Plural Forms of Organization: Where Do We Stand?

Ménard, Claude

doi:10.1002/mde.2578

Cited by 68 publications

(126 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Source: Created by the author of this study. Table 2 connects the applied questionnaire with three factors that lead to the use of plural forms, which, according to Ménard (2013), are ambiguity, complexity and strategic position. According to the CEASA-MS website (n.d.), this market is divided in two classes: Box and Stone.…”

Section: Methodological Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This can be understood as a complex of organizational arrangements utilized for a class of transactions that are connected to the same activity, within the same institutional and competitive environment. It is noteworthy that transactions can be denominated as plural forms only when the purchased inputs are similar (Krzeminska, Hoetker, & Mellewigt, 2013;Ménard, 2013). Bradach and Eccles (1989) studied the three mechanisms for controlling transactions: price, authority and trust.…”

Section: Plural Formsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These three factors have led the author to suggest three propositions: ambiguity is intertwined with the difficulty in measuring degree of asset specificity; monitoring complexity related from the difficulty of monitoring the transactions, due to the uncertainty about the most efficient monitoring manner; and strategic behavior dependency on the strategies of how to organize a specific transaction (Ménard, 2013). Therefore, the economics' agents diversify their governance structure, using two or more structures proposed by Williamson -market, hybrid, and hierarchy.…”

Section: Plural Formsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, the economics' agents diversify their governance structure, using two or more structures proposed by Williamson -market, hybrid, and hierarchy. Nonetheless, to perform this choice, agents must consider not merely the specificity asset, but also ambiguity, monitoring complexity and strategic behavior (Ménard, 2013).…”

Section: Plural Formsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, as proposed by Williamson (2002) the search for solutions would be constantly focused on cost reduction (Ménard, 2013).…”

Section: Plural Formsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plural Forms of Governance at Central Supply Markets

et al. 2017

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ResumoO trabalho consiste em analisar os aspectos transacionais da relação entre produtores e permissionários da Ceasa-MS. Para atingir o objetivo proposto, houve a aplicação, juntamente aos permissionários da Ceasa-MS, de 78 questionários semiestruturados. Os questionários aplicados tiveram como arcabouço teórico a ECT, em conjunto com a teoria das formas plurais. Analisando as dimensões da transação entre os permissionários da Ceasa-MS e seus fornecedores, percebemos que o ativo estudado possui: (a) uma especificidade média; (b) a incerteza das transações é alta; (c) e as transações ocorrem de forma recorrente. A teoria da ECT prediz que essas transações devem ocorrer de forma híbrida, porém verificou-se que, além do uso das formas híbridas, há o uso da integração vertical e das formas plurais, sendo esta a combinação entre as formas híbridas e a integração vertical. A presença das formas plurais na Ceasa é explicada pela ambiguidade sobre a estrutura de governança mais adequada de organização e pela complexidade no monitoramento das transações. Dentre os arranjos organizacionais, foi possível verificar que o uso das formas plurais reduz o custo de transação para o permissionário da Ceasa-MS, por representar a combinação entre os pontos positivos das formas híbridas e os da integração vertical, anulando, assim, seus pontos fracos.Palavras-chave: Ceasa-MS; economia dos custos de transação; formas plurais. AbstractThis study consists of analyzing the transactional relationship between farmers and authorized contractors at Ceasa-MS. In order to reach the objective proposed by the study, 78 semi-structured questionnaires were distributed among the contractors at Ceasa-MS. The questionnaires had as a theoretical framework the TCE in conjunction with the plural forms theory. Analyzing the transaction dimensions between the farmers and contractors at Ceasa-MS, we perceived that the assets studied possess: (a) average specificity; (b) uncertainty of the transactions is high; (c) and transactions occur on a recurring basis. Keeping such dimensions in mind, the TCE theory foresees that those transactions should happen in hybrid form, however the contractors served themselves with vertical integration and plural forms, the latter being the combination of hybrid forms and vertical integration. The presence of plural forms is explained by the ambiguity in the governing structure and the complexity in the way transactions are monitored. We verified that the use of plural forms or the simultaneous use of vertical integration with hybrid forms within all organizational arrangements, to reduce the transaction cost for the contractors as the combined positive aspects of the hybrid forms and vertical integration nullify their weak points.

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Section: Methodological Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Plural Formsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Plural Formsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Plural Formsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, as proposed by Williamson (2002) the search for solutions would be constantly focused on cost reduction (Ménard, 2013).…”

Section: Plural Formsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plural Forms of Governance at Central Supply Markets

et al. 2017

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Organization and governance in the agrifood sector: How can we capture their variety?

Ménard

2017

Agribusiness

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The variety of solutions to organize economic activities is striking, and underexplored. This paper proposes a framework that combines transaction cost and relational contracts models to capture this variety while characterizing some representative forms. The framework distinguishes between organizational structures differing according to the intensity of control exercised over the rights to use resources, and the modalities of governance through which these structures operate. The combination of these two dimensions provides tools for understanding the existence, characteristics, and conditions under which some organizational arrangements tend to prevail. Based on these premises, the paper proposes an analysis that goes beyond the dichotomy between "markets" and "hierarchies." This framework is inclusive of those hybrids arrangements that play such an important role in the agrifood industry and it explores two modalities that are particularly challenging to standard theories: cooperatives and plural forms. [EconLit citations: D 230; L 0; Q 100].MÉNARD 143 that support agrifood activities. Governance here is intended as the set of devices implemented within organizations, or among networks of organizations, to allocate and monitor assets and rights, providing the backbone to economic activities. Hence, governance identifies the means that make alternative organizations operational, whereas organizations are the structures entitled of rights and performing transactions, structures within which modalities of governance are embedded (e.g., a cooperative is an organization, whereas its decision-making rules constitute a modality of governance).These two interwoven components, organization and governance, are essential for understanding how an economic system works. As Ronald Coase (Coase, 1937(Coase, , 1998 indicated, finding the appropriate organization of transactions influences the capacity of taking advantage of the division of labor and specialization that feed growth. And it is through the modalities of governance associated to alternative organizations, for example, the type of contract linking partners, that bargaining power is delineated and that negotiations develop. Indeed, from an economic point of view a negotiation is primarily about the allocation of rights to use goods or services, which characterizes the type of organization and determines the power of the different parties involved. This paper explores these issues along the following lines. Section 2 discusses why the variety of organizations and their modalities of governance matter so much to theoreticians as well as decision makers. Section 3 revisits two theories, TCEs and relational contracts, which complement each other in supplying essential tools for understanding organizational diversity and its logic. Section 4 discusses some particularly challenging cases when it comes to applying this framework to the analysis of the agrifood industry. Section 5 concludes. WHY DO ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES MATTER?Identifying the various organizations and...

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Plural forms and differentiation strategies in the agri‐food sector: Evidence from the U.S. wine industry

et al. 2022

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This article investigates how measurement ability, trust, and the pursuit of differentiation strategies influence the adoption of plural forms in an agri-food system. We analyze a unique dataset of 314 winegrape sourcing choices from 74 wineries located in five U.S. states, investigating how the pursuit of differentiation influences the likelihood of adoption of a plural form-that is, the simultaneous adoption of a formal arrangement (i.e., vertical integration or long-term formal contract) and an informal arrangement (i.e., informal contracts or spot-market transactions).Consistent with previous studies, measurement ability and the existence of trust are both associated with a higher likelihood of adoption of informal arrangements in comparison to formal arrangements. Moreover, we show that the likelihood of adoption of a plural form increases as the differentiation potential of a winegrape variety also increases. Finally, we find that the use of plural forms is associated with a reduction in the importance of trust in the relationships with external suppliers. This study is important because it sheds light on the role of plural forms in the pursuit of competitive advantage in an agri-food system. Overall, it suggests that the current interpretations

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Plural Forms of Organization: Where Do We Stand?

Cited by 68 publications

References 32 publications

Plural Forms of Governance at Central Supply Markets

Plural Forms of Governance at Central Supply Markets

Organization and governance in the agrifood sector: How can we capture their variety?

Plural forms and differentiation strategies in the agri‐food sector: Evidence from the U.S. wine industry

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