دانلود رایگان ترجمه مقاله اثرات میانجی کننده گوانکسی بین فردی مرزگستران در بازار B2B چین (نشریه الزویر ۲۰۱۷)

حاکمیت رابطه در روابط عرضه کننده با خریدار: اثرات میانجی کننده گوانکسی بین فردی مرزگستران در بازار B2B چین

Relational governance in supplier-buyer relationships: The mediating effects of boundary spanners’ interpersonal guanxi in China’s B2B market

Abstract

Based on the literature on relationship marketing and marketing channel research, this study proposes that in a channel relationship, interpersonal guanxi between boundary spanners of channel partners mediates the relationship between a firm’s relationship marketing orientation and relational governance. Using the data collected from about 300 Chinese manufacturers and their suppliers, this study shows that relationship marketing orientation positively relates to relational governance, and boundary spanners’ interpersonal guanxi mediates this relationship. Relational governance further affects channel partners’ opportunistic behaviors. This study also discusses the findings’ implications for marketing practitioners and suggestions for future research.

۱ Introduction

In the increasingly turbulent business market, firms are looking to build intensive relationships with their business partners in order to leverage the relationship-oriented governance mechanism (Geyskens, Steenkamp, & Kumar, 1998; Macneil, 1980). Consequently, relationship marketing and relational governance, and their antecedents and impacts, are receiving more attention from scholars and practitioners. Relational governance builds on trust and commitment, unlike traditional approaches to business relationships that rely heavily on authority and contract to coordinate interorganizational activities (Weitz & Jap, 1995). Thus relational governance is more stable and effective in the B2B markets (Claro, Hagelaar, & Omta, 2003; Frazier, 2009). For example, research shows that relational governance is able to enhance a firm’s competitive position (Jarillo, 1988; Powell, 1990; Thorelli, 1986) and inhibits opportunistic behaviors by building strong mutual commitment and trust (Brown, Dev, & Lee, 2000; Joshi & Stump, 1999). Relational governance can also reduce production and transaction costs by converting strengthened partnerships into stable and loyal strategic alliances (Hewett & Bearden, 2001).

More research has therefore focused on the antecedents and impact of relational governance, situated in the framework of transaction cost theory and relational exchange theory (Rindfleish & Heide, 1997). While this line of research has identified several key determinants of relational governance, such as transaction-specific assets, market uncertainty, and social networks (Claro et al., 2003; Gençtürk & Aulakh, 2007; Sheng, Brown, Nicholson, & Poppo, 2006; Zhuang & Zhang, 2011), relationship marketing orientation (RMO) has not received sufficiently attention (Zhuang & Zhang, 2011). RMO reflects a firm’s desire to establish mutually empathic, reciprocal trust, and to build bonds between partners (Callaghan, McPhail, & Yau, 1995), and is particularly effective in building and maintaining long-term partner relationships in marketing channels. Consequently, adoption of RMO as a firm’s value orientation and guiding idea can improve a firm’s performance and its relationship with its partners in B2B exchange activities (Yau et al., 2000). However, even though researchers have already found that RMO is a significant antecedent of relational governance, the mechanism through which RMO impacts relational governance remains understudied (Zhuang & Zhang, 2011).

In addition, boundary spanners’ interpersonal guanxi is an essential element in relationship-oriented marketing channel management (Luo, 1997; Wong & Tam, 2000; Zhuang & Zhang, 2011), and scholars have contended that interpersonal guanxi between channel partners’ boundary spanners should be an essential factor or embedded tie in business exchange relationships (Granovetter, 1985; Uzzi, 1997). The guanxi between boundary personnel in marketing channels directly affects cooperation between their firms. In turn, such cooperation affects how channel members build a mutually beneficial network and govern exchange relationships on a long-term basis (Arias, 1998; Luo, 1997; Wong & Tam, 2000; Zhuang & Zhang, 2011). However, relatively few studies on relational governance have evaluated the possible impact of this important relational factor (Blois, 2002), and even fewer have examined boundary spanners’ guanxi as a governance mechanism in channel marketing (Wang, 2007).

To further explore the dynamics of this relationship-oriented governance mechanism – relational governance, this study proposes that RMO has a positive impact on relational governance, and that interpersonal guanxi between boundary spanners mediates the link between RMO and relational governance. This proposed model, which integrates boundary spanners’ interpersonal guanxi into the interactive relationship of relational marketing orientation and relational governance, will help enrich the literature on relationship marketing. This study then tests the hypotheses with a sample of 300 supplier-buyer partners in the Chinese context. This study collect data in China because relationship marketing and relational governance seem most relevant in the Chinese context, where interpersonal guanxi is of utmost importance and doing business is essentially building interpersonal guanxi (Luo, 1997; Luo & Chen, 1996). In addition, with the globalized world market and the rapid development of China’s economy, examining whether marketing theories developed in the West can be applied to different cultural contexts such as that in China becomes more important. The empirical results support the proposed research model in general, with some interesting findings that differ from those of studies conducted in Western countries. Finally, this study discusses the research findings and their implications, and presents the limitations of this study and suggestions for future studies.