| Inertia or Rational Calculation: Alliance Maintenance and Reciprocity in the U.S. Investment Banking Industry |
| | Li, Stan X. | U. of Toronto | li@mgmt.utoronto.ca | (416)-978 7019 |
| | Rowley, Timothy J. | U. of Toronto | rowley@mgmt.utoronto.ca | (416)-978-6859 |
| | Prior research on interorganizational relationships downplays the role relation-specific information plays in alliance maintenance, and overly emphasizes the influences of environmental and organization attributes on firms' alliance decisions. This paper empirically investigates alliance maintenance decision and relation-specific information among investment banks in the U.S. for the period of 1994-1998. The paper theoretical identifies and empirically demonstrates that there are at least three types of relation-specific information that influence banks' decision on alliance maintenance-value reciprocity imbalance, cyclical reciprocity imbalance, and success of prior cooperation. These factors simultaneously enter into a bank's decisions whether to reciprocate prior favors. Further, reciprocity imbalance modifies the extent to which the success of prior cooperation influences reciprocity behaviors. Our analysis identifies two dimensions of inertia in the U.S. investment banks: On the one hand, banks will continue to provide benefits to a prior partners even if this ally does not reciprocate an equal number of times. Thus, it is not necessary for alliance partners to immediately match their partner's cooperative behavior in the sense of a strict tit-for-tat interaction. On the other hand, banks will not sustain a relation with a prior partner who does not reciprocate at least equal value over a longer period of time. |
| | Keywords: Interorganizational; reciprocity |
| Trust, Control, and Learning in Joint Ventures: A Theoretical Framework |
| | Inkpen, Andrew C. | Thunderbird | inkpena@t-bird.edu | 602-978-7079 |
| | Currall, Steven C. | Rice University | scc@rice.edu | (713)-285-5387 |
| | This paper has two primary objectives. The first objective is to explore the relationship between trust and control in joint ventures (JVs) and to identify how these two critical concepts impact JV processes. After a brief discussion of the trust and control concepts, we examine the relationship between alliance trust and control. To support the derivation of our theoretical framework, we provide results from an empirical study of trust and control in equity JVs. The discussion then shifts to the paper's second primary objective, which is to link alliance learning with the trust and control concepts. Underpinning this discussion is the assumption that learning from a partner and alliance control are closely intertwined because of the effect that learning has on alliance partner bargaining power. We also explore how learning about a JV partner can provide a foundation for strengthened trust. |
| | Keywords: Joint Ventures; Trust; Control |
| Addressing Homogeneity Of Interests Within Stakeholder Groups: Current Practice, Empirical Assessment, And Implications |
| | Wolfe, Richard A. | U. of British Columbia | wolfer@unixg.ubc.ca | (604)-822-3884 |
| | Putler, Daniel | U. of British Columbia | putler@commerce.ubc.ca | (604) 822-8329 |
| |
The hypothesis underlying stakeholder management is that creating
compatibility between organizational priorities and stakeholder interests
produces a good fit between the organization and its environment and, thus,
increases the probability of the organization's success and survival. We
suggest that achieving said compatibility between an organization and its
stakeholders requires relatively homogeneous interests within stakeholder
groups--otherwise, what would an organization adjust its priorities and
actions toward? This largely overlooked issue is investigated by assessing
the extent to which there is a tendency in the literature to assume,
implicitly, that stakeholder groups have homogenous priorities. Finding
that this implicit assumption is quite prevalent, we discuss its conceptual
and empirical implications and test its validity, thereby presenting a
methodology for determining the extent of homogeneity within stakeholder
groups. Our findings that priorities are quite homogeneous within some
stakeholder groups, while they vary considerably within others, lead to a
discussion of how stakeholder theory and practice can accommodate the
possibility of both heterogeneous and homogeneous stakeholder groups. |
| | Keywords: priorities ; stakeholder; management |
| Symphonic Dances: A Grounded Theory of Leader-Stakeholder Relationships in Orchestral Decision Making |
| | Maitlis, Sally | U. of Sheffield | s.maitlis@sheffield.ac.uk | 44-114-2223259 |
| | A critical relationship in organizational decision making is that which exists between leaders and their stakeholders. Despite the importance of this relationship, and the considerable organizational theory and research that addresses issues of leadership and stakeholder management, there has been relatively little work which investigates the perceptions and behaviors of both parties simultaneously. In this paper, I develop a grounded theory of leader-stakeholder relationships in decision making, based on an intensive, longitudinal, two-year study of three British symphony orchestras. The paper addresses two specific research questions: 1) What are the core dimensions of leader-stakeholder relationships in decision making? and 2) What factors influence these dimensions, and how do they do so? Two key dimensions – stakeholder involvement and leader proactivity - are identified which parsimoniously describe the patterns of leader-stakeholder interaction both within and between the three orchestras. For each of these dimensions, a theoretical model is proposed which specifies the factors that influence them and the ways in which they do so. The paper concludes with the development of a typology of leader-stakeholder relationships in organizational decision making, based on the integration of these two core dimensions. |
| | Keywords: decision making; stakeholders; leadership |
| Alliances as Social Facts: A Structurationist Essay |
| | Bouchikhi, Hamid | ESSEC | Bouchikhi@edu.essec.fr | +331-3443-3066 |
| | de Rond, Mark | Oxford U. | 106160.2323@compuserve.com | +44 (0)1865 841296 |
| | Leroux, Valerie | ESSEC | Ival-isab@dns.isab.fr | +331-3443-3066 |
| | Process research on strategic alliances has been chiefly concerned with
issues of effectiveness reflected in an effort to identify distinct phases
of alliance life and corresponding managerial tasks. Early contributions
in this research tradition depict alliances as orderly, linear and sequential
processes. Discrepancies between linear frameworks and empirical observations
have led others to propose circular and more complex models. Whilst
acknowledging the importance of these various contributions, we believe that
our understanding of alliances can be furthered by relaxing the
managerial agenda that has characterized the field thus far and, instead,
treating inter-organizational relationships as evolving social facts.
Drawing on Giddens’ structuration theory, we outline a framework which
conceptualizes alliance process as a non-deterministic process that is only
partially impacted by management. We suggest that alliances are best thought
of as evolving, but not necessarily harmonious, configurations of structural
components (an anatomy) which shape and are shaped by a complex physiology. |
| | Keywords: alliances; evolution; process |