486 research outputs found
Effective Interfirm Collaboration: How Firms Minimize Transaction Costs and Maximize Transaction Value
This study of automotive transaction relationships in the U.S.A. and Japan offers data which
indicate that transaction costs do not necessarily increase with an increase in relationship-specific
investments. We empirically examine the conditions under which transactors can simultaneously
achieve the twin benefits of high asset specificity and low transaction costs. This is possible
because the different safeguards which can be employed to control opportunism have different
set-up costs and result in different transaction costs over different time horizons. We examine
in detail the practices of Japanese firms which result in effective interfirm collaboration
Nationalist Transformations: Music, Ritual, and the Work of Memory in Cambodia and Thailand
Drawing on fieldwork conducted in Cambodia and its diaspora since 2004, this article explores tensions that arise when individuals and institutions impose nation-state ideologies on music and ritual that predate the nation-state concept and transcend official state boundaries. In numerous contexts, musicians and dancers in Cambodia and Thailand perform offerings and blessings that honor their teachers and initiate artistic lineages. Due to broad influence from India and centuries of conflict and borrowing, these ritualsâthough not necessarily their musical contentâhave proliferated in these two countries. I describe these nearly identical ritualsâcalled thvÄy grĆ« in Khmer and wai khruu in Thaiâand their contexts before outlining the historical narratives that have led to their attainment of political and nationalist significance. Today, individuals and institutions in both nations claim that these rituals effect a continuity that reflects each countryâs unique national identity. Using Paul Ricoeurâs essay on âMemory and Forgetting,â I argue that these rituals fulfill a âduty to rememberâ that, in Cambodiaâs case, counteracts a colonial narrative of decline. However, this remembering works against an equally essential task, what Ricoeur calls âthe duty to forget.â I argue that the prioritizing of memory over forgetting, enacted by the thvÄy grĆ« and wai khruu, contributes to the continuing animosity and violence between Cambodia and Thailand. In making this argument, I attempt to show how ethnomusicology can move beyond consideration of how ritual reflects social structures to explore music and ritualâs role in inculcating political thought
Creating and Managing a High Performance Knowledge-Sharing Network: The Toyota Case
This study offers a detailed case study of how Toyota facilitates interorganizational knowledge transfers among within its production network. In particular, we identiify and examine six key institutionalized knowledge sharing routines developed by Toyota and its suppliers. By examining how Toyota facilitates knowledge-sharing with, and among, suppliers we are able to identify the key variables which influence interorganizational and network learning. Moreover, since Toyota is early in the process of creating a learning network with U.S. suppliers, we explore the creation and evolution of Toyota?s new learning
"network" in the United States. We attempt to extrapolate from Toyota?s experience by developing a series of propositions regarding creating and designing a high performance knowledge-sharing network.
We believe our analysis provides at least a partial explanation for why Toyota has been able to maintain its productivity and quality advantages long after the principles of the Toyota Production system have diffised throughout the industry (Knowledge Sharing, Interorganizational Learning, Competitive Advantage)
The Determinants of Inter-Firm trust in Supplier-Automaker Relationships In the U.S., Japan, and Korea
In this paper we examine the determinants of supplier trust in the buyer in 453supplier-automaker relationships in the U. S., Japan, and Korea. We define trust and derive a model of its determinants drawing upon (1) an embeddedness (relationship-based) perspective, (2) a processbased perspective, and an (3) economic (hostage-based) perspective. Our findings indicate
strong support for the process-based perspective in all countries; embeddedness (e.g., length of
relationship) was only important as a determinant of trust in Japan, and the hostage-based
variable (stock ownership) was not important in any country. More specifically, we found that
high supplier trust emerges when (1) automakers have developed supplier-selection routines that
favor incumbents and which maintain a continuing (repeated) exchange relationship with the
supplier, and (2) automakers have developed assistance-giving routines to help suppliers solve
problems and improve. Although there were some differences across institutional environments,
notably higher trust in Japan, the findings are quite robust across the institutional environments.
Indeed, in a sample of U.S. suppliers selling to both U.S. and Japanese automakers in the United
States, we found that Japanese automakers were more effective than U.S. automakers at building
trusting relations with U.S. suppliers. The ability of Japanese automakers to build high levels of
trust with suppliers in the United States suggests that the institutional environment may be less
important than firm-level practices in the production of inter-organizational trust
The Economic Value of Trust in Supplier-Buyer Relationships
In this paper we investigate the relationship between supplier trust in the buyer and transaction
costs, information sharing, and re[ation-specific investments in a sample of 453 supplier automaker
exchange relationships in the U. S., Japan, and Korea. Our findings indicate that trust
reduces transaction costs and increases information sharing in supplier-buyer relationships.
Moreover, the findings suggest that the economic value created for transactors, in terms of lower
transaction costs, may be substantial. In particular, we found that the automaker with the least
trusting supplier relations spent twice as much of its face-to-face interaction time with suppliers
on ex ante contracting and ex post haggling when compared to the most trusted automakers.
This translated into procurement (transaction) costs which were as much as five times higher for
the least trusted automaker compared to the most trusted automaker. Finally, we argue that trust
is unique as a governance mechanism because it not only minimizes transaction costs, but also
has a mutually causal relationship with other behaviors (i.e. information sharing. buyer technical
assistance) that create value in the exchange relationship. Other governance mechanisms (e. g..
contracts. financial hostages) are necessary costs incurred to prevent opportunistic behavior but
do not create value beyond transaction cost minimization. Thus, our findings indicate that trust in supplier-buyer relations can create economic value and may be an important source of
competitive advantage
The Determinants and Economic Outcomes of Trust in Supplier-Buyer Relations
In this paper we examine the antecedents and outcomes of supplier trust in 453 supplier-automaker
relationships in the U.S., Japan and Korea. Our findings indicate that high supplier trust emerges
when (1) automakers have developed assistance-giving routines to help suppliers improve, and (2)
automakers maintain a continuing (repeated) exchange relationship with the supplier. We also found
that trust reduces transaction costs and increases information sharing in supplier-buyer relationships.
Moreover, the findings suggest that the economic value created for tmnsactors may be substantial
as evidenced by the fact that the automaker with the least trusting supplier relations had five times
the procurement costs and spent tice as much of its face-to-face interaction time with suppliers on
ex ante contracting and ex post haggling when compared to the most trusted automakers. Thus, our
findings suggest that trust in supplier-buyer relations can create economic value and may be an
important source of competitive advantage
The Influence of Customer Scope on Supplier Learning and Performance in the Japanese Automobile Industry
Most studies on Japanese supplier-automaker relationships have focused on the nature of
the dyadic inter-firm relationship and the performance of the assembler. We examine the
relationship between a Japanese supplier's "customer scope strategy" (i.e. number of
customers) and the supplier's performance. By analyzing data on 125 suppliers, we found
that a supplier with broad automotive customer scope tends to be more profitable and is
better off with less exclusive ties. This relationship held even after controlling for supplier
size, product type, and the underlying competitiveness/efficiency of each supplier. We
argue that a broad customer scope strategy Ieads to superior performance primarily due to
learning opportunities. This finding highlights a key liability of vertical integration since
integration of inputs often limits the ability of in-house divisions to access new customers.
However, there is a limit to the advantages of a broad customer base, since sales to
'unrelated customers' (e.g., non-automotive) did not have a significant impact on
performance. In short, there appear to be diminishing returns to customer scope as
suppliers add 'dissimilar' customers with requirements farther from their core knowledge
domain. Thus, these findings offer empirical support for the knowledge based view of the
firm which suggests that the efficient boundaries of firms are driven by knowledge
domains/considerations. Our findings also suggest that studies that focus only on the
advantages of long-term cooperative relationships may be misleading if interpreted to mean
that an exclusive supplier-assembler relationship is the optimal solution for the supplier
The Determinants of Interfirm Trust: Evidence from Supplier Automaker Relationships in the U.S., Japan and Korea
This paper has been accepted for presentation at the Academy of Management Meetings,
Cincinnati, 1996.The determinants of interfirm trust are examined in 453 supplier automaker relationships in the
U.S., Japan, and Korea. The findings indicate high supplier trust emerges when (1) suppliers
receive assistance from the automaker, (2) the automaker has a track record of maintaining a
continuing (repeated) exchange relationship with the supplier. Although there were some
differences across institutional environments, notably higher trust in Japan, the findings are robust
across the three institutional environments. Indeed, in a sample of U.S. suppliers that worked
with both U.S. and Japanese automakers in the United States, we found that Japanese automakers
were more effective than U.S. automakers at building trusting relations with U.S. suppliers.
Thus, firm level practices appear to be more important than the institutional environment in the
development of interfirm trust.
A central issue in the literature on strategic alliances and interfirm cooperation is how firms create
trust and control opportunism, particularly when the transactors have made investments in
transaction specific assets.
Under these conditions, trust has been described as an important antecedent to interorganizational
cooperation and economic efficiency (Sako, 1991; Smith, Carroll, and Ashford, 1995). In fact,
recent research suggests that trust in supplier buyer relations may be an important source of
competitive advantage because it: (1) lowers transaction costs and allows for greater flexibility to
respond to changing market conditions (Dore, 1983; Sako, 1991; Barney & Hansen, 1995; Dyer,
forthcoming), (2) facilitates investments in special purpose assets and technologies which enhance
productivity (Asanuma, 1989; Lorenz, 1988; Dyer, 1994), and (3) leads to superior information
sharing routines which improve coordination and joint efforts to minimize inefficiencies (Fruin,
1992; Clark & Fujimoto, 1991; Nishiguchi, 1994). Moreover, some scholars claim that national
economic efficiency is highly correlated with the existence of a high trust institutional environment
(North, 1990; Casson, 1991; Hill, 1995; Fukuyama, 1995). For example, Fukuyama (1995:7)
argues that the economic success of a nation, "as well as its ability to compete, is conditioned by
the level of trust inherent in the society." The findings from these, and other, studies have
increased our attention on the important role of trust in economic exchanges.
A natural response to these studies has been to exhort companies to build trust with their trading
partners (Business Week, 1986, 1992) and to call for increased research on the role of trust in
coordinating economic activity (Smith, Carroll, and Ashford, 1995). However, before an explicit
strategy for developing trust can be developed, or considered feasible, the determinants of trust
must be identified. Despite considerable academic and managerial interest in trust between trading
partners, to date there has been little empirical research on the antecedents or determinants of
interorganizational trust (i.e. between supplier buyer). Further, there has been little research on
whether the determinants of trust differ in different institutional (i.e. country) environments.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of supplier trust in a sample of
supplier/automaker relationships in the United States, Japan, and Korea. Given the recent attention
on the importance of trust in exchange relationships, an examination of the determinants of trust is,
by itself, a valuable undertaking. However, due to the globalization of industries and a dramatic
increase in international joint ventures, a study of the determinants of trust in different institutional
environments is particularly valuable. Such a study is useful because it allows for an examination
of those factors that are important determinants of trust both within, as well as across, countries.The International Motor Vehicle Program at MI
Crafting A Human Resource Strategy To Foster Organizational Agility: A Case Study
A decade ago, the CEO of Albert Einstein Healthcare Network (AEHN), anticipating a tumultuous and largely unpredictable period in its industry, undertook to convert this organization from one that was basically stable and complacent to one that was agile, ânimble, and change-hardyâ. This case study briefly addresses AEHNâs approaches to business strategy and organization design, but focuses primarily on the human resource strategy that emerged over time to foster the successful attainment of organizational agility. Although exploratory, the study suggests a number of lessons for those who are, or will be, studying or trying to create and sustain this promising new organizational paradigm
A note on the field of decision analysis
This note provides a short overview of some history, context and concepts in the field of decision analysis. In particular, we describe the connection between normative, prescriptive and descriptive decision theory, and the connection between several different approaches to value and utility
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