Interpersonal interaction in business triads—Case studies in corporate travel purchasing

Developing relational embeddedness of logistics service provider to enhance supply chain performance in transitive triads

Purpose

The study seeks to explore the effect of socialization mechanisms on relational embeddedness of logistics service providers (LSP), and relational performance of dyads, and finally their resulting effect on the supply chain performance in transitive triads.

Design/methodology/approach

To elaborate on the major constructs of the study, the researchers use the theoretical lens specifically provided by social capital theory (SCT), and relational view (RV). Consequently, the researchers use SCT to examine the role of the socialization process, used by the supplier and customer, to develop relational embeddedness of logistics service providers in triads. Next, the researchers use the RV, complemented by the underpinnings of supply chain practice view (SCPV) to elaborate on the relational performance of dyads and supply chain performance. The study uses partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to estimate the higher component model (HCM) and test the research hypotheses.

Findings

The results obtained from a sample of 350 transitive triads suggest that relational embeddedness of LSPs is only shaped by the mechanisms of formal socialization, developed by the supplier and customer. Interestingly, informal socialization appears to be insignificant for this process. The results indicate that relational embeddedness of logistics service providers has a positive effect on the relational performance of three dyads, which in turn, has a positive effect on the supply chain performance in transitive triads.

Research limitations/implications

One of the intriguing avenues of future research is to investigate the dynamics of supply chains. It would be also worthwhile to make use of the specificity of transitive triads, formed by the supplier, customer and LSP, to explore whether and under which circumstances (e.g. reciprocity, symmetry) the strong ties encourage the transfer and integration of knowledge among actors, and the weak ties accelerate the search for information. In connection with that, the other interesting research avenue would be to investigate the information benefits derived from the nonredundant triads.

Originality/value

Although there is a number of recent studies that show empirical evidence for developing relational embeddedness in transitive triads, to date, little research interest has been paid to how relational embeddedness of LSPs is shaped within the supply chain structures, and how it finally affects the supply chain performance.

Decision model with quantification of buyer-supplier trust in advanced technology enterprises

Purpose

In the buyer-supplier relationship of a high-technology enterprise, the concepts of trust and risk are closely intertwined. Entering into a buyer-supplier relationship inherently involves a degree of risk, since there is always an opportunity for one of the parties to act opportunistically. Purchasing and supply managers play an important role in reducing the firm's risk profile, and must make decisions about whether or not to enter into, or remain in, a relationship with a supplier based on a subjective assessment of trust and risk.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the authors seek to explore how trust in the buyer-supplier relationship can be quantitatively modeled in the presence of risk. The authors develop a model of trust between a buyer and supplier as a risk-based decision, in which a buyer decides to place trust in a supplier, who may either act cooperatively or opportunistically. The authors use a case study of intellectual property (IP) piracy in the electronics industry to illustrate the conceptual discussion and model development.

Findings

The authors produce a generalizable model that can be used to aid in decision-making and risk analysis for potential supply-chain partnerships, and is both a theoretical and practical innovation. However, the model can benefit a variety of high-technology enterprises.

Originality/value

While the topic of trust is widely discussed, few studies have attempted to derive a quantitative model to support trust-based decision making. This paper advanced the field of supply chain management by developing a model which relates risk and trust in the buyer-supplier relationship.

Environmental Behavior Spillover or Public Information Induction: Consumers' Intention to Pay a Premium for Rice Grown with Green Manure as Crop Fertilizer

Nowadays, there is a growing interest in pro-environmental foods produced by pro-environmental practices. However, consumers’ payment motivations towards such foods are currently poorly understood. This manuscript provided a critical investigation of Chinese consumers’ intention to pay a premium (ITPP) for rice grown with green manure as crop fertilizer (GMR). One focus was the establishment of an explanatory structural research framework that includes effects of environmental behavior spillover (EBS) and public information induction (PII); another focus was to analyze the impacts of the selected structural elements on ITPP by introducing education as a moderator. Results suggest that consumers’ ITPP can be largely influenced by PII, therefore, for GMR marketers and policy makers, measures should be developed to widen consumers’ access to public information related to GMR and to improve their capacity of screening effective information. EBS, when ITPP remains low, emerged as a pivotal predictor of consumers’ ITPP. This observation provides us with the enlightenment that breeding consumers’ daily environmental behaviors is highly valued to inspire their payment intention in the early stages of GMR market development. Another finding is that, with the introduction of the educational variable, the influence coefficients of EBS and PII on ITPP increased from 0.42 and 0.53 to 0.61 and 0.66, respectively, which means that it is possible to boost consumers’ payment intention by improving their educational attainment. This study contributes to the existing literature by providing empirical evidence for the GMR industrial upgrading strategy and have significant implications for the environmental governance of the agricultural sector.

Trends and directions in service triads research

Purpose

Service triads refer to tripartite relationships in which client firms serve their customers through third-party service providers. The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the nascent but fast-growing literature on service triads to explore the broad themes along which the literature has grown, and to identify the gaps and future research opportunities.

Design/methodology/approach

Systematic literature review (SLR) approach is adopted to retrieve, select, and synthesise relevant service triads studies. A citation network analysis on the corpus resulting from the SLR identified the core articles of the literature.

Findings

The SLR uncovered ten themes of research along the articles’ objectives, theories and methodologies. The classification framework of service triads, the roles of customers and providers, the size of the provider, triadic risks, controlling service delivery and service quality, regulated triads, the stability of the triads, and cross-country, cross-culture triads emerged as significant under-researched areas.

Originality/value

The paper illustrates research trends and provides insights into the neglected and under-researched problems of service triads. This is the first SLR on service triads.

Purchasing in service triads: the influence of contracting on contract management

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate purchasing practices in service triads by exploring the link between ex ante contracting and ex post contract management and how these practices influence the satisfaction of buyers and suppliers (in concessionary arrangements) with their relationship in terms of meeting the needs of the buyer’s customers.

Design/methodology/approach

An in-depth exploratory multiple case study was carried out in a shop-in-shop context. Multi-method and multi-source data collection included interviews, documents and the contracts between buyer and supplier, providing evidence of the formal and relational structures in both the contracting and contract management stages.

Findings

The case findings provide evidence that behavioural standards established in a social contract are important prerequisites for the establishment and subsequent management of a formal contract. Second, this study shows that, when outsourcing core services in a service triad, a combination of performance-oriented and behavioural-oriented contract terms, covering a mix of topics related to both the customer-experience and to buyer-supplier-oriented aspects, contribute to aligning the buyer’s, suppliers’ and customers’ interests. The main findings are presented in a causal model and formulated as propositions.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the first studies to explore how core services are outsourced in a service triad. It provides evidence that the social contract between buyer and supplier influences the establishment of the formal contract as well as contract management, and a mix of contract topics, some related to the customers’ experience and others purely buyer-supplier oriented, contribute to the alignment of buyer’s, suppliers’ and customers’ interests.

The human factor in SCM

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to advance supply chain management by describing the current state of behavioral supply chain management (BSCM) research and paving the way for future contributions by developing a meta-theory for this important field.

Design/methodology/approach

The results are generated by applying the systematic literature review methodology and an iterative theory-building approach involving a panel of academics.

Findings

This review provides a comprehensive overview of the BSCM research landscape. Additionally, a meta-theory of BSCM is presented that encompasses all central elements of the research field and introduces the concept of emergence to the field of BSCM. Furthermore, five promising future research opportunities are formulated.

Research limitations/implications

The critical discussions and the formulated research opportunities will help scholars in positioning their research to enhance its contribution.

Practical implications

Results from this research indicate that supply chain decisions benefit from explicit consideration for cognitive and social phenomena.

Originality/value

This review is the first to provide a comprehensive overview of the field of BSCM research and facilitates BSCM in advancing further.

Modes of customer co-production for international service offerings

Purpose

– Much has been written about the manifestations and managerial implications of customer co-production in service offerings. However, there have been relatively few references to issues of co-production in international service environments. Co-production is very relevant in international environments because of the requirements for interaction between producers and consumers, which interaction spans international borders and national cultures. The purpose of this paper is to apply an established theory of co-production, the Unified Service Theory (UST), to the international service context. This provides the authors with structured models for conceptualizing the co-productive nature of international service offerings and assessing-related managerial implications.

Design/methodology/approach

– The UST provides a model of co-productive service delivery. Extending that model, the authors develop a taxonomy of international service based on the “four modes of service supply” provided in the General Agreement on Trade and Services instituted by the World Trade Organization (WTO). Then, using data from the WTO and World Bank, the authors propose and test six hypotheses for predicting service exporting focus corresponding to the co-production taxonomy.

Findings

– Based on the analysis of empirical data, the authors find more service exporting focus in small, growing, high-wage economies that have a significant service base and focus in merchandise exporting. The strength of these effects differs for different modes of service supply.

Research limitations/implications

– The authors also discuss cultural issues of international service, but the empirical analysis of culture effects is thus far inconclusive. Also, the analysis is limited to modeling and studying dyadic relationships, i.e., service providers in one country involved in an interchange with customers in another country. A natural extension would be to consider triads and more complex networks of co-productive service offerings.

Practical implications

– This research shows how managerial implication of the UST can be extended to international service contexts. The authors review managerial implications pertaining to meeting variable demand, describing service characteristics, and pricing.

Originality/value

– Co-production research is well-established in service management literature. This paper extends that research to international contexts by describing the WTO taxonomy in terms of the UST. This allows the authors to apply various insights of co-production to international service offerings.