The Effect of Guanxi Orientation on Boundary Spanners' Behavior Based on Dyadic Data

Abstract

This study examines the cognitive antecedent (guanxi orientation) of firm's boundary spanner's behavior and its influence on inter-firm relationships in marketing channel context of China. Drawing on organizational culture and boundary spanner theory, the results from 342 manufacturer-distributor dyads show that guanxi orientation influence the behaviors of boundary spanner cognitively, and then interpersonal liking and interaction frequency between boundary spanners have different impact on inter-firm relationship quality through distributor's support. Between two kinds of manifestations of boundary spanner's behaviors, only interpersonal liking is positively related to distributor's support and then improve inter-firm relationship. Moreover, we extend the model to manufacturer sample but found that the effect of guanxi orientation is significant only in distributor sample, indicating that manufacturer and distributor may pay emphasis on other organizational values. Managerial implications and future res...