Horizontal competition and interorganizational exchange partner selection: An analysis of Major League Baseball player trades

This study examines the influence of horizontal competition on interorganizational exchange. Interorganizational competition is a multidimensional construct that can influence exchange in multiple, sometimes countervailing ways. With an analysis of Major League Baseball player trades, we examine the influences of three components of competition—goal conflict, rivalry, and competitive interaction—on interorganizational exchange partner selection. We find that goal conflict reduces the hazard rate of exchange between organizations, but competitive interaction increases it. Moreover, we find evidence that prior exchange moderates the competition–exchange relationship by reducing the perceived risks and information benefits of exchange with a competitor. We do not find evidence that interorganizational rivalry shapes subsequent exchange behavior.

Mediating and moderating influencers of firm performance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conduct an exploratory study that will assist supply chain firms in the development of partner satisfaction, flexibility, and supply chain performance. The authors examine how the interaction of information exchange, partner interaction, knowledge sharing and flexibility as mediated through partner satisfaction effectuates firm performance. The goal of this research is to answer the supply chain managers’ need to better understand where to invest their time and effort to get improved firm performance. Design/methodology/approach The model was tested with panel data from 105 experienced, US-based supply chain managers. Structural equation modeling using partial least squares approach was utilized to conduct the analysis. Findings The results provide crucial evidence that simple information exchange among supply chain partners does not result in improvements in firm performance or partner satisfaction, but, when mediated through the flexibility construct, it does. Further, the use of integration tools has a moderating effect on the relationship between flexibility and firm performance. The results suggest that working closely with supply chain partners helps ensure improved relationship satisfaction, and can reduce issues that can impact firm performance. Research limitations/implications The empirical research presented requires additional validation though larger sample data from supply chain managers. Practical implications This study stresses on the importance of managers using information exchange, partner interaction, and knowledge sharing as a means of improving their firm’s indirect influence on firm performance through flexibility and integration tools. Originality/value This is one of the few studies in the supply chain literature that integrates flexibility as a mediator variable. Additionally, this study introduces the new construct of integration tools to the supply chain literature.

Power decreases trust in social exchange

How does lacking vs. possessing power in a social exchange affect people’s trust in their exchange partner? An answer to this question has broad implications for a number of exchange settings in which dependence plays an important role. Here, we report on a series of experiments in which we manipulated participants’ power position in terms of structural dependence and observed their trust perceptions and behaviors. Over a variety of different experimental paradigms and measures, we find that more powerful actors place less trust in others than less powerful actors do. Our results contradict predictions by rational actor models, which assume that low-power individuals are able to anticipate that a more powerful exchange partner will place little value on the relationship with them, thus tends to behave opportunistically, and consequently cannot be trusted. Conversely, our results support predictions by motivated cognition theory, which posits that low-power individuals want their exchange partner to be trustworthy and then act according to that desire. Mediation analyses show that, consistent with the motivated cognition account, having low power increases individuals’ hope and, in turn, their perceptions of their exchange partners’ benevolence, which ultimately leads them to trust.

Study Abroad and the City: Bringing the Lessons Back Home

In 2005, Beloit College launched its Cities in Transition project, intended to strengthen learning outcomes for students studying abroad at several of its exchange partner universities. The College greatly valued its exchange partner relationships. However, a variety of factors, including living in foreign student dormitories and taking classes for foreigners, made it difficult for students to achieve hoped-for language gains and increased country knowledge. This article discusses the obstacles to learning that students face when studying abroad and how faculty development initiatives have helped Beloit College develop curricular interventions to improve study abroad learning outcomes. Furthermore, these interventions, which have involved experiential learning in the cities in which the students study, have led to curricular innovations in Beloit that have the potential to positively impact both students who study abroad and those who remain in Beloit throughout their undergraduate studies.