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1 – 10 of over 20000One of the less observed results of transportation deregulation has been the explosive growth of transportation intermediaries or third‐party specialists such as brokers…
Abstract
One of the less observed results of transportation deregulation has been the explosive growth of transportation intermediaries or third‐party specialists such as brokers, shippers' agents and integrated leasing companies for use by industrial purchasers and marketing management. Such transportation intermediaries have the performance potential and apparent reasons for existence to suggest that they can both reduce delivered product costs and enhance service quality attributes to promote a company's competitive advantage. In a broader sense, intermediaries may be ideally positioned to assist in coordinating and processing information for the entire value‐added chain.
Richard M. Castaldi, Alex F. De Noble and Jeffrey Kantor
Reports a survey of 352 Canadian exporters regarding their use ofintermediaries in exporting endeavours. Contrasts results with resultsobtained from other studies involving 394…
Abstract
Reports a survey of 352 Canadian exporters regarding their use of intermediaries in exporting endeavours. Contrasts results with results obtained from other studies involving 394 American exporters. Tests hypotheses regarding the effect of product type, export sales volume and national exporting infrastructure differences on the various export services performed. Prior studies of American intermediaries showed a near inverse relationship between the perceived importance of specific export services and the intermediaries′ level of performance of these services. Canadian exporters, however, feel that their intermediaries are meeting their exporting needs much more effectively.
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Faris Al‐Sobhi, Vishanth Weerakkody and Muhammad Mustafa Kamal
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of the intermediary in delivering public services from government departments to different stakeholders (business and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of the intermediary in delivering public services from government departments to different stakeholders (business and citizens) and to highlight the challenges that face the development of e‐government services in the context of Madinah City, in Saudi Arabia.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a broad literature review to identify significant factors that contribute to e‐government adoption and diffusion success. These factors are then used as a basis for analyzing the findings from a case study that focuses on the concept of intermediaries for e‐government service delivery in Saudi Arabia. To investigate a less‐recognized phenomenon, such as the use of intermediaries in e‐government contexts, the authors adopt a qualitative case study approach to gain further understating. This method allowed examining the phenomenon in its natural settings through employing multiple methods of data collection. Further, it gave the researchers enough room to get a closer look at the reasons behind introducing the intermediary concept in the e‐government context and provided considerable flexibility during interviews and observations.
Findings
The results of this paper indicate that digital divide and poor infrastructure to conduct payments (secure transactions) for e‐government services was hindering citizens' adoption of e‐services in Saudi Arabia. Thus, the intermediary concept was facilitating citizens' access to e‐government services and helping to reduce the digital divide in Saudi Arabia. The findings also show that intermediaries helped in increasing the availability of e‐government services. Additionally, this paper finds that trust between the service provider (government) and service requester (citizens and businesses) is an important factor that influences not only e‐government adoption and diffusion, but also the role of electronic intermediary (e‐offices) in facilitating this adoption.
Originality/value
The authors take into account the most salient adoption factors when introducing e‐government systems. Electronic intermediaries may help to enhance the understating and analysis of those adoption factors in government settings and facilitate government departments in realizing the importance of intermediaries' role in e‐government contexts. Furthermore, this paper significantly contributes to the knowledge and practice of e‐government adoption and diffusion and provides sufficient support to decision makers in expediting e‐government adoption and diffusion.
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Ting Chen, Feng Yang, Feifei Shan and Fengmei Xu
Opaque selling has become popular among service providers in recent years. Although many researchers have investigated the optimality of opaque selling for service providers…
Abstract
Purpose
Opaque selling has become popular among service providers in recent years. Although many researchers have investigated the optimality of opaque selling for service providers focusing on heterogeneous consumers, one question remaining unexplored is how the service providers’ optimal decisions are impacted by competitive intensity in a heterogeneous market. This paper aims to determine the conditions under which opaque selling is optimal for competing service providers.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper takes a Hotelling model to characterize the competition between two service providers. The authors also consider the interaction between the service providers and intermediary. Service providers act as game leaders and determine whether they should cooperate with the intermediary to introduce the opaque service.
Findings
The authors find that two competing service providers do not always benefit from opaque selling in a heterogeneous market consisting of leisure and business consumers, and the competitive intensity plays a significant role in the service providers’ decision optimization. Opaque selling allows service providers to acquire more profit in a highly competitive market or when the market contains a large proportion of leisure consumers. Otherwise, it is optimal for service providers without introducing the opaque selling.
Practical implications
The paper examines the optimality of opaque selling for competing service providers, and provides the suggestions to optimize the service providers’ decisions.
Originality/value
The paper investigates how the service providers’ optimal decisions are impacted by competitive intensity, considering the interaction between the service providers and intermediary.
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Judy A. Siguaw, Jule B. Gassenheimer and Gary L. Hunter
While prior studies have examined how loyal customers create value for preferred manufacturers, this study aims to focus on the supply chain and captures the indirect economic and…
Abstract
Purpose
While prior studies have examined how loyal customers create value for preferred manufacturers, this study aims to focus on the supply chain and captures the indirect economic and relational benefits and costs of customer value creation on channel intermediaries.
Design/methodology/approach
Service-dominant logic is used to explain the rationale behind consumer contributions and supply chain connectedness in an interactive online world. Drawing from the relevant literature, a conceptual model supported by propositions is presented.
Findings
As manufacturers utilize consumer contributions, affiliated intermediaries will report having less informational power, providing less value to the channel, greater benefit-based and cost-based dependence, heightened efforts to create channel value, an enhanced reputation and greater sales, and greater collaboration with customers.
Research limitations/implications
This conceptual paper is the beginning of an investigation into the pragmatic function of a service-dominant view as it pertains to a marketing channel. As this avenue for research is further developed, it is important that the propositions included in this study first be examined.
Practical implications
Awareness of the underlying logic and the resulting impacts should aid channel intermediaries in realizing their own contributions throughout the manufacturer ' s value chain and recognizing changes to their positions of power. As a result, channel intermediaries should be better positioned to assess the health and future prospects of the relationship.
Originality/value
This work is the first study to examine potential impacts on the intermediary operating in a channel in which the manufacturer is significantly influenced by consumer contributions.
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This study provides a comprehensive framework of adaptation in triadic business relationship settings in the service sector. The framework is based on the industrial network…
Abstract
This study provides a comprehensive framework of adaptation in triadic business relationship settings in the service sector. The framework is based on the industrial network approach (see, e.g., Axelsson & Easton, 1992; Håkansson & Snehota, 1995a). The study describes how adaptations initiate, how they progress, and what the outcomes of these adaptations are. Furthermore, the framework takes into account how adaptations spread in triadic relationship settings. The empirical context is corporate travel management, which is a chain of activities where an industrial enterprise, and its preferred travel agency and service supplier partners combine their resources. The scientific philosophy, on which the knowledge creation is based, is realist ontology. Epistemologically, the study relies on constructionist processes and interpretation. Case studies with in-depth interviews are the main source of data.
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Johanna Kokkomäki, Tommi Laukkanen and Raija Komppula
The objective of this paper is to identify the factors determining a business organisation's use of an intermediary when buying convention packages and meeting services.
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this paper is to identify the factors determining a business organisation's use of an intermediary when buying convention packages and meeting services.
Design/methodology/approach
The data are based on a case, a public organisation responsible for promoting and intermediating meetings, incentives, contentions and events (MICE) services provided by small and medium‐sized tourism organisations in southern Finland. An online questionnaire was used for the data collection and a total of 223 valid responses were collected. Explorative factor analysis was used to analyse the research results.
Findings
Based on explorative factor analysis it is suggested there are three distinct factors as determinants of the phenomenon, namely “Attractive convention packages”, “Know‐how of the personnel”, and “Ease of buying a convention package”. The results of the structural equation modelling reveal that ease of buying a convention package is the primary reason for using the intermediary, while attractive convention packages and know‐how of the personnel have a much lower effect.
Research limitations/implications
More research is needed to explore if there are more attributes affecting the use of an intermediary in the buying process.
Practical implications
Intermediaries of meeting services can develop their services by paying more attention to how to make the buying process easier and more flexible for the customer.
Originality/value
Earlier studies have not analysed the structure of the interrelationships among variables affecting the use of an intermediary in the purchase of meeting services, or empirically verified constructs to measure these factors.
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Annalisa Lendaro and Christian Imdorf
Referring to the sociology of conventions, the purpose of this paper is to examine how various conventions of work coordination and employee relations affect how recruiters in the…
Abstract
Purpose
Referring to the sociology of conventions, the purpose of this paper is to examine how various conventions of work coordination and employee relations affect how recruiters in the domestic labour industry use ethnic categories to match jobs to applicants in the domestic services sector and how institutional gatekeepers relegate immigrant women to jobs with poor career opportunities.
Design/methodology/approach
Case studies of a public job centre, a domestic service provider and an occupational integration service show the core conventions structuring job placement in Marseille's domestic service industry. Based on nine semi‐structured interviews with representatives of the three respective intermediaries, the authors reconstructed conventions and compromises between them related to the use of ethnic categories as significant criteria in recruitment.
Findings
Characteristic compromises of work conventions frame the organisational use of ethnic categories in the job placement process. Market and domestic conventions are particularly crucial for ethnic criteria to become meaningful in the recruitment process as indicators of cheap and readily available labour. Intersecting with gender, they signal competence in the “domestic world” of beneficiaries’ private homes. Ethnic categories are less meaningful, however, when coordination between intermediary, clients and workers is based on the civic and industrial work conventions.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to better understanding ethnic labelling processes in the placement of immigrant job seekers in the domestic service industry. It points to the problematic fact that denying the recognition of foreign certificates in the industry works to the economic benefit of domestic service providers, while it impedes the careers of female immigrant workers.
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Ronan McIvor and Paul Humphreys
This paper examines the implications of electronic business‐to‐business intermediaries for the buyer‐supplier interface. Innovations in electronic commerce have a key role to play…
Abstract
This paper examines the implications of electronic business‐to‐business intermediaries for the buyer‐supplier interface. Innovations in electronic commerce have a key role to play in managing inter‐organisational networks of supply chain members. The evidence presented in this paper illustrates that the Internet represents a powerful technology for commerce and communication at the buyer‐supplier interface. An overview is provided of the evolution of electronic commerce at the buyer‐supplier interface and the typical business models that have been developed. A theoretical framework is proposed, based on the inter‐organisational relationships paradigm. A number of case studies are presented which examine the role of electronic intermediaries at the buyer‐supplier interface. It is shown how the inter‐organisational relationships paradigm is an effective means of evaluating the buyer‐supplier interface in an electronic B2B environment. The application of the framework is discussed in relation to the three case studies and the implications for practitioners are highlighted.
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The insurance market has high churn rates because customers’ purchase decision-making process and claims management rely heavily on intermediaries. The purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
The insurance market has high churn rates because customers’ purchase decision-making process and claims management rely heavily on intermediaries. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role played by insurers and intermediaries in customer satisfaction, as well as in the preferences of customers regarding the purchase decision-making process.
Design/methodology/approach
The first step was to select the most important attributes for Portuguese insurance customers. Three focus groups were conducted (using B2C and B2B markets), and data from Portuguese car insurance customers were gathered through an ad hoc questionnaire. Structural equation models and the multidimensional scaling unfolding model were applied.
Findings
Intermediaries play a key role in the retail insurance distribution channels by influencing customer satisfaction, claims management and the purchasing process (premium acceptance).
Practical implications
Because of the influence that intermediaries have on customer satisfaction, insurers should improve their partnerships (back office support) with intermediaries.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the retail distribution literature of the insurance sector by providing empirical evidence of the impact of intermediaries on customers’ satisfaction.
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