We explore the relationship between the volatility of a firm's local environment and its organizational structure. Using micro-level data on a large retailer, we empirically test and provide support for our hypothesis that a more volatile local environment results in more decentralization only...

Delegation is a central feature of organizational design that theory suggests should be aligned with the intensity of incentives in performance pay schemes. We explore a specific form of delegation, namely price delegation, whereby firms allow sales people to offer a maximum discount from the...

To generate downstream sales, manufacturers often spend both effort and compensation when working with their dealers. Existing theories are inconclusive about the interdependent role of the two kinds of instruments in motivating dealer effort; that is, whether they are substitutes or...

We study a widely used ordering process (“Early Bird Discounts”) whereby a profit-maximizing manufacturer permits his dealers to place advance orders at a discount before they set retail prices. We show that such discounts may be used to shift just enough channel profits to dealers to enable...

Research on collaborative ties in business markets has pre-dominantly studied how governance forms balance potential gains and transaction hazards within the relationship. Using an incomplete contracting approach, we examine how the OEM trades off gains obtained within the relationship with its...

In this paper, we propose an approach to show how the capability-based perspective of the resource-based view of the firm can be integrated with the comparative-governance approach of transaction cost economics to shed light on governance issues in interfirm relationships. We argue that...

Acquiring knowledge on a partner’s pre-existing resources plays an important yet ambiguous role in collaborative relationships. We formally model how contracts trade off productive and destructive uses of knowledge in a buyer-supplier relationship. We show that, when the buyer’s pre-existing...

Designing compensation plans with an appropriate level of incentives is a key decision faced by managers of direct sales forces. The authors use data on individual salesperson compensation contracts to show that firms design their pay plans to both discriminatingly select, (i.e., attract and...