Output sector munificence and supplier control in industrial channels of distribution: a contingency approach

Abstract

Despite the previous finding that a scarce output sector condition increases the extent of supplier control over distributor operations, the exact nature of that effect remains vague. Relying on recent recognition that the governance of exchange relationships is driven by the interaction between environmental uncertainty (including munificence of the output sector) and interfirm dyadic conditions rather than by environmental uncertainty per se, the author maintains that the effect of output sector munificence on supplier control is contingent on two moderators: interdependence between channel members as a proxy of the interfirm structural condition and distributor satisfaction as a proxy of the interfirm attitudinal condition. The results of a national survey of industrial distributors support distinctive moderating effects of bilateral interdependence and distributor satisfaction.