Asia Marketing Journal (Jul 2018)
The Effects of Dependence and Conflict on Qualitative and Quantitative Organizational Performances in Partnership
Abstract
This study examines the effects of dependence and conflict on organizational performances in partnership, qualitatively (trust) and quantitatively (sales) under four control variables (period of business, number of goods, competition density, and number of employees). Also, this study presents termination cost and alternative attractiveness as the antecedents of dependence, goal incongruity and unfairness as the antecedents of conflict. As the results of analysis with survey data from 360 distributors in manufacturer-distributor partnership, 7 hypotheses are supported and 2 hypotheses are rejected. The results of structural equation modeling (SEM) verify that termination cost increases dependence, that alternative attractiveness reduces dependence, that goal incongruity and unfairness increase conflict, that dependence reduces conflict, that dependence increases trust, and that conflict reduces trust. However, unexpectedly, dependence reduces sales, and conflict has no impact on sales. The results of this study provide insightful implications theoretically and managerially to scholars and practitioners interested in partnership.
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