Search results

1 – 10 of over 2000
Article
Publication date: 19 May 2020

Lei Wang, Chun Zhang, Jun Li, Dong Huo and Xing Fan

This study examines how unilateral supplier transaction-specific investments (TSIs), directly and indirectly, influence international buyer opportunism and the extent to which…

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines how unilateral supplier transaction-specific investments (TSIs), directly and indirectly, influence international buyer opportunism and the extent to which detailed contracts enable suppliers to safeguard against international buyer opportunism. The study also examines whether relationship length affects the efficacy of detailed contracts in cross-border outsourcing relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

The hypotheses are tested by using data collected from multiple informants working for 229 manufacturing suppliers in China. Multiple regression with a three-way interaction is used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Unilateral supplier TSIs encourage international buyer opportunism through increased supplier dependence. Contract specificity negatively moderates the effect of supplier dependence on international buyer opportunism. This moderating effect is stronger in long-term cross-border buyer–supplier relationships than in short-term ones.

Originality/value

The current study extends the cross-border outsourcing literature by examining how emerging-market suppliers in a weak power position can proactively safeguard against international buyer opportunism by using detailed contracts. Our findings show that supplier dependence mediates the relationship between unilateral supplier TSIs and international buyer opportunism; detailed contracts, however, can help dependent suppliers safeguard against international buyer opportunism. In particular, the findings highlight the importance of long-term buyer–supplier relationships that enhance the efficacy of detailed contracts.

Article
Publication date: 3 August 2022

Wenqian Guo, Wenxue Lu and Fei Kang

The understanding of how to mitigate opportunism in construction projects is still limited and conflicting. The complexity of causalities and interdependence among antecedents of…

Abstract

Purpose

The understanding of how to mitigate opportunism in construction projects is still limited and conflicting. The complexity of causalities and interdependence among antecedents of opportunism (transaction characteristics and governance mechanisms) is the major obstacle to current research. This study takes a holistic perspective to explore the different combinations of conditions that lead to high opportunism and low opportunism in project management.

Design/methodology/approach

Through 2 phases of the interview and questionnaire survey, the 91 valid survey data were collected from the buyer–seller relationships in construction projects and analyzed by adopting fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis.

Findings

A single transaction characteristic is rarely sufficient to explain opportunism, and combinations of different transaction characteristics and governance mechanisms (performance ambiguity, asset specificity, buyer's requirement certainty, informal control, and formal control) have different effects on opportunism. In the case of extremely unsatisfactory transaction characteristics, even the combination of formal and informal control cannot prevent high opportunism. The combination including low-formal control and high-asset specificity easily leads to high opportunism. Besides, performance ambiguity is a vital factor in mitigating high opportunism or achieving low opportunism.

Originality/value

Previous studies have always addressed the role of one or some factors independently and separately. This study is one of the first to explore the different combinations of conditions that result in high opportunism and low opportunism in project management based on transaction costs economics and agency theory.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 30 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 November 2022

Qiyuan Zhang, Mengyang Wang and Ziyu Zhao

Asset specificity is a focal feature of buyer–supplier exchanges; however, whether unilateral asset specificity encourages opportunistic value expropriation or promotes…

Abstract

Purpose

Asset specificity is a focal feature of buyer–supplier exchanges; however, whether unilateral asset specificity encourages opportunistic value expropriation or promotes trust-based value creation remains controversial. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how institutional forces shape the controversial roles of buyer asset specificity in supply chain relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

With a survey of 217 matched manufacturer–supplier dyads in China, the study adopts ordinary least squares regression analyses to test hypotheses.

Findings

The results show that two key institutional forces, guanxi importance and government intervention, play different roles in shaping the value expropriation and value creation roles of buyer asset specificity. As an informal institutional force, guanxi importance weakens the impact of buyer asset specificity on opportunistic value expropriation and facilitates trust-based value creation. Moreover, as a formal institutional force, government intervention amplifies the effect of buyer asset specificity on opportunism but strengthens its connection with trust.

Originality/value

By incorporating an institutional view to investigate how institutional forces affect this “valuable but vulnerable” dilemma of asset specificity, this study reconciles the controversy concerning value expropriation vs value creation and enriches understanding of the critical roles of institutional parameters in supply chain management.

Details

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, vol. 52 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0960-0035

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 July 2023

Tao Wang, Linhao Han, Zhilin Yang and Yu Jia

The purpose of this study is to determine the dimensions of cultural differences, which are theoretically most relevant to contract functions in international marketing. Moreover…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to determine the dimensions of cultural differences, which are theoretically most relevant to contract functions in international marketing. Moreover, the contradiction between contract governance and opportunism is reconciled by exploring the boundary conditions of specific cultural differences.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors obtained 235 bilateral data provided by Chinese exporters and overseas distributors. The authors matched a secondary data set with the questionnaire data, which were analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis and a hierarchical moderation model.

Findings

The results demonstrate that while contract specificity is less successful in this area, contingency adaptability is useful in reducing opportunism. Moreover, as the national cultural differences regarding uncertainty avoidance, power distance or individualism-collectivism become more pronounced. One contractual dimension will be more effective at curbing opportunism, while the other will be less effective.

Research limitations/implications

Despite sample limitations, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to theoretically identify the effect of cultural difference dimensions in contract governance, unlike past studies taking cultural differences as an aggregated variable. Furthermore, by exploring the boundary conditions of cultural differences, this paper effectively reconciles the conflicting findings on the relationship between contract governance and opportunism in various cultural context.

Practical implications

Exporters’ managers can design contingency adaptability to complement the limitations of contract specificity and consider cultural differences’ contingency effects.

Originality/value

First, the authors identify cultural differences dimensions related to contract governance, refining and emphasizing the research context. Second, comparing the efficacy of contract specificity and contingency adaptability in specific cultural context can show which contract is better at preventing opportunism.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 57 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 November 2022

Yogesh Mungra and Prabhat Kumar Yadav

A successful relationship between manufacturer and supplier is vital for the pursuit of mutual benefits, which can be affected by one of the partners’ opportunistic behavior…

Abstract

Purpose

A successful relationship between manufacturer and supplier is vital for the pursuit of mutual benefits, which can be affected by one of the partners’ opportunistic behavior, causing disequilibrium in the existing relationship. The extant research has mainly focused on opportunism as a single phenomenon rather than the detectable strong form and unnoticeable weak form of opportunistic behavior in an exchange relationship that affects the relational outcomes in various ways. This study aims to contribute toward explaining the effect of economic and social forces on a strong and a weak form of opportunism and, in turn, its impact on relational outcomes in manufacturer-supplier relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 361 manufacturers was drawn randomly using a sampling frame from the western part of India. The authors used covariance-based structural equation modeling to support the proposed model empirically. The authors examined the effect of social capital and transaction cost dimensions on different forms of a supplier’s opportunism.

Findings

All three dimensions of social capital have a different impact on both the forms of a supplier’s opportunism in the relationship. The authors found that social capital moderates the relationship between transaction-specific investments on a weak form of opportunism, while social capital is more valuable in curbing opportunism due to the effect of environmental uncertainty and behavioral uncertainty. The authors found that the supplier’s weak form of opportunism than the strong form has a more amplifying effect on governance costs.

Originality/value

This research contributes in three different ways. First, it inquires about the direct effect of transaction cost dimensions and social capital dimensions on a supplier’s multifaceted opportunism (strong form and weak form) in the manufacturer-supplier relationship. Second, it investigates the moderating effect of social capital on the relationship between transaction cost dimensions and forms of supplier opportunism. Third, the weak form of a supplier’s opportunism affects more significantly than the strong form of opportunism on governance costs.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 38 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2021

Chih-Pin Lin and Tse-Ping Dong

Although recent models of place branding have proposed culture as a crucial element in establishing a strong place or nation brand, the way in which cultural products influence…

Abstract

Purpose

Although recent models of place branding have proposed culture as a crucial element in establishing a strong place or nation brand, the way in which cultural products influence the brand equity of other products from the same nation has not yet been studied. This study aims to argue that when a nation has strong legal institutions, as perceived by investors and managers, it offers fertile soil for cultivating cultural products that, when exported, can act as “cultural ambassadors,” promoting the country image in the minds of consumers and the value of the country's brands.

Design/methodology/approach

Exports of cultural products are provided by UNESCO. Valuable brands are those that brand finance included in its global top 500 most valuable brands list. The rule of law is provided by the World Bank. Panel regression models are used.

Findings

Supporting the hypotheses, exports of cultural products show positive effects on the value of brands from that country, and the rule of law shows positive effects on exports of cultural products.

Practical implications

Policymakers could improve the brand value of local firms by promoting exports of cultural products. To do so, policymakers should initiate judicial reforms that strengthen the rule of law to protect contracts and property rights.

Originality/value

This study examines the hitherto underexplored effects that a country's cultural product exports have on the brand value of firms from that country. Most prior research has focused on factors affecting imports of cultural products.

Details

International Marketing Review, vol. 38 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-1335

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 November 2023

Wen-Hong Chiu, Zong-Jie Dai and Hui-Ru Chi

This study aims to explore how manufacturing firms master customer lock-in through value creation by servitization innovation strategies from the perspective of asset specificity.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore how manufacturing firms master customer lock-in through value creation by servitization innovation strategies from the perspective of asset specificity.

Design/methodology/approach

A multiple case study with triangulation fashion is adopted to identify servitization innovation strategies. Several manufacturing firms were investigated, which are distributed in different positions of the value chain. Content analysis and abductive approaches are adopted to analyze the data. Moreover, an in-depth interview and participatory observation were conducted to refine the analysis results.

Findings

This study identified four different focusing points of servitization operations. Based on these, the paper further induces an innovative servitization strategy matrix of customer lock-in, concerning communion, intellectual, existential and insubstantial strategies. Furthermore, a conceptual model of customer lock-in by servitization innovation from the perspective of asset specificity is elaborated. It is suggested that companies can use tangible or intangible resources by sharing or storing operations to create servitization value.

Originality/value

This study theoretically proposes a conceptual model to extend servitization innovation as an intangible asset and adopt the new perspective of asset specificity to illustrate the value creation in servitization to generate customer lock-in.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 38 no. 13
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 March 2022

Baofeng Huo, Mengqiu Guo and Min Tian

Manufacturers’ specific investments (SIs) in a specific partner that are of lower value when used in an alternative relationship, such as training employees and tailoring systems…

Abstract

Purpose

Manufacturers’ specific investments (SIs) in a specific partner that are of lower value when used in an alternative relationship, such as training employees and tailoring systems to achieve better cooperation, can help improve market performance. However, previous studies lack a simultaneous focus on a manufacturer’s SIs in its upstream and downstream partners. The purpose of this study is to address the effects of manufacturers’ SIs in their suppliers and customers on the two types of innovation and market performance individually and jointly and the mediating effects of radical and incremental innovation on relationships between SIs and market performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This study tests proposed relationships based on data collected from 206 manufacturers in China using regression methods.

Findings

Results show that SIs in customers directly and indirectly affect market performance through radical and incremental innovation. However, SIs in suppliers cannot directly improve market performance but indirectly enhance market performance through radical innovation. Furthermore, results also show the interaction of SIs in suppliers and customers is positively related to market performance and radical innovation.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature on SIs by identifying supply chain SIs (SCSIs) through simultaneously focusing on SIs in suppliers and customers and exploring the direct and indirect effects of SCSIs on market performance. This study also contributes to the innovation literature by empirically verifying incremental and radical innovation as effective intermediaries that help convert SIs into the actual performance improvement.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 38 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2022

Qi Zou and Yuan Wang

Firms often struggle with opportunistic behavior from supply chain partners. Relying on Transaction Cost Economics and its extensions, this study developed a conceptual model…

Abstract

Purpose

Firms often struggle with opportunistic behavior from supply chain partners. Relying on Transaction Cost Economics and its extensions, this study developed a conceptual model theorizing the antecedence, consequences and conditional factors of opportunism within a buyer–supplier–supplier triadic relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employed a cross-sectional survey data collected from 200 U.S. firms. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS and AMOS, the two statistical software, for reliability, validity, confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modeling.

Findings

First, opportunism negatively influences operational performance and business performance, and such an effect is fully mediated by relationship stability. Second, this study classified power asymmetry as asymmetrical power discrepancy and asymmetrical power advantage with these two forms playing different roles in influencing opportunism. Results indicate that asymmetrical power discrepancy induces opportunism while asymmetrical power advantage strengthens the negative influence that opportunism has on relationship stability. Additionally, the mediated moderating effect of asymmetrical power advantage by relationship stability is confirmed.

Originality/value

The results provide significant academic and managerial insights that can guide managerial efforts in distinguishing types of power asymmetry, controlling opportunism and further mitigating the consequences of opportunism within a triadic relationship.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 60 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

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