Beth Davis-Sramek

Operational collaboration between shippers and carriers in the transportation industry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a better understanding of how strategic relationships between firms and environmental context affect operational decisions and how each firm allocates resources to improve overall firm performance.Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative research is integrated with previous research. Data for the qualitative research are collected through focus groups and semi‐structured interviews that employ grand tour questioning, facility tours using key informants, and use of selective artifacts.Findings – The paper develops a model that examines how environmental factors, specifically the context of the capacity constraints in the transportation industry, can influence shippers to form long‐term and mutually beneficial relationships with their carriers and how these relationships can lead to improved performance at the operational level.Research limitations/implications – The paper incorporates five foundational theories into one integrated model in the context of b...

Commitment in Franchising: The Role of Collaborative Communication and a Franchisee's Propensity to Leave

Social exchange theory provides the basis for developing a model where collaborative communication from the franchisor relates positively to commitment, and commitment relates negatively to franchisees’ propensity to leave the relationship. We analyze data from a unique dataset of 200 franchisees and find partial support for this model; franchisor communication positively relates to one dimension of franchisee commitment, and one dimension of commitment negatively relates to propensity to leave. The study expands franchising theory by examining the franchising relationship from a social exchange perspective and by empirically demonstrating the important role commitment plays in the franchising context.

FUNCTIONAL/DYSFUNCTIONAL SUPPLY CHAIN EXCHANGES

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a means‐end value chain framework to understand two supply chain partys values by presenting a value‐matching framework.Design/methodology/approach – Using means end theory, qualitative data from third party logistics (3PL) providers and manufacturers were used to construct means end value hierarchies to demonstrate how values between buyers and sellers can be mismatched.Findings – In comparing the responses from the 3PLs and manufacturers, examples were found of exchange‐specific value matches and exchange‐specific value mismatches. The analysis showed that the 3PL managers interviewed were seeking to provide the value of being “market‐driven” (refers to a reactive business logic, which favors incremental adjustments to changes in the business environment), while the manufacturers desired their 3PLs to be “market‐driving” (refers to innovative business logic by providing break‐through ideas, practices and processes).Research limitations/implications – Th...

Predicting technology integration and performance in transition economies: insights from Russia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine a traditional information technology (IT) integration-performance framework in the transition economy of Russia, which has undergone significant and tumultuous institutional shifts. The research incorporates variables not previously utilized in the supply chain literature but underscore significant roles in the context of the Russian institutional environment to examine the drivers of IT integration. Design/methodology/approach – The Moscow-based, Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) was contracted to collect data from Russia manufacturing firms with 100 or more employees, and the effort resulted in 769 responses from Russian private sector firms. This primary survey data were combined with two secondary data sets to test the model using structural equation modeling. Findings – Overall, the results indicate that firms in developed economies must pay special attention to specific contextual nuances in transition economy firms that can affect their ability...

A Theory of Captive Relationships in Distribution Channels

Firms are increasingly required to leverage resources and capabilities of trading partners in order to compete in the highly interdependent global business environment of the 21st century. Consequently, effective relationship management is essential to operational and financial performance. Over the past two decades, scholars have proposed several theoretical approaches to understanding the key drivers to successful relationship performance (e.g., Palmatier, Dant and Grewal 2007). Implicit in these prescriptive models is the assumption of the firm’s freedom to choose appropriate trading partners. Researchers have largely failed to consider “the ubiquitous influence of the institutional environment” that could significantly limit the firm’s active choice (Grewal and Dharwadkar 2002, p. 82). For example, government regulations require manufacturers of alcoholic beverages to sell their products to certain distributors in order to reach consumers in various regions of the United States. Similarly, manufacturers of pharmaceuticals may be restricted to a small set of prequalified suppliers in foreign countries. Hence a key question is, ‘What is the effect of constrained choice on relationship management?’