Inter-firm Trust Research Articles

Influences of industrial internet platform firms' ESG performance and digital leadership on user firms' innovation performance: The mediating role of inter-firm trust

In the era of digitalization, market dynamics are ever more intense, prompting firms to accelerate their innovation efforts. This paper analyzes the relationships between industrial internet platform firms' ESG performance, digital leadership, inter-firm relational trust, inter-firm digital trust, and user firms' innovation performance through questionnaire surveys carried out with multiple industrial internet platform users' managers and utilizing empirical analysis methods. We have discovered several important conclusions through our research. Firstly, platform firms' ESG performance and digital leadership positively influence inter-firm relational trust and digital trust. Secondly, inter-firm relational trust and digital trust both have a significant positive impact on user firms' innovation performance, with digital trust exerting a more pronounced impact. Thirdly, inter-firm relational trust and digital trust play a mediating role between platform firms' ESG performance and user firms' innovation performance, as well as between platform firms' digital leadership and user firms' innovation performance. This study expands the existing body of research on inter-firm trust, elucidates the underlying mechanisms linking platform firms' ESG performance, digital leadership, and user firms' innovation performance, and offers valuable insights for enhancing platform firms' ESG performance, inter-firm trust, and user firms' innovation performance.

IT-Enabled Interactions and Interfirm Trust: The Moderating Role of Relationship Duration

The importance of information-technology (IT)-enabled interactions in promoting interfirm trust has been documented in literature. However, the currently available findings are limited because the role of IT-enabled informal interactions has been overlooked and the categorization of trust is unclear. To obtain detailed knowledge about the relation between IT-enabled interactions and trust, this study categorizes not only the IT-enabled interactions into formal and informal types but also trust into goodwill and competence trust. Moreover, this study explores the moderating role of relationship duration on the aforementioned relationships. Through a survey of 240 firms in China, this study made the following observations: (1) IT-enabled formal and informal interactions can promote both competence and goodwill trust; (2) compared with IT-enabled informal interactions, IT-enabled formal interactions promote competence trust, and a comparable extent of goodwill trust; (3) relationship duration strengthens the positive link between IT-enabled formal interactions and competence trust; however, it has no moderating impact on the link between IT-enabled formal interactions and goodwill trust; (4) relationship duration weakens the impact of IT-enabled informal interactions on goodwill trust; however, it has no significant moderating role on the relation between IT-enabled informal interactions and competence trust. Overall, this study enriches the knowledge regarding the relationship between IT-enabled interactions and interfirm trust.

Effects of interfirm IT capability and interfirm trust on omnichannel integration: the mediating role of interfirm integration

PurposeAlthough past studies have suggested that business-to-business (B2B) interfirm relationship management contributes to a firm’s omnichannel integration, little research has been undertaken to reveal how that happens. This study aims to draw upon the relational view to propose a research model that associates interfirm information technology (IT) capability and interfirm trust with omnichannel integration through interfirm integration (i.e. authority integration and cooperative integration). Furthermore, this work considers a firm’s channel usage variety as the boundary condition of the interfirm integration’s influence.Design/methodology/approachThe research model was examined using a seemingly unrelated regression of archival data and matched a survey of 324 Chinese omnichannel firms.FindingsInterfirm IT capability positively relates to authority integration, and interfirm trust positively relates to cooperative integration. Authority integration and cooperative integration are both positively associated with omnichannel integration. A high level of channel usage variety strengthens the relationship between cooperative integration and omnichannel integration.Originality/valuePrior literature has called for research on the factors influencing omnichannel integration within a B2B setting. This study answers this research call by examining interfirm IT capability, interfirm trust and interfirm integration as factors associated with omnichannel integration. This work also examines how channel usage variety regulates the relationship between interfirm integration and omnichannel integration.

Predicting the Blockchain Technology Acceptance in Supply Chains with Inter-Firm Perspective: An Integrated DEMATEL and PLS-SEM Approach

Predicting the Blockchain Technology Acceptance in Supply Chains with Inter-Firm Perspective: An Integrated DEMATEL and PLS-SEM Approach

Blockchain adoption in agri-food supply chain management: an empirical study of the main drivers using extended UTAUT

PurposeBlockchain technology can overcome many complicated problems related to confidentiality, integrity and availability of fast and secure distributed systems in the agri-food supply chain. In emerging economies like India, blockchain application in the agri-food supply chain is still new, and their adoption is underdeveloped. This paper aims to investigate the drivers of blockchain technology adoption and their effect on the behavioral intention of stakeholders in adopting blockchain technology among various stakeholders in the agri-food supply chain. The study also develops a framework to enhance understanding of blockchain adoption in the agri-food supply chain as well as the stakeholders' motivation in seeking blockchain solutions.Design/methodology/approachConsidering the most significant aspects of blockchain adoption in the agri-food supply chain, this study attempts to develop an adoption model by using the extended unified theory of acceptance and technology model with interfirm trust and transparency as additional factors. Data was collected from a sample of 200 stakeholders in the North Indian state of Punjab. The empirical analysis was carried out using structural equation modeling in Smart PLS3.FindingsThe findings supported the developed framework and the results of SEM indicate that all the paths are supported. In particular, the findings of the study reveal that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, interfirm trust and transparency are the drivers of blockchain adoption and have a significant impact on the behavioral intention of stakeholders. Cumulatively, the results positively impact the performance of agri-food supply chain. From this study, it is found that the adoption of blockchain technology in agri-food supply chain enhances their performance.Originality/valueThe originality of the study lies in the developed framework, technology adoption will help them focus in the right direction by eliminating manual methods and converting the agri-food supply chain into a digitalization system.

Interfirm trust and subsidiary performance of emerging market multinational enterprises: an examination of contingent factors

Interfirm trust and subsidiary performance of emerging market multinational enterprises: an examination of contingent factors

The contingent roles of market turbulence and organizational innovativeness on the relationships among interfirm trust, formal contracts, interfirm knowledge sharing and firm performance

PurposePrior research on interfirm collaborations has demonstrated that trust and contract are two central governance mechanisms that influence a firm’s knowledge sharing decision and the subsequent effect on performance. However, we know little about how effective these mechanisms are in different market conditions and levels of organizational innovativeness. This study aims to advance the literature on interfirm knowledge sharing by exploring these contingencies and by providing an alternative explanation of the contradictory effects of knowledge sharing on firm performance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected 156 firms’ relationships with their suppliers in two batches from 300 firms in the 2017 list of Statistics in the Zhejiang province in China. The authors used unstructured interviews and formal questionnaires to collect data from these firms.FindingsMarket turbulence served as a boundary condition for the effect of interfirm trust and formal contracts on knowledge sharing. Both interfirm trust and formal contracts, as governance mechanisms, are effective in raising interfirm knowledge sharing only when the firms operate in high turbulent markets. On the contrary, knowledge sharing negatively affected firm performance when firms exhibit low organizational innovativeness. Moreover, a three-way interaction among market turbulence, organizational innovativeness and knowledge sharing revealed that when market turbulence and organizational innovativeness were both low, interfirm knowledge sharing was detrimental to firm performance.Practical implicationsBased on the results, this study recommends managers consider external (market turbulence) and internal (organizational innovativeness) when firms decide to share knowledge and benefit from such activities.Originality/valueThis study extends prior research on the determinant of knowledge sharing and clarifies the inconsistent findings of knowledge sharing on firm performance. Thus, strategic organizational leaders need to pay attention to when they need to share information with suppliers to best benefit from those collaborations.

Fairness asymmetry, changes in mutual trust, and supplier performance in buyer-supplier exchanges in China: A dyadic view

Despite the crucial role of fairness in establishing and maintaining interfirm trust, the literature on how asymmetric perceptions of fairness affect mutual trust over time is limited. Adopting a dyadic view, this study investigates the impacts of fairness asymmetry on changes in mutual trust in marketing channel relationships. We further suggest that fairness asymmetry inhibits supplier performance through the mediating role of changes in mutual trust. With a two-wave sample of 239 buyer–supplier dyads, our study demonstrates that fairness asymmetry leads to a decrease in mutual trust over time, which in turn reduces supplier performance. Moreover, joint asset specificity weakens, whereas market uncertainty and behavioral uncertainty aggravate the negative effect of fairness asymmetry on buyer–supplier mutual trust. Our work offers fresh insights into the implications of fairness in ongoing buyer–supplier relationships and guidelines for practitioners to better manage their channel partnerships.

Trust Asymmetry and Changes in Supplier Performance: An Institutional View

Despite the long recognition of the dyadic nature of interfirm trust, prior studies have not examined how trust asymmetry affects relationship outcomes. This study examines trust asymmetry in buyer-supplier exchanges from a dyadic perspective, predicting that when buyer trust is greater than supplier trust, trust asymmetry leads to a decrease in supplier performance over time. However, when suppliers trust more than buyers, the prediction is that trust asymmetry results in an increase in supplier performance. The study further incorporates an institutional view to examine the moderating roles of legal support and regulatory uncertainty. An analysis of a two-wave survey of 229 buyer-supplier dyads provides support for the effects of trust asymmetry. Moreover, legal support weakens the negative impact of buyer trust asymmetry and the positive role of supplier trust asymmetry, while regulatory uncertainty magnifies the influence of buyer trust asymmetry. These findings provide fresh insights into the dyadic nature of trusting relationships and offer important implications for trust research and for better management of firm exchange relationships.

Cooperation of Cross-border E-commerce: A reputation and trust perspective

ABSTRACT As a business mode, cross-border e-commerce responds to the trend of globalization. It is an effective means for numerous enterprises to open up new businesses, expand new markets, and overcome trade barriers. More and more enterprises are beginning to explore cross-border e-commerce. Notwithstanding, there is no theoretical guidance for the selection of cross-border e-commerce partners. This leads to the inefficiency of cross-border cooperation. How scientifically and rationally facilitate the inter-firm cooperation is a topic worthy intensive study. Drawing upon cognitive behavior theory, relational governance theory, and transactional cost theory, this paper examines the mechanism of corporate reputation of cross-border e-commerce on inter-firm cooperation under different levels of information sharing. Based on the analysis of the questionnaire data of cross-border e-commerce enterprises, it finds that the corporate reputation of cross-border e-commerce has a significant impact on inter-firm trust and both corporate reputation and inter-firm trust can promote inter-firm cooperation; inter-firm trust partially mediates the relationship between corporate reputation and inter-firm cooperation; with the increase of the levels of information sharing, the positive impact of inter-firm trust on inter-firm cooperation weakens. The conclusions provide theoretical basis for the selection of cross-border e-commerce partners.

Business Group Competitive Advantage & Export Performance:The Case of Africa’s Minority Entrepreneur

To facilitate interfirm trust and exchange, business groups typically organize along an axis of solidarity such as kinship, religion, or political identity. In this paper, we consider whether business group solidarity based upon the minority identity of affiliate owners can be a basis for business group competitive advantage. Based upon World Bank enterprise surveys in 24 sub-Saharan African countries of over 8000 firms, we identify uncharacteristic affiliate performance effects upon the self-identified ethnicity of firm owners. We find affiliates owned by Indian, Middle-Eastern, and European entrepreneurs do not show the expected superior export performance compared with indigenous African owned firms. A finding suggests that long-established and exclusionary ethnic groups may either become less exclusive, consistent with the mixed embeddedness thesis. In contrast, our findings show that Chinese owners of group-affiliated firms significantly outperform both independent firms and other business group affiliates with non-Chinese owners. We contribute to understanding the origins of business group heterogeneity and the evolving basis of entrepreneurs’ competitive advantage.

Rising up to the challenge of our rivals: Unpacking the drivers and outcomes of coopetition activities

Although a body of work surrounds the notion of coopetition (simultaneous cooperation and competition), the complexities of these inter-firm networks remain relatively under-researched. Consequently, this current study infuses resource-based theory and the relational view (alongside drawing upon the outside-in marketing perspective) to evaluate the drivers and outcomes of coopetition activities. The core method involved collecting survey data from a national-level sample of 323 American wine producers. After assessing this information for all major robustness checks, ordinary least squares regression analysis was used in the model-testing stage. The results showed that while a coopetition-oriented mindset, a competitor orientation, inter-firm trust, and competitive intensity positively impact coopetition activities (in a linear manner), there are certain moderating effects that influence these paths. Additionally, coopetition activities yielded a quadratic association with company performance. Business experience negatively affected this link, whereas, there was a positive interaction effect from industry experience. These findings, offer new evidence regarding the risks and potential rewards of coopetition, including mechanisms that decision-makers can utilize to manage these inter-firm relationships.

Trust as the basis of Partnership between small Enterprises and banks

The presented study touches upon two groups of problems that significantly affect the development of the Russian economy. The first of them is the creation of conditions for the expansion and formation of small business, which, in particular, is a priority area of one of the national projects. The second problem is the establishment of relations of interfirm trust in the domestic business environment, which is in demand in various sectors of the economy and has become, for example, the dominant topic of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Hence, the paper aims to form, on the basis of trust relations, a model of interaction between small enterprises and banks, which makes it easier to obtain loans. The object of the paper is intercorporate (B2B) trust, and the subject is the improvement of relationships between small businesses and banks on the basis of trust. The methodological basis of the study is an integral approach that combines both institutional and sociological views on the phenomenon of trust, and the traditional economic analysis of the relationship between banks and their clients, small enterprises. The analysis showed, on the one hand, the complexity of the relationship between banks and small enterprises, and on the other hand, the prospects of these clients for banks. There was also demonstrated the role of the B2B trust as a tool for establishing steady mutually beneficial contacts of the subjects under consideration. The author concluded that the model of partnership between small enterprises and banks, based on the establishment of relations of trust between the parties, will stimulate investment processes in small business and support its development. The study presents the organizational solutions for the establishment of the proposed model.

The dark side of trust in global value chains: Taiwan’s electronics and IT hardware industries

This paper contributes to theory building efforts around the concept of knowledge connectivity and its role in suppliers’ new product innovation capability under different inter-firm knowledge pipeline conditions. We use the Taiwanese electronics and IT hardware industries as our study context, given Taiwan’s phenomenal success story in entering global value chains (GVCs) in these industries. Our results demonstrate that different pipeline conditions in the form of combinations of the levels of inter-firm trust and supplier functional sophistication indeed shape the way knowledge connectivity is activated and how it impacts on suppliers’ new product innovation capability and ultimately GVC status. Our results indicate that suppliers’ new product innovation capability is larger under low inter-firm trust conditions. Suppliers in such low inter-firm trust relationships are also more likely to use the ensuing increase in their GVC status to pursue new, better paying buyers than their counterparts in high inter-firm trust relationships. As a consequence, if multinational buyer firms in low trust relationships would like to benefit more from their suppliers’ enhanced innovation capabilities, they may need to strengthen their supplier relations using modalities other than trust.

When “trust” becomes more or less salient for alliance performance? Contextual effects of mutual influence, international scope, and coopetition

Extant research on strategic alliances has established that contractual controls do not provide a complete safeguard to avert an alliance failure, and that alliance governance needs to be reinforced with relational norms such as trust. However, there is scant research evidence available on whether interfirm trust can be significant under the trying contexts the alliances typically face like rivalry, power conflicts, and cultural or institutional barriers. Employing a relational exchange perspective, we examined whether the espoused positive effect of interfirm trust on alliance performance is moderated by mutual influence and coopetition between partners, and the international dimension of an alliance. Based on the survey and archival data on 223 strategic alliances, we found that interfirm trust was quite significant to alliance performance and that the link between trust and performance was more salient in alliances with high mutual influence and coopetition, whereas it was less salient and weaker in international alliances.

Inhibitors and enablers of supply chain integration across multiple supply chain tiers: evidence from Malawi

PurposeThis paper investigates the inhibitors and enablers of supply chain integration (SCI) across multiple tiers in the supply chains of manufacturing-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malawi.Design/methodology/approachFollowing a qualitative approach, data were collected through face-to-face interviews across three supply chains, each consisting of a focal manufacturer, a major supplier and a retailer.FindingsThe research identified interpersonal relationships, supplier cost transparency and joint supply chain management (SCM) investments as key enablers of SCI. Concerning the inhibitors of SCI, the study found that a lack of external integration inhibited internal integration by acting as a source of disruption to intra-firm processes and relationships. Further, the research found weaker links between manufacturer–-retailer dyads than in manufacturer–supplier dyads, which constrained the ability to achieve multi-tier supplier–manufacture–retailer integration. The study also revealed that resource and infrastructural deficiencies, a culture of fear and intimidation within and between firms, corruption in sourcing transactions and a lack of inter-firm trust inhibited SCI.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper extends earlier evidence that internal integration is a prerequisite for external integration demonstrating that a basic level of external integration is necessary to prevent disruptions to internal integration.Originality/valueThis study is one of the few to go beyond the focal firm perspective and explore the inhibitors and enablers of SCI across multiple supply chain positions, and provides new evidence on the role of external integration in achieving internal integration.

Is Interpersonal Guanxi Beneficial in Fostering Interfirm Trust? The Contingent Effect of Institutional- and Individual-Level Characteristics

Despite the prevalent role of guanxi in conducting business in Chinese, it is unclear whether interpersonal guanxi fosters interfirm trust. Taking a contingency approach, this study examines how institutional (government–market relationship and Buddhism influence) and individual (relative role performance and the span of partner control) factors moderate the association between interpersonal guanxi and interfirm trust. Based on a paired survey between salespersons and sales managers and two secondary datasets, this study finds that interpersonal guanxi is positively associated with interfirm trust. Moreover, this positive effect is stronger when firms operate in regions with strong government–market relationships and strong Buddhism influence. In addition, the positive relationship is weaker when guanxi resides in boundary spanners who have relatively high role performance, but becomes stronger when boundary spanners have a broad span of partner control. These findings highlight the situations in which guanxi at an interpersonal level is more or less likely to foster interfirm trust.

Interpersonal guanxi and partner extra-role behavior: Mediating role of relational and transactional governance strategy

This paper identifies interpersonal guanxi between boundary spanners as an individual-level antecedent of partner firms' extra-role behavior (ERB) in interfirm relationships. Drawing on interfirm governance and the guanxi literature, we propose that guanxi between boundary spanners at the operational level may promote partner firms' ERB through two governance strategies: interfirm trust and relationship-specific investment. We analyze 268 pairs of sales managers and salespeople in a variety of industries in China, and we find that guanxi between boundary spanners positively affects partner firms' ERB and that this positive relationship is strengthened by interfirm ownership homogeneity. Moreover, the relationship is mediated by interfirm trust and relationship-specific investment, and the mediation effect of interfirm trust is stronger than that of relationship-specific investment. These findings provide new insights into the relationship marketing and guanxi literature by highlighting the effects of guanxi between operational-level boundary spanners on partner firms' ERB.

Trust , Knowledge Similarity and Cooperation in Coopetitive Strategic Alliances

Cooperative relationships between rival firms, which engage in interfirm strategic alliances, assume active transfer, reception and recombination of competencies and co-production of novel knowledge. These processes facilitate joint technological development and improve the participating firms’ competitiveness. Nevertheless, competitive interactions between the partners can impede the achievement of the alliance’s cooperative objectives. This paper investigates the impact of trusting attitudes developed between the partners on the effectiveness of interfirm collaboration under conditions of competitive rivalry in the broader industrial environment and similarity of initial knowledge at the partners’ disposal. It offers a number of hypotheses, which determine the interrelationships between the levels of interfirm trust, transaction costs associated with transferring knowledge and the successful attainment of alliance goals. The paper pays specific attention to the effects arising from the commonality of knowledge possessed by cooperating rivals. It also analyzes the influence of particular types of coopetitive strategic alliances on the success of collaborative arrangements under the conditions of knowledge commonality among the partners.

A learning perspective of supply chain quality management: empirical evidence from US supply chains

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the relationship between supply chain quality management practices and their impact on supply chain performance. The authors define and operationalize supply chain quality management practices that enhance knowledge creation and learning in a supply chain.Design/methodology/approachData are collected from logistics and supply chain managers in the USA to examine the validity and reliability of the model for supply chain quality.FindingsThe empirical result provides support for the reliability and validity of the proposed model, the constructs used in the model, and the interrelationships among key constructs of supply chain quality. The authors show that trust is the main predictor of supply chain quality practices and supply chain quality performance outcomes. In addition, the findings show that the impact of trust on process improvement is mediated by information sharing, inter-firm trust and information sharing are significant predictors of supply chain satisfaction, and inter-firm trust and process improvement are significant predictors of supply chain performance. Implications of the research for the theory and practice of supply chain management and quality management are presented.Practical implicationsThis study provides important insights into effective implementation of quality management across the supply chain. Supply chain managers should realize that achieving improvement in many supply chain activities such as information sharing or process improvement requires organizations to be engaged in trust-based activities. In that regard, it is important for supply chain managers to be engaged in developing relationships with their supply chain partners that enhance inter-organizational trust.Originality/valueThis is the first study that examines a supply chain quality management model from the learning perspective. The authors validate the supply chain quality framework proposed by Parast (2103) through operationalization of the constructs, development of the relationship among key supply chain quality practices and empirical assessment of the structural model for supply chain quality.