Gabriel Baffour Awuah

Differences and similarities of the internationalization processes of multinational companies from developed and emerging countries

Purpose: This paper aims, by a direct comparison, to address the differences and similarities of the internationalization processes of multinational companies both from developed and emerging count ...

Networked (interactive) position: a new view of developing and sustaining competitive advantage

Purpose – In the extant literature a firms development of its competitive advantage is seen to be the task of the firm alone. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new and a broader approach of how competitive advantage can be developed and maintained in todays highly competitive and dynamic markets. To this end, how a firm handles its relationships with significant actors in its network becomes very decisive for the development of its competitive advantage.Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on a network approach, case studies have been used to shed lights on the extent to which the development of competitive advantage of firms affect and are affected by their interaction with some actors in a network of exchange relationships.Findings – An important conclusion of this study is that a firms highly valued performance, an indication of its strong position or competitive strength, has its roots in its regular and intensive interaction with some significant actors in its network.Research limitatio...

The Precursor Role of Cooperation, Coordination, and Relationship Assets in a Relationship Model

ABSTRACT Purpose: The primary purpose of this study is to test the importance of activity-oriented precursors in a relationship model. This study supports the theoretical view that firms create trust and knowledge through activities and these activities make a commitment decision less risky (Johanson & Vahlne, 2009). The secondary purpose of this study is to collect and examine data from interorganizational relationships in both Sweden and the United States. By including data from two countries, results will be more generalizable. Results can also lead to several managerial implications. Methodology/approach: This study focuses on a sample of distributors from both the United States and Sweden. One hundred sixty-one usable surveys were returned from the U.S. survey, for a response rate of 27%. One hundred twenty-four usable surveys were returned from the Swedish survey, for a response rate of 21%. The PLS-SEM method was used to examine the model’s constructs. Findings: Similar to past research results show that trust and commitment have a direct positive influence on satisfaction, and that trust also has a direct positive influence on commitment. However, this study uniquely supports four out of six newly tested hypotheses. Both cooperation and relationship assets have a direct positive influence on commitment. Cooperation has a direct positive influence on trust and commitment. Relationship assets have a direct negative influence on trust but a direct positive influence on commitment. Surprisingly, two hypotheses were not supported: Coordination did not have a significant relationship with either trust or commitment. Research implications: Managers who want to achieve a satisfactory relationship based on trust and commitment need to prioritize their attention toward cooperation. They should also be aware that participation in joint activities (i.e., coordination and relationship investments) does not guarantee higher levels of trust or commitment in the relationship. It is the quality of the joint activities and the how dependent firms are on each other and not just participation in joint activities that are likely to create higher levels of trust or commitment. The quality of coordination and manageable levels of dependence may counteract the higher costs associated with joint activities compared to the costs associated with cooperation. Managers may be wise to not make major commitments to other firms unless high quality joint activities have created knowledge and trust between firms. Originality/value/contribution: The model adds the joint activity-oriented antecedents associated with collaboration which is essential to a successful relationship. Because of the high failure rate of collaboration may be due to cooperation and coordination failures and because these two constructs are underspecified in interorganizational research, this study is unique in examining activity-oriented antecedents in a trust/commitment model of relationship satisfaction in a cross-cultural context (i.e., with U.S. and Swedish samples).

A comparison of perceived quality in business relationships in Norway and Sweden: Similarities and differences

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare similarities and differences in perceived quality of business relationships in Norway and Sweden. Design/methodology/approach – The Norwegian and S ...

Factors Predicting Consumers’ Assessment of Advertisements on Social Networking Sites

Marketers act on social networking sites (SNSs) in order to be more efficient in merchandising their products and/or services. Even so, the scope of the published studies regarding the assessment o ...

International growth in born globals – continued growth through networking on institutionally distant markets

The aim of this chapter is to shed light on how a born global can obtain continued growth internationally, in institutionally distant markets. We are seeking a deeper understanding of international growth for born global enterprises by combining theories of networks and institutional perspective. We discuss how institutional distance affects the internationalization processes in born globals. We seek to highlight why and how a born global firm enters different markets. In this respect, born globals from developed countries and those from emerging markets are compared, leading us to derive some propositions from our discussions. Finally some suggestions for future research are presented.

Modeling Antecedents in Trust-Commitment Vendor Relationships

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the importance of selected antecedents (i.e., cooperation, coordination, and relationship investments) in a commitment–trust vendor relationship model. Collaboration in organizations often is not effective in relationships between purchasers and vendors because cooperation, coordination, and relationship investment are lacking. Research on these constructs is very limited in interorganizational research, so this study is unique, therefore, in examining antecedents in a trust–commitment relationship model. Following examination of both first- and second-order modeling approaches, findings show the influence of these antecedents on trust and commitment, and ultimately vendor relationship satisfaction. All three antecedents are positively related to the higher order management factors construct, and in turn to both trust and commitment, with the stronger relationship being to commitment. Commitment and trust are both positively related to relationship satisfaction. The direct relationship from trust to satisfaction is the strongest, but there is evidence of partial mediation through the indirect relationship from trust to commitment and then to satisfaction.

Studying a Firm's Innovations as a Multi-Faceted (Interactive) Socio-Technical Process

The purpose of this paper is to stimulate debate with regards to why firms will commit resources to innovate and the effects of the interactive nature of a firm’s innovation, as the firm engages in collaboration with several others to co-produce value. Methodologically, the study is a review of the existing literature on innovation, looking for an answer to the following. Why and how do a firm and some significant actors in its network engage in innovative activities to co-produce value? The study shows that, from a firm’s perspective, (1) a firm innovates in order to enhance its competitiveness and (2) a firm innovates because it enables it to achieve growth in an increasingly competitive environment. A firm’s innovation should translate into value creation for some stakeholders. (3) Through innovations, a firm co-produces value, mostly, with others in its network. A firm’s internal capacity is complemented by external capacities of some actors in the firm’s network.

Relationship Quality in Interorganizational Contexts

This study provides support for the dimensional distinctiveness of cooperation, coordination, specific assets, satisfaction, trust, and commitment. Based on the results, it is suggested that four of these dimensions are reflective of relationship quality or the ‘Cross-Cultural RELQUAL-scale’ (cooperation, coordination, trust, and commitment) and that relationship quality impacts satisfaction with the relationship. Data was used to test the cross-cultural RELQUAL-scale in supplier-distributor relationships in Sweden and USA.