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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of transactional costs on smallholder avocado farmers’ participation in the export market and the extent of participation in Murang’a County, Kenya.

Data was collected from 384 avocado farmers in Murang’a County, following stratified sampling. The Heckman two-stage model was used for analysis.

Results showed that the cost of information search was an important variable that impedes smallholders’ participation in export marketing while harvesting costs inhibits the extent of participation in export marketing.

This study used data at the farm level. Therefore, insights on transaction costs among other marketing agents in the export market value chain would be an issue for future studies.

Following the debate on transaction costs and market participation among farmers in Sub-Sahara Africa, this paper models transactional costs and export market participation among avocado smallholders and measures the extent of participation with the inclusion of harvesting costs, negotiation costs, monitoring costs and information search costs that are not common in previous studies, thus contributing to the development of literature.

To develop a model in which alternative patterns of management control are confronted with situational and institutional features in the context of transactional relationships. The model could be of use to managers in making rational decisions regarding the boundaries of the organization.

The model is developed by drawing on transaction cost economics extended with systems theoretical notions on trust.

Three patterns of management control are identified: a market pattern, a bureaucratic pattern and a trust pattern. Furthermore, the transactional and institutional factors that determine the choice of a control pattern or elements therein are identified and confronted with the three management control patterns.

An extended transaction cost economics approach is rather static of nature and, therefore, could be criticized for its lack of attention to processes of gradual development. In practice, adoption and design of management control structures are only part of the story; there also is gradual development or evolution in management control. However, the implications of the model are restricted to rational decision making regarding the adoption/design of management control patterns.

The paper provides a relevant and usable model for the adoption and design of management control patterns.

The purpose of this study is to develop models and analyse the influence of supply chain governance (SCG) and its conceptions (contractual, relational and transactional) on supply chain performance (SCP).

Multiple case studies and survey methods were used. Data collection in the multiple case studies was performed by in-depth interviews with supply chain executives from top strategic levels in six companies. The research instrument was applied to 185 executives from large companies that possessed a broad, complex supply chain in Brazil.

It was identified that SCG, comprising contractual, relational and transactional aspects, has a positive influence on operational and financial SCP. SCG was found to be a more comprehensive view of the supply chain that focuses on more strategic aspects and long-term inter-organizational relationships. SCG affects SCP, primarily in the operational aspects with regard to global costs and in the financial aspects of investment return.

SCG is a topic that has been widely studied in recent years for analysing inter-organizational relations as a multi-dimensional phenomenon embedded in the company’s structures and processes. Studies analysing all aspects of SCG at the same time, however, have not been found. Moreover, there are a number of performance indicators, but there is a lack of consensus on what determines the performance of these supply chains. Furthermore, few studies have attempted to understand the effects of SCG on supply chain performance.

The construction industry has been subject to substantial criticism for its short-term “hit-and-run” relationships which are focussed on win-lose situations. Despite the wide recognition of these problems the industry persistently resists the radical demanded of it. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is twofold. First, to investigate why this might be the case by reviewing the governance problem confronting clients and decision makers in construction procurement, as conceptualised in transaction cost economics (TCE). Second, to critically analyse and question the efficiency and effectiveness of various safeguarding approaches, which are taken for granted and commonly practiced in construction, from a lean perspective.

The analysis of this paper is based on an in-depth critical review of 76 construction procurement and contractual-related articles, ranging from 1994 to 2016, using theories of Lean construction and TCE as an analytical lens.

Findings reveal that clients and decision makers often tend to safeguard their project-specific assets, against opportunism and exploitation, through the deployment of formal contractual arrangements and governance structures. These arrangements and structures typically dominate the management of the project delivery often to the detriment of the project itself; but because there is a belief that interests are safeguarded, clients and decision makers feel they have taken the best course of action. This goes a long way to explaining the coherence of the current construction model.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to demonstrate the usefulness of using principles of Lean construction in association with TCE when analysing construction-procurement-related issues. In particular, the use of a “lean” lens helps to expose the impact of procurement governance arrangements on process flow. The study also provides a potential research agenda that can lead to the development of prescriptive conceptual frameworks for causal analysis of institutionalised waste in construction.

The paper attempts to expose to clients and decision makers the amount of waste (and unnecessary cost) they embed by adhering to prevailing unfit-for-purpose contractual governance approaches. It also helps decision makers to consider alternative procurement arrangements and organisational techniques that could be of value and support collaborative ways of working.

The study contributes to the overall understanding of waste in construction by providing insight into various imperfect procurement and contractual arrangements, which are taken for granted and impede efficiency and improvement efforts in construction. The findings presented provide a theoretical anchor and rationale for developing alternative approaches to the design and delivery of capital projects.

While in some districts having drinking water is a given reality, there are others where there is a lack of access to this resource. Unfortunately, even today, 10.2% of the world population lives this situation and it could be worse in the coming years, according to UNICEF. Inhabitants in Pamplona Alta at southern Lima, Peru, daily suffer this harsh reality. This social challenge study attempts to define a methodology for an effective logistic planning of water distribution in Torres Minas. Currently, they obtain it from unsanitary and informal vendors. This chapter provides the basis of a new layout of the water distribution network based on clusters to efficiently satisfy water demand. Specifically, we propose the use of orderly delivery points called “bus-stops of water” in a two-echelon distribution system, whose optimization relies on a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) technique. The objective of these guidelines is minimizing the transactional and transportation cost, while increasing the bargaining power of the community. Results showed a reduction of 52.67% and 26% in transactional and transportation costs, respectively, and a reduction of the associated risks of shortage and contamination of a tight delivery of water. Moreover, we foster the application of this methodology in other similar situations to produce sustainable growth for human settlements; regardless, there is a lack of access to water or a steep geography.

The purpose of this study is to examine tolerance of channel partners’ opportunistic behaviors as a viable governance mechanism and to test contingent transaction benefit and cost factors to determine tolerance of opportunistic behaviors.

Through the theoretical lenses of governance value analysis and transaction cost economics, this study theorizes that a supplier’s tolerance of its reseller’s opportunistic behaviors should depend on transaction benefit factors (e.g. new product creativity and marketing program creativity) and transaction cost factors (e.g. performance ambiguity and opportunity cost). The author empirically tests the moderation model using data from a large-scale survey of 141 mobile phone suppliers in South Korea.

The empirical results largely support the predictions on the moderating effects. For transaction benefit factors, marketing program creativity increases the supplier’s tolerance, while new product creativity does not increase the supplier’s tolerance. For transaction cost factors, the supplier’s concerns about opportunity cost increase the level of tolerance, while performance ambiguity of a business partner decreases the tolerance level.

Theorizing opportunistic behaviors as a policy variable subject to benefit-cost assessment rather than an assumption provides new insights to interfirm governance research.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first kind to consider transaction benefit and cost factors together in a single contingency framework in tolerance research. Also, this research provides a new perspective on a microlevel marketing factor (i.e. creativity) as an influential factor in governance mechanisms.

The aim of this research is to reveal the security‐related outsourcing strategies of the public sector and the military and the relevant logistics outcomes by examining buying tactics.

A tentative model was devised from theoretical literature of how buyers use their negotiating power and relationships to achieve improved service quality and/or unit‐cost reductions. The model was tested using survey data from 149 respondents from the Finnish Defence Forces, and the public sector and industrial firms in Finland via structural equation modelling analysis.

Contrary to the approach of classic economics, where negotiating power correlates with direct costs, the findings indicate that negotiating power and relationships do not affect direct costs in the public sector and military contexts, but rather that negotiating power and relationships correlate with an improved service level, which consequently decreases the indirect logistics costs.

By focusing on improvement in services in terms of their logistics service purchasing, the buyers reveal that their outsourcing strategy involves vertical outsourcing. The data are collected from one country, which may cause bias. Further studies would be required to test this research proposal in other countries.

To obtain cost reductions, buyers of logistics services could learn from the public sector and the military on how to use negotiating power and relationships to obtain better service instead of short‐term cost reductions, as better service correlates with reduced costs in the long run.

This study is important to practitioners as well as academics since there is little quantitative research available regarding strategic outsourcing modes and outcomes of adopting different modes.

Building energy information systems (EIS) are performance monitoring software, data acquisition hardware and communication systems used to store, analyze and display building energy data. Some $60bn are spent annually on wasted energy in the US buildings, and actions taken based on EIS data can enable operational energy savings of approximately 10 per cent in the US commercial sector (approximately two quads of primary energy). However, EIS adoption is low because of various technical and market challenges. This paper aims to provide technical specifications for standardized EIS packages that can help overcome barriers and accelerate scale.

A five-step approach was followed: identifying business drivers as key determinants for hotel sector-specific packages; addressing heterogeneity to develop standardized, tiered packages; determining performance metrics for key stakeholders; recommending streamlined data architecture; and developing visualization enabling insights and actions.

Technical specifications for two tiers (entry and advanced) of EIS packages for hotels have been developed. EIS vendor, integrator and client organization’s facilities and IT staff have been considered as key stakeholders. Findings from six field demonstrations show benefits of cost-effectiveness, through reduced transactional, first and operational costs, scalability, by accommodating heterogeneity across the building sub-sector, simplicity, by integrating meters, gateways and software in the package and actionability in organizations, across various decision-making levels.

Building owners and operators can use these specifications to ease procurement and installation of EIS in their facilities. EIS software vendors can use them to develop new product offerings for underserved sectors.

The purpose of this paper is to review the current application of organization theory (OT) in the humanitarian supply chain (HSC) and identify the future OT-based research opportunities that can advance knowledge of humanitarian operations.

The study uses a systematic literature review methodology to identify the current status and future direction of the OT-based study in HSC literature. The applied theories are those that have been mentioned in at least two research articles in the HSC literature. The proposed theories are either adopted from the top four referred organizational theories in the supply chain literature or those that can explain the issue of information asymmetry in HSC.

The study identifies and describes eight organizational theories and their possible future research questions in HSC. Among these, the first four theories (i.e. resource-based theory, resource dependence theory, social exchange theory and contingency theory) have already been initially applied in the humanitarian field, while the remaining theories (i.e. institutional theory, stakeholder theory, transactional cost theory and information theory) have potential for future application.

The reviewed literature is limited to peer-reviewed journals listed in Thomson Reuters’ journal citation reports.

This study may help future researchers better understand and solve, using organizational theory, the behavioral challenges faced by humanitarian operations.

The study presents current applications of and future prospects for OT-based research in HSC, effectively providing the first review of OT applications in this area. The novel framework and new theories proposed herein may enable fresh directions for HSC research.

E‐marketing is growing at a dramatic pace and is significantly impacting customer and business market behaviors. As a result, most firms have started developing e‐marketing strategies for the web. However, the evolution and strategic direction of e‐marketing strategies in international environments has not been discussed and is the focus of this paper.

In this paper, the authors examine two issues based on extant literature and our previous research in this area. The authors discuss e‐marketing in an international context and develop a framework that will allow researchers and managers to understand the impact of country level effects on e‐marketing strategies. The paper proposes that the evolution of e‐marketing strategies is based on the countries infrastructure and marketing institutional development.

It is found that international e‐marketing strategies are fundamentally changing, and will continue to change, marketing thought and practice in international markets. The paper suggests that the e‐markets of tomorrow may have little resemblance to the markets of today.

The paper suggests that additional conceptual and methodological research is required in this area. Propositions are derived that will provide directions for future research.

Firms need to better monitor their international environments to determine the type of strategy that they need to follow. The proposed strategies are – brick and click strategies, digitization, disintermediation, buying groups and alternative infrastructure, firm driven e‐marketing strategies, and corporate exchanges.

This paper is the first attempt to examine the relationship between a country's infrastructure, marketing institutions and the appropriate e‐marketing strategies.