Resource Dependence Approach Research Articles

Determinants of EDI Adoption and Integration by U.S. and Japanese Automobile Suppliers

This article examines determinants of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) adoption and integration in 76 U.S. and 93 Japanese automobile suppliers. The article constructs several hypotheses based on the transaction-cost and resource-dependence approaches and tests these hypotheses by data from these suppliers. Our study showed: (1) U.S. firms were more EDI-integrated with their customers, while Japanese firms adopted more EDI with their suppliers; (2) the resource-dependence approach seemed more effective in explaining EDI adoption, while the transaction-cost approach seemed more effective in explaining EDI integration; (3) the transaction-cost approach seemed more suited to the U.S. context, while the resource-dependence approach seemed more suited to the Japanese context; (4) EDI adoption had a positive impact on EDI performance in the U.S., suggesting the higher validity of our framework in the U.S.

Stakeholder pressures and the global diffusion of the ISO 14001 initiative: a resource dependence perspective

This study examines how the dependence of organisations on external stakeholders leads to the global diffusion of Corporate Environmental Responsibility initiatives. Drawing on resource dependence theory, we propose that the global diffusion of the ISO 14001 initiative is associated with three types of stakeholder pressure: environmental protection, media freedom and trade dependence. Empirical results based on panel analyses of 112 countries during the 1996-2005 period suggest that the resource dependence approach provides useful insights for better understanding organisation-stakeholder relations to predict the diffusion process.

Strategic Outsourcing in the German Engine Building Industry. An Empirical Study Based on the Resource Dependence Approach

Outsourcing is an organizational measure that changes the resource dependencies of a company. In this paper, a framework is developed from the perspective of the resource dependence approach to explain strategic outsourcing in the German engine building industry. On the basis of the NIFA panel, which describes the development of this industry in the 1990s, the framework is examined in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. It can be shown that the resource dependence perspective contributes to an explanation of organizational changes, both outsourcing and insourcing. In addition, the longitudinal studies show the significance of the strategic, that is, long-term orientation of the ensemble of organizational measures towards company success.

RBV and the Road to the Control of External Organizations

Although primarily focusing on the internal resource endowment of the firm, RBV has the potential to address the firm's embeddedness in the business environment as well. At present, RBV research lacks a sound understanding of the development of competitive advantages in industries. A change regarding the unit of analysis, however, allows for considering causes and effects on the micro and the macro level as well. The paper stresses the entrepreneurial dimension of RBV and the firm's impact on the environment by comparing RBV and RDA reasoning. Using the explanatory power of the isolating mechanisms and applying system dynamic modelling, it turns out that RBV can move into the direction of a 'New IO'. Key words: Resource-based View, resource dependence approach, structural school, process school, inter-organizational dependence, power, entrepreneurship theory, open system view, system dynamic modelling 1. Introduction When we regard the development of research on strategic management in the last three decades we can identify a certain kind of paradigm shift (Kuhn 1962). Whereas the 1980's were dominated by industrial organization (henceforth IO, see in particular Porter 1980), in the 1990's the so-called 'resource-based view' (henceforth: RBV) became more and more powerful and, after all, the dominant framework (Bresser et al. 2000; Foss/Ishikawa 2007). In more recent times the situation did not change at all and the RBV became an established part of management theory with a considerable impact on other sub-disciplines of business studies as well (Acedo et al. 2007). However, the state of resource-based research is not satisfactory in every regard. Basic problems as to terminology, causal structures, and grounding in the philosophy of science still exist. Moreover, the RBV seems to offer an enormous exploratory power that is still unveiled. Some scholars point to the potential to contribute to a 'new' theory of the firm (Conner 1991), others advocate the opportunity to build a new ?I' in resource-based terms, and we argue that RBV can stand to benefit considerably from an extension that takes the embeddedness of the firm in markets, industries, and the business environment into account. At least regarding the last point little has been done so far. We argue that the very nature of RBV allows for a balanced view that considers the internal peculiarities of firms in terms of the resource endowment as well as the external circumstances. Pfeffer and Salancik (1978) developed the resourcedependence approach (henceforth: RDA). Although RDA is principally different from the RBV reasoning including the entire set of assumptions and causal structures, there is still much to learn and to consider from this prominent stream of research. A core aspect is that firms typically depend on external assets. However, a firm with an idiosyncratic resource endowment is in a position to exert power on other players in the market as well. This motivates us to formulate the basic idea of Pfeffer and Salancik (1978) the other way round: from an external control of organisations to a control of external organizations from the perspective of the firm. Obviously, these aspects are two sides of the same coin. This is one more argument to apply this reasoning in RBV. Thus, it is the purpose of this paper to build a bridge from RBV to some of the basics of RDA thinking - but without trying to marry or merge these different approaches due to incommensurability issues. The research question is how (far) firms can get control of the external environment based on the given resource endowment in resource-based terms. The answer rests on conceptual considerations in connection with theory application and theory development. In this sense, the paper starts with a brief review on resource-based research (section 2). section 3 directly ties in this train of thoughts when we dwell on actual problems of the RBV. These problems are obstacles of RBVs further development. …

The Role of Strategic Alliances in Gaining Sustainable Competitive Advantage for Firms

The management revue is a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary European journal publishing both qualitative and quantitative work as well as purely theoretical papers that advance the study of management, organisation and industrial relations.

International supply relationships and non-financial performance—A comparison of U.S. and German practices

Despite the fact that the international trade of goods continues to steadily increase, international supply management for manufacturing still represents a largely under-researched topic. These omissions in the extant literature include a lack of focus upon the factors affecting the performance outcomes of international sourcing. This article examines the antecedents of the supply management performance of international buyer–supplier relationships. It does so from the perspective of the buying organization. The authors develop an integrative framework based on game theory and exchange theory, and linked with the resource dependence approach and transaction cost theory. Specifically, the relationships between four constructs are examined: the multi-dimensional construct of uncertainty, the game-theoretical construct of the shadow of the future, the exchange-theoretical construct of social bonding, and supply management performance. Based on large-scale surveys with supply managers, the framework is tested in a cross-national study in the U.S. and in Germany.

Emergent patterns of strategy, environment and performance in a transition economy

AbstractInsights from the resource dependence approach, dynamic fit, and strategic choice theories are used to explore the strategies adopted by Chinese enterprises, their settings, and the relationship between strategy, environment, and performance. Results from 959 firms indicate that respondents operating under ‘more marketized’ institutional settings tend to locate themselves in more munificent environments and place greater emphasis on meeting customer needs. Firms in China do not trade off one strategic direction against another, and certain strategy/environment coalignments have significant implications for performance. In particular, performance is better in more marketized and munificent environments and amongst firms who adopt an ‘aggressive’ strategic posture. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Spanning the Boundaries

Theories of formal organizations have recently argued that environmental influences affect behavior in all organizations, including human service organizations. The study tests how environmental influences are manifested in the differences in effectiveness gaps and empowerment between private and public carriers of services. On the basis of hypotheses drawn from the institutional and resource-dependency approach, and employing a managerial sample from 127 human service organizations, it is shown that effectiveness gaps are affected directly by environmental influences (stakeholders) in the public HSOs. It is, however, organizational structure and managerial competence that generate effectiveness gaps in the independent HSOs. No differences in managerial empowerment between public and independent HSOs are revealed. The results imply that because of their different degree of dependence on public resources, and despite their common institutional character in the provision of services, public and independent HSOs differ in their organizational behavior and outcomes.

The Impact Of Liberalization On Cooperative Strategies

This paper deals with the diffusion of cooperative strategies under uncertainty conditions. Starting from a Resource Dependence approach, we analyze the impact of liberalization on alliance formation in the public utilities industry in Italy between 1999 and 2001. The study is based on a longitudinal analysis conducted using social network analysis methods. Results show a growing diffusion of strategic alliances both at aggregate level and per different classes of alliances, besides a tendency of local public utilities to strengthen ties with partners of previous alliances. Based on these findings, we highlights some limits of Resource Dependence approach in explaining the diffusion of strategic alliances, suggesting an integration with the market power approach and the resource based view.

Adoption of electronic data interchange: the role of buyer-supplier relationships

This paper examines electronic data interchange (EDI) adoption and integration by US automobile industry suppliers. The paper constructs several hypotheses from the authors' literature survey and interviews with automotive industry managers, and tests these hypotheses using data from first- and second-tier automobile suppliers in the U.S. Their study shows: (1) the higher the frequency of transactions and the higher the percent sales to a customer, the more likely a supplier was to adopt EDI; (2) "buyer's push" seemed to be the most significant reason for suppliers' EDI adoption; (3) factors affecting EDI adoption were different from those affecting EDI integration and success; (4) managerial proactiveness seemed to be the most significant factor for EDI integration and success; and (5) the resource-dependency approach seemed to be more suitable than the transaction-cost approach for explaining EDI adoption.

Resource dependency and community participation in primary health care

Great hope is accorded to community participation in health. A large number of potential benefits are attributed to participatory processes, including better addressing community needs through more locally adapted organizational processes and improvement in health outcomes. To this end, many governments around the world have adopted policies and programmes of community participation as part of their strategy to implement primary health care services. In Mexico this is, in great part, realized through the module programme of the Ministry of Health. A module is characterized by various village based health posts ( casas de salud), each operated by a community volunteer and associated with a health committee, all of which are supervised by a nurse from a nearby health centre. The southern Mexican state of Oaxaca was chosen for a study of the module programme (during the period 1987–1992) to gain a better understanding of how organizational processes impact on the implementation and outcomes of community participation programmes in large institutions (i.e. the Ministry of Health). The resource dependency perspective formed the basis for the theoretical framework used. Some 75 towns and villages were visited and about 170 health related personnel from all over the state were interviewed to obtain data on the operation and impact of the module programme. As predicted by resource dependency theory, which postulates that organizations will react to pressures in their external environment to secure the resources needed for survival, the findings of this research led to the conclusion that the Ministry of Health had co-opted the resources of the communities it was involving in the module programme in order to meet its policy objectives, especially those related to expanding service coverage. Community participation in the module programme was found to have been implemented entirely for its utility in supplying resources and not for democratic or intrinsic values. This strategy, identified as the resource dependency approach to community participation, led to several flaws in the participatory process and resulted in far less than what could potentially have been achieved in terms of improving health outcomes. Ultimately, the participatory mechanisms became additional dependencies of the health system and not integral components of a process of community development. Large institutional programmes of community participation can benefit by understanding this approach and avoiding its inherent problems.

Two-Step Leverage: Managing Constraint in Organizational Politics

Martin Gargiulo INSEAD This paper proposes an alternative to resource-dependence approaches to strategic behavior, which predict that actors seek direct cooptive relations to alleviate constraint. I propose that an actor can gain leverage on a limiting party by building a cooptive relation with a player that may control this party's behavior, thus using two-step leverage. Data on dependence relations, political alliances, and confidential discussion networks among decision makers in a cooperative agribusiness furnish evidence of both direct and two-step leverage and clarify the contexts in which these two strategies are used. As predicted by the resource-dependence approach, leaders build ties of interpersonal obligation with people directly affecting their performance in the organization. When policy divergences or personal frictions make these ties untenable, however, leaders build strong cooptive relations with people who may constrain the performance of the party on whom they depend. Based on these results, I discuss an extension of resource-dependence theory and explore the potential uses of two-step leverage mechanisms in organizational politics.'

The Suppression of Technology As a Strategy for Controlling Resource Dependence

For their helpful comments and suggestions, thanks are due to Stewart Clegg and three anonymous ASQ reviewers. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual conference of the Australian and Pacific Researchers in Organization Studies, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 1986. The resource dependence approach to organization-environment relations concerns in part the strategy and tactics whereby organizations seek to control aspects of their environment. This study utilizes and extends the resource dependence perspective and establishes the existence of a strategy that the corporate strategy literature ignores. Data from United States antitrust law is used here to sustain the argument that suppression of technology is one strategy used to control resource dependence. Specific tactics and their characteristics are identified, along with their objectives and the processes whereby these may be achieved. The paper shows that the selection of specific tactics is likely to depend on both the particular objective sought and the current judicial interpretation of these areas of law. Recent changes in the latter are producing a situation conducive to the utilization of patent-based tactics.'

An Organizational Perspective of Graduate Student Recruitment: A Resource Dependence Approach

A recent shift in the nation’s demographic environment has been partially responsible for lower enrollment in higher education. This has stimulated an interest in student recruitment at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. This article represents the first effort to analyze recruitment from an organizational perspective. Using a resource dependence theory, the discussion focuses on recruitment as a response of graduate education to fluctuations in the environment.

Environmental Dependencies and Company Structures in Britain

Adopting a resource-dependency approach to the concept of environment, this paper operationalizes the concept of dependence on various aspects of the organization's environments, using mainly the analytical approach suggested by Jacobs (1974). Using data from 29 companies in Britain, the relationships between dependence and structure are examined. The results showed the inadequacy of using dependence as a global concept, and the influence of other contingent factors on dependence-structure relationships. It is suggested that dependence produces the structural characteristics, particularly in the relevant sub-units, designed to maintain administrative control.