Networking and developing collaborative relationships: evidence of the auto‐part industry of Brazil

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 514-523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danny Pimentel Claro ◽  
Priscila Borin de Oliveira Claro

PurposeThis study aims to assess the moderating effect of the business network on the effects of between relational behavior and the effects of transaction‐specific investments on joint actions.Design/methodology/approachThe study was a survey based field study designed using theoretical support from marketing channels, transaction cost economics and network perspectives.FindingsThe results show the importance of relational behavior and the network in coordinating joint actions, and this has relevant managerial implications for the coordination of a collaborative relationship. The characteristics of the relationship, its length as well as the size of each partner affect the collaborative efforts of the partners.Practical implicationsFirms and managers should understand not only the dyadic relationships they are in but also the network structure. Dyadic characteristics affect collaboration, while the network also has effects on the collaboration of partners in vulnerable positions.Originality/valueThe paper points out the role of the network as a countervailing safeguard for dyadic TSIs and network stability. Dyadic relationships are supported by the network.

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 577-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Gligor

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of demand management in achieving supply chain agility (SCA) through a multi-disciplinary review of the relevant research. The systematic literature review provides the basis for formulating a conceptual framework of the relationship. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic, comprehensive review of the literature on manufacturing, marketing organizational and SCA from 1991 through 2013 was conducted. The literature on demand management is also examined to identify the various elements that contribute to SCA. Findings – Most agility frameworks take a supply-side perspective and assume that demand is known. Those that do acknowledge the role of demand fall short of offering a holistic framework that acknowledges the role of both. This paper suggests that it is simply not enough to have flexible manufacturing, distribution and procurement systems to achieve SCA. Flexibility in managing demand is also needed. Furthermore, it is the premise of this paper that demand and supply integration (DSI) inside the firm is critical to achieving SCA. Research limitations/implications – This research is a systematic, integrative review of the existing literature on the concept of agility. As such, the next phase of research needed for theory building will be the operationalization of constructs and testing of the hypothesized relationships proposed by the conceptual framework. Practical implications – The paper has several managerial implications as well. It illustrates how firms can create and sustain competitive advantages in turbulent environments. Managers can use the framework developed here to assess what structures and decision-making processes they can use to increase the firm’s SCA. Practitioners can use this model as a checklist to identify candidate areas for improving agility. The section illustrating the use of knowledge management to increase DSI should be of particular interest to managers, considering that a great deal of firms experience a disconnect between demand creation and supply fulfillment. Originality/value – Through a systematic, comprehensive review of multi-disciplinary literature, the paper explores the role of demand management in achieving SCA.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haiqing Shi ◽  
Taiwen Feng ◽  
Zhiyi Li

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the inverted U-shaped relationship between green customer integration (GCI) and opportunistic behavior, as well as the moderating effects of contractual control and relational norms.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted hierarchical regression analysis using two-waved data from 206 Chinese manufacturing firms to test hypotheses.FindingsThe authors found that GCI has an inverted U-shaped effect on opportunistic behavior. Furthermore, both contractual control and relational norms negatively moderate the inverted U-shaped relationship between GCI and opportunistic behavior.Originality/valueThis study uncovers an inverted U-shaped link between GCI and opportunistic behavior by combining transaction cost economics and social exchange theory. Furthermore, this study reveals contractual control and relational norms can be deemed as two boundary conditions affecting the inverted U-shaped GCI–opportunistic behavior relationship. This study also offers managerial implications for firms curbing opportunistic behavior that may result from GCI.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Septianto ◽  
Rokhima Rostiani ◽  
Widya Paramita

PurposeWhile new product introductions can potentially promote growth and benefit for brands, it remains unclear how marketers can develop effective communication strategies to increase the chance of success for new products. The present research investigates the role of cuteness in leveraging the effectiveness of a narrative emphasizing an insight versus an effort in this regard.Design/methodology/approachThis research presents two experimental studies. Study 1 examines the moderating role of cuteness on the likelihood of purchasing a new product featuring an insight-based (vs effort-based) narrative. Study 2 extends the findings of Study 1 using different stimuli and establishes the underlying mechanism.FindingsResults show that when a cuteness appeal is present, an insight-based (vs effort-based) narrative will lead to a higher purchase likelihood. However, these differences do not emerge when a cuteness appeal is absent (a control condition). Further, perceived brand creativeness will mediate this effect.Originality/valueThe findings of this research contribute to the literature on lay belief of creativity, cuteness, and product narrative, as well as managerial implications on how to promote new products.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Flavián ◽  
Alfredo Pérez-Rueda ◽  
Daniel Belanche ◽  
Luis V. Casaló

PurposeThe automation of services is rapidly growing, led by sectors such as banking and financial investment. The growing number of investments managed by artificial intelligence (AI) suggests that this technology-based service will become increasingly popular. This study examines how customers' technology readiness and service awareness affect their intention to use analytical AI investment services.Design/methodology/approachThe automation of services is rapidly growing, led by sectors such as banking and financial investment. The growing number of investments managed by AI suggests that this technology-based service will become increasingly popular. This study examines how customers' technology readiness and service awareness affect their intention to use analytical AI investment services.FindingsThe results indicated that customers' technological optimism increases, and insecurity decreases, their intention to use robo-advisors. Surprisingly, feelings of technological discomfort positively influenced robo-advisor adoption. This interesting finding challenges previous insights into technology adoption and value co-creation as analytical AI puts customers into a very passive role and reduces barriers to technology adoption. The research also analyzes how consumers become aware of robo-advisors, and how this influences their acceptance.Originality/valueThis is the first study to analyze the role of customers' technology readiness in the adoption of analytical AI. The authors link the findings to previous technology adoption and automated services' literature and provide specific managerial implications and avenues for further research.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Tian ◽  
Baofeng Huo ◽  
Yu Tian

PurposePower use widely exists in buyer–supplier relationships (BSRs). Different directions of power use (i.e. buyer's power use and supplier's power use) intertwining with different types of power (i.e. coercive and noncoercive power) make it insufficient to regard power use as a single construct when examining its effect on a firm's following response. Besides, interdependence structure characterized by joint dependence and dependence asymmetry may influence the effect of a specific power use by shaping the firm's interpretation and cognition toward the relationship. Specifically, this study examines how four types of power use a buyer facing and an interdependence structure with its supplier affect its specific investments to the supplier.Design/methodology/approachThis study tests the proposed relationships using regression analysis, based on data from 240 manufacturing firms in China on their perceived relationships with their major suppliers.FindingsResults show that buyer's coercive power use (BCP) negatively affects buyer's specific investments while noncoercive power use (BNP) does not play a significant role. Both supplier's coercive power use (SCP) and noncoercive power use (SNP) are positively related to buyer's specific investments. Joint dependence positively moderates the effect of BNP and dependence asymmetry negatively moderates the effects of BCP and SNP on buyer's specific investments.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on power use by identifying different types of power use and their different roles in influencing buyer's specific investments. The study also contributes to the literature on interdependence structure by demonstrating the different roles of joint dependence and dependence asymmetry.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aihua Wu

PurposeThe impact of specific investments to performance has mixed arguments. This paper aims to clarify how and under what conditions specific investments made by manufacturer tailored to supplier affect the new product development (NPD) performance of the manufacturer itself.Design/methodology/approachThis study develops a moderated mediation model, testing the roles of supplier involvement and information technology (IT) implementation by regression and bootstrap analyses from 378 NPD projects.FindingsThe results show both physical and human specific investments positively affect NPD performance. IT implementation strengthens the mediated role of supplier involvement, i.e. the mediator role of supplier involvement between specific investments and NPD performance link is significantly weaker while IT implementation is lower.Originality/valueThe findings contribute to identify IT implementation and supplier involvement as two important constructs, together demonstrating how and when specific investments affect NPD performance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (11) ◽  
pp. 1801-1815
Author(s):  
Xin Chen ◽  
En Xie ◽  
Mike W. Peng ◽  
Brian C. Pinkham

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine an important yet underexplored research question in the literature: What determines the length of contract governing buyer–supplier relationships during market transitions? The length of contract is a solid indicator of the comprehensiveness of a contract. By integrating transaction costs economics, the embeddedness perspective and the institution-based view, the paper develops a model that incorporates specific investments and perceived opportunism, strategies to select suppliers and buyer firms’ confidence in the institutional environment. It further posits how buyer firms’ dependence on suppliers moderates these relationships. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected nationwide via face-to-face interviews with 328 executives in 164 Chinese firms who shared information pertaining to 774 buyer–supplier contracts. A fine-grained mixed-empirical method was designed to test the proposed hypotheses, to confirm the reliability and to generalize the research findings. Findings All the proposed factors significantly influence the length of the contract. Results obtained through a moderated mediating model suggest that buyers with supplier-specific investments and that choose market-based selection relative to a relationship-based tend to perceive more opportunism in buyer–supplier relationships, which will lead to shortening the length of the contract. However, the buyer’s perception of opportunism will decrease when buyers perceive higher levels of confidence in their legal institutions. Practical implications The study discusses several practical implications for B2B managers who typically involve in interfirm exchanges as well as for emerging economies’ institutions. Originality/value Leveraging theoretical insights from transaction cost economics, the institution-based view and buyer–supplier relationships literature, this empirical study adds unique contributions to B2B research in general and emerging economies’ institutional literature in particular.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 439-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Tam ◽  
Ana Loureiro ◽  
Tiago Oliveira

Purpose While most e-commerce studies focus on the understanding of online customer behaviour, mainly adoption and purchase behaviours. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between e-commerce and individual performance. The authors test the role of systems, information and service quality in e-commerce use and user satisfaction. Trust may become an important aspect for a consumer’s decision making, based on this the authors identify the effect of the role of trust on e-commerce use, user satisfaction and its impact on individual performance. This research has theoretical and managerial implications, since the protagonism of e-commerce is increasing in both academia and industry. Design/methodology/approach The authors apply a research model that integrates information systems success dimensions and user behaviour in the form of trust. The empirical approach was based on an online survey questionnaire of 437 individuals from Portugal. Findings The results reveal that overall quality and overall trust are important to explain use and user satisfaction in the context of e-commerce, which further leads to individual performance. The findings indicate that a higher level of use and user satisfaction increase individual performance. Originality/value The authors integrate information systems success dimensions and overall trust to understand the significance of e-commerce individual performance. The authors expect the results to enrich the understanding of the importance of considering both technological and behavioural factors to increase the success of e-commerce.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuai Yang ◽  
Tao Li ◽  
Sixing Chen ◽  
Bin Li

Purpose People generally believe that business with negative word-of-mouth, such as negative customer reviews can hardly have good sales. But a number of intriguing examples seem to contradict such beliefs. Academic has so far begun to explore the possible positive effect of negative customer reviews, but without unfolding its underlying mechanism. This paper proposes a mechanism through which the variance of customer reviews moderates the effect of negative reviews on sales. Design/methodology/approach This study takes a multi-method approach in explaining the phenomenon, including an empirical analysis using secondary data from a movie review website and a movie box office website and a subsequent experimental study in a controlled experiment. Findings The findings of the study show that the effect of negative customer reviews on product sales is positive when the variance of customer reviews is large. Moreover, customers’ motivation to learn fully mediates the moderating effect of review variance on valence. Practical implications The findings provide vital managerial implications and suggest that managers should realize the important role of the review distribution. Originality/value This study mainly contributes to research on the negativity bias by identifying an important unexplored moderator and mediator and thus explains why negative customer review increases movie sales.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea S. Patrucco ◽  
Davide Luzzini ◽  
Antonella Moretto ◽  
Stefano Ronchi

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to shed light on the dynamics of buyer–supplier industrial relationships and the role of customer attractiveness—a requisite to obtain best efforts from suppliers involved in collaborative initiatives.Design/methodology/approachThe paper develops a theoretical framework tested through an international survey with a structured equation modeling approach.FindingsResults confirm that customer attractiveness positively affects both innovation and cost performance ensured by suppliers. Moreover, several direct and indirect antecedents of customer attractiveness are identified, including characteristics of the buying firm’s procurement department (i.e. procurement knowledge and procurement status) and supply chain relationship characteristics (i.e. proficiency of supplier collaboration and visibility).Research limitations/implicationsBecause of the survey approach, the research results are limited to the data collected.Practical implicationsFindings support the relevance of collaborative relationships in improving performance, and the key role procurement department could play in managing the multifaceted aspects of supplier collaboration.Originality/valueThis paper investigates, on the one hand, why customer attractiveness is relevant for supply chain management, and what are the effects on innovation and cost performance ensured by suppliers; on the other hand, antecedents of customer attractiveness are considered, with a main focus on organizational and relational procurement variables.


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