Should companies adjust their orientations toward customers or toward competitors in global markets? To answer this question, we use contingency theory and examine how the effects of customer and competitor orientations on performance are moderated by different environmental conditions. Our...

Organizational change in emerging economies, although difficult, is inevitable. The authors study the drivers and consequences of organizational changes in an emerging economy, China. The results of a firm-level survey show that organizational changes in technical vs administrative areas are...

As business transactions become more complex in China – an increasingly market-driven economy – are managers more likely to employ relational ties or contracts? Consistent with the view that personal institutions govern transactions in China, our analysis of 361 buyer–supplier exchanges...

Building on institutional and transaction cost economics, this article proposes that legal enforceability increases the use of contract over relational reliability (e.g., beliefs that the other party acts in a non-opportunistic manner) to safeguard market exchanges characterized by non-trivial...

Despite the prominence of the competitive strategy perspective, it remains unclear whether foreign firms entering China can still adopt a differentiation or low-cost position to achieve superior performance, given the unique market and institutional environments in China. Alternatively, should...

An ongoing debate in the interfirm exchange literature concerns whether economic and social governance mechanisms function as substitutes or complements. We advance a more nuanced approach to examining how detailed contracts and centralized control interact with relational governance...

Organizations rely on formalization to coordinate the efforts of employees; however, this practice has been found to have a negative influence on role stress, organizational commitment, and work alienation of salespersons. Though the negative influence of formalization in the United States has...

Much of the research on the role of firm-specific advantages on firms' subsidiary ownership preferences has been undertaken in the context of advanced-country multinationals, specifically U.S. MNCs. Research has found that U.S. firms derive ownership advantages from their size, experience, and...

Firms interested in servicing foreign markets face a difficult decision with regards to the choice of an entry mode. The options available to a firm include exporting, licensing, joint venture and sole venture. Several factors that determine the choice of a specific foreign market entry mode...

Many studies have examined the impact of leadership behaviors on salespersons' organizational commitment. Unfortunately, little is known about how leadership behaviors impact salespersons' organizational commitment in countries other than the United States. The lack of research is problematic...