| Supply Chain Competitiveness and the "Tragedy of the Commons": The Case of the Champagne Industry |
| | Cool, Karen S. | Stanford U. | | |
| | Henderson, James E. | Babson College | henderson@babson.edu | (781)-239-4290 |
| | The paper argues that many supply chain management initiatives are subject to the "tragedy of the commons" since parties have an incentive to underinvest in supply chain assets and a tendency to overconsume any benefits from the supply chain efforts. The study of the functioning of the supply chain in Champagne shows that this tragedy can be averted. We document some of the major forces that drive long term success and failure in supply chain initiatives. We contrast the chain initiatives in Champagne and Bordeaux to explore the generalizability of the findings. A framework on the drivers of cooperation in supply chains is presented. |
| | Keywords: supply chain management; tragedy of the commons; cooperation |
| How Relation-Specific Assets Matter: Sourcing-Related Practices and Supplier Performance Improvements in the U.S. and Japanese Automotive Industries |
| | Martin, Xavier | New York U. | xmartin@stern.nyu.edu | (212)-998-0414 |
| | Kotabe, Masaaki | Temple U. | mkotabe@sbm.temple.edu | (215)-204-7704 |
| | We study sources of operational performance improvement among Japanese and American automotive suppliers. We examine the impact of bilateral know-how exchanges, and how that impact varies with the prior duration of the buyer-supplier link. We find that similar mechanisms apply in the Japanese and American samples. The contribution of informal, limited-scale technical exchanges does not vary with link duration. The impact of formal technology transfers, however, varies with link duration. The findings highlight the role of relation-specific assets, independent of firm-level characteristics or broad country-level explanations. The research identifies under what conditions a supplier and its customer can effectively benefit from the adoption of high-involvement procurement practices. |
| | Keywords: relation-specific assets; firm-level performance; interfirm collaboration |
| Strategy, Governance Structure, and Performance: Theory and Evidence in Franchising Arrangements |
| | Zajac, Edward J. | Northwestern U. | | |
| | Yin, Xiaoli | Northwestern U. | x-yin@nwu.edu | (847)-467-1195 |
| | While strategy research has acknowledged that performance differences among organizational entities can exist, there is less agreement on the causal antecedents of organizational performance differences. One notable exception is Chandler's argument that specific strategies, structures, and the fit between such strategies and structures can explain some of the variance in organizational performance. Interestingly, despite the recognition of Chandler's insight, there has been little attempt to consider how the contribution of other major structural forms of organization--specifically, organizational governance structures--to organizational performance differences may be attributable less to the superiority of one governance structure over another, and more to the combination of that structure and a correspondingly appropriate strategy. In this study, we examine an under-researched governance structure, franchising arrangements, and suggest how a contingency perspective may shed light on performance differences between franchised vs. company-owned organizational entities.
We provide a longitudinal analysis of the strategy, structure, and performance of about 6,000 stores within one of the biggest U.S. restaurant chain from 1991 to 1997. Consistent with our predictions, we find that the franchise owned arrangement improves performance of stores pursuing strategies that value flexibility and local adaptation, whereas the company owned arrangement improves performance of stores pursuing strategies that value predictability and control. The results support our proposition that the fit between governance structure and strategy brings better performance. Another important finding is that multi-unit franchisee abilities, as evidence by strong prior performance, contribute to the future success of the stores they own.
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| | Keywords: strategy/structure; franchising; performance |
| Contracts and Project Based Strategic Alliances: An Empirical Test |
| | Vibert, Conor T. | Acadia U. | conor.vibert@acadiau.ca | (902)-585-1514 |
| | This paper explores the role of Agency theorgy and the specificity of the inter-firm contract for mangeing project based strategic alliance partners. Empircial findings of a study involving twenty-four consulting engineering frims suggest the effectiveness of tightly written (behaviorally oriented) contracts. Effectiveness or operational performance is measured in terms of perceived operational flexibility and fair treatment. |
| | Keywords: Strategic Alliances |
| A Typology of Hybrid Governance: Proposal and Empirical Validation |
| | Subramani, Mani R. | U. of Minnesota | msubramani@csom.umn.edu | (612) 624-3522 |
| | Henderson, John C. | Boston College | JCHENDER@BU.EDU | (617) 353-6142 |
| | Firms are increasingly selecting hybrid governance to execute a wide range of activities. To aid cumulative theory building, we propose a typology of hybrid governance identifying four types characterized by the extent of process specificity and expertise specificity. We validate the typology this using data from 218 interfirm relationships. |
| | Keywords: Hybrid Governance; Typology Proposal; Typology Proposal |