Department Store Apparel Buyers: Relationships Among Environmental Characteristics, Environmental Uncertainty, Boundary Spanning Activities, Managerial Discretion and Power

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to explore the relationships among environmental characteristics, uncertainty, boundary spanning activities, managerial discretion, and power of the department store apparel buyer who assumes combination or independent buyer responsibilities. Almubarek's Model of Organizational Boundary Spanning and Duncan's (1972) Model of Environmental Uncertainty were used as conceptual frameworks. A questionnaire was mailed to buyers who purchased merchandise in the moderate-to-better sportswear areas in the top 10 department store groups in the United States. The results generated support for the nature of relationships found among the variables in Almubarek's Model: a complex, dynamic environment leads to environmental uncertainty and perceptions of uncertainty trigger the use of boundary spanning activities which enhances the power of the buyer. In addition, the placement of apparel retailers within Duncan's (1972) Model should be revised to reflect a highly uncertain environment.