What Makes Management Control Information Useful in Buyer–Supplier Relationships?

Abstract

Abstract:Extensive research results in inconsistent findings regarding the advantages and risks of exchanging management control information in collaborative relationships between buyers and suppliers. This inconsistency is due, in part, to ignoring whether the information shared is useful. This study analyzes the influence of transaction characteristics (asset specificity, opportunistic behaviors, and resource control) on the usefulness of the format and the content of such sharing. Samples of purchasing and sales managers differ in how their assessment of this usefulness reflects the influence of transactional characteristics, as well as the format (timeliness, aggregation, and integration) and content (scope and symmetry) of the management control information itself.

Resource-Based View and SMEs Performance Exporting through Foreign Intermediaries: The Mediating Effect of Management Controls

“…Following the RBV framework, our analysis supports that MCSs play a significant role to manage international relationships, being able to improve export performance when SMEs use intermediaries to gaining access into international markets. Furthermore, this research provides empirical evidence about the influence of MCSs on exporting SMEs, the connections of the management control within inter-organizational relationships aimed at aligning the interests and actions of boundary spanners [28,148] expanded to an international context, and about how the selection of proper information through the implementation of MCSs affects organizations [149] and the international inter-organizational relationship [20,25,46]. These findings have clear implications not only for managers but for governmental trade agencies that should promote the implementation of control tools in SMEs both through training for managers focused on design and use and by helping to implement IT that support them.…”

“…Organizations operating through inter-organizational relationships without common property or a superior authority that controls the relationship specify agreements or mechanisms for the coordination and supervision of participants' activities [19,20]. Downstream relations, as an independent export channel, imply an abstract nature of the services performed by intermediaries [21], leading to greater dependence, risk and vulnerability, and less power [22] for the focal company than other relationships: in addition to the low hierarchical command derived from ownership separation [23], whose inadequate management control can harm the export performance, which can be aggravated by geographical and cultural distances [24][25][26], partners deal directly with, and often on behalf of, customers [27].…”

Berry Supply Chain Management: An Empirical Approach

“…All these factors call for more information sharing, flexibility, and coordination within the chain [10,24]. This is why some recent studies show rising trends toward more stable relationships initiated mostly by retailers who select and establish long relationships with what they call "preferred suppliers" in order to ensure the best available resources.…”

“…This is why some recent studies show rising trends toward more stable relationships initiated mostly by retailers who select and establish long relationships with what they call "preferred suppliers" in order to ensure the best available resources. Nowadays, retailers demand continuous and consistent quality of their suppliers, bolstered by the legislative pressures on traceability [5,24]. Rising concerns about food safety is one of the main reasons why it is so important to secure the best available resources, due to the impact that an oversight in quality and food safety control could have on reputation.…”

“…Rising concerns about food safety is one of the main reasons why it is so important to secure the best available resources, due to the impact that an oversight in quality and food safety control could have on reputation. Traceability is a part of information management included either in logistic or strategic areas that involves coordination across the supply chain to ensure quality and food safety [2,24]. Canavari et al found that the general diffusion of the International Standard Organization's ISO 9000 norms made it easier for firms or supply chains to adopt a common tracing system [2]; they also found that the adoption of any instrument oriented to formalize, control, and improve the management of operations actually helps in creating a more effective and efficient traceability system.…”