors of industrial importers' commitment to their foreign suppliers in a relationship paradigm involving an…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to provide insights concerning the predictors of industrial importers' commitment to their foreign suppliers in a relationship paradigm involving an emerging market.
Design/methodology/approach
Integrating a review of the relevant importer-exporter and distributor-supplier relationship literature, a model of importer commitment was developed. Based on survey data obtained from industrial importers for an emerging market, CFA and SEM were employed to test the proposed theoretical model.
Findings
The findings significantly support the theoretical framework and most of the hypothesized path relationships in the model. Predictors such as importers' knowledge significantly and positively influenced commitment through the intermediation of trust, supplier opportunism had a significant and negative effect on importer commitment, again through the intermediation of trust, and transaction-specific investment had a direct effect on industrial importers' commitment. Supplier's opportunistic inclinations did not have a significant direct effect on the commitment of the importers.
Research limitations/implications
This research only considers the views of industrial importers that limits generalization. The sample size, constrained by the total number of industrial importers in the country examined, was also somewhat of a limiting factor concerning SEM modeling.
Practical implications
This study suggests the factors that export managers need to consider in maintaining long-term relationship with their foreign buyers, while contributing to building the relationship through knowledge sharing and curbing opportunistic inclinations.
Originality/value
This paper examines the antecedents of trust and commitment in industrial importer and foreign supplier relationships in the context of an emerging market. Based on the earlier literature on B2B exchanges, the role of importers' knowledge in driving commitment through the intermediation of trust offers new insights. This is particularly important because the importers are experiencing unprecedented growth opportunities. Considering their need to make decisions quickly and gain advantages from suppliers, will they remain committed to a particular supplier? Or will their commitment be strengthened by gaining knowledge of the supplier? The tested model offers unique insights.
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Md Abu Saleh, M Yunus Ali, Ali Quazi and Rumintha Wickramasekera
In the mainstream relationship management literature, critical appraisal of the relationship paradigm in an international setting is virtually non-existent. The extant…
Abstract
Purpose
In the mainstream relationship management literature, critical appraisal of the relationship paradigm in an international setting is virtually non-existent. The extant literature reveals a gap in terms of linking relationship management theories with international management. Furthermore, little research attention has been paid to synthesise the existing theories in a cohesive manner towards developing a theoretical paradigm in the interface of the importer-supplier relationship dyad. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to strengthen the theoretical grounds of relationship marketing in an international setting in an importer-exporter relationship context.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper follows a comprehensive review approach and applies the fundamental theory of trust and commitment to identify the relational factors. More precisely, the paper identifies and applies other relevant theories such as internationalisation process theory, resource-based theory of the firm, dependence theory and transaction cost theory in developing an innovative theoretical paradigm.
Findings
Based on the integration of extant theories, this paper proposes a new direction in the theoretical realm of the trust and commitment building process within an importer and supplier relationship management paradigm. The research concludes that trust and commitment are the focal factors within the international relational paradigm.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed research direction suggests an emerging framework integrating mainstream theoretical variables of trust and commitment in importer and foreign-supplier context. This novel framework has the potential for use in further research.
Originality/value
This paper advances a grounded theoretical exploration within an international management domain in the context of importers and foreign-suppliers.
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Gomaa M. Agag and Ahmed A. El-Masry
The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a model that focuses on the cultural and religiosity drivers and satisfaction outcomes of consumer perceptions about…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a model that focuses on the cultural and religiosity drivers and satisfaction outcomes of consumer perceptions about online retailers’ deceptive practices. It specifically investigates: the role of cultural orientation and religiosity in forming consumer ethical ideology; the link between the consumer’s ethical ideology and his/her perceptions regarding the deceptive practices of online retailers; and the effect of perceived deception on consumer satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a quantitative survey conducted among 468 Egyptian consumers aged 18 and above. These were measured on a five-point Likert scale. To test the hypothesized relationships among the constructs of the model, structural equation modelling was employed.
Findings
The study confirmed that power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and religiosity are important in forming idealistic attitudes, while both individualism and masculinity lead to an egoistic attitude. Idealism was observed to have a positive association with consumer perceived deception, while egoism was found to negatively affect consumer perceived deception. Finally, it was revealed that the perceptions of consumer about the deceptive practices of online retailing decrease consumer satisfaction.
Originality/value
This research puts together in a single model both antecedents and outcomes of the perceptions of consumer about the deceptive practices of online retailing; concurrently examines the role of cultural orientation, religiosity, and ethical ideology of the consumer in forming ethical attitudes and responses; focuses on the instrumental role of cultural characteristics on consumer ethical perceptions from the perspective of the individual, rather than the society as a whole; and provides useful examination of the effects of perceived deception on consumer satisfaction.
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Johra Kayeser Fatima and Mohammed Abdur Razzaque
The purpose of this paper is to report antecedent roles of competence, contractual and goodwill trust on rapport and satisfaction in banking services in a developing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report antecedent roles of competence, contractual and goodwill trust on rapport and satisfaction in banking services in a developing country context. The study also identifies the mediating influence of these three types of trust between rapport and customer satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
Data collected from a sample of 212 bank customers were analysed using AMOS-based structural equation modelling.
Findings
While all three types of trust have significant impact on satisfaction, only competence and goodwill trust positively influenced rapport. Results also demonstrate that competence and goodwill trust had complementary mediation impacts in the rapport-satisfaction context; however, mediation influence of contractual trust was not significant. Finally, influence of rapport was found to be positive towards satisfaction.
Practical implications
Management should focus on building goodwill and competence trust with bank customers. Bank managers should hire and train employees who are friendly in terms of customer care and are able to develop rapport with customers to increase the latter's satisfaction.
Originality/value
The paper tested the influence of competence, contractual and goodwill trust on rapport and satisfaction and verified the mediation impact of trust between rapport and satisfaction.
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