This study focuses on organizational efforts to constrain ex post transaction costs in interorganizational exchange. The theoretical model frames opportunism as a determinant of transaction costs and implicates cooperation and formalization as control structures that alleviate opportunism. The model also examines whether the proposed theoretical relationships are enduring. Franchisee-franchisor relationships in the Norwegian distribution system of a multinational oil refiner provide the context for analysis. A test of the model using multisample data across two time periods indicates that opportunistic behavior consistently increases transaction costs. Furthermore, cooperative interaction curbs bargaining costs, and formalization reduces opportunism. The authors discuss implications for interorganizational theory and franchising management.
The potential to engage in opportunism is a central theme in institutional economics, yet prior research has not quantitatively reviewed the role of opportunism in marketing research. This study uses meta-analytic techniques to synthesize research on opportunism conducted over the last quarter century. The analysis of 183 effect sizes extracted from 54 publications from the period 1982 to 2005 offers some support to extant channel theory. The research also indicates that the informant's frame of reference and the research design significantly influence the observed effects. Implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed.Assumptions made about the nature of human behavior influence insights drawn from investigations of exchange relationships. Although a traditional economic perspective maintains that agents are self-interest seeking (Simon 1978), transaction cost economics assumes that agents are given to act opportunistically. Opportunistic agents offer incomplete or biased information designed to mislead, obfuscate, or otherwise confuse trading partners (Williamson 1985). Their action includes active or passive attempts to violate written or social contracts governing exchange (Wathne and Heide 2000).The assertion that agents act opportunistically has prompted substantial research into channel interaction. Marketing research (e.g., John 1984) maintains that opportunism mitigates relationships between organizational properties and outcomes, yet these studies often produce inconsistent findings. Channel theory would benefit from identification of the nomological network of opportunism as well as the examination of the generalizability of relationships between opportunism and constructs to which it is most frequently related. Prior research has reviewed opportunism (e.g., Wathne and Heide 2000), yet no study has employed quantitative methods to integrate findings across this research. Meta-analysis provides the opportunity to combine results from multiple studies, explain inconsistencies in findings, and examine moderators of theoretical relationships (Rosenthal and DiMatteo 2001). Despite the potential gains, research to date has not employed metaanalytic techniques to examine opportunism.The purpose of this study is to provide a meta-analytic review of opportunism. This study combines multiple theoretical approaches to build an integrative model of opportunism in marketing research. The review identifies and quantifies relationships between opportunism and other theory-based constructs. The results implicate underresearched variables and identify issues studied so extensively that more research is unnecessary. The review also identifies methodological factors that influence empirical results and presents avenues for empirical and theoretical contributions to research.
Horizontal arrangements are increasingly deployed in organizational networks, yet research has rarely examined the effectiveness of these alliances. The coalition of disparate corporate cultures yields appreciable levels of role stress for people in boundary-spanning positions. Dedicated assets and communication modality are factors that influence the level of role ambiguity and conflict. The authors implicate these facets of role stress as antecedents to four forms of effectiveness drawn from the competing values framework. The authors present alternative perspectives that examine the relationship between stress and performance. The received view frames role stressors as linear, negative antecedents to organizational outcomes. The authors contrast this perspective with theories that espouse triphasic, parabolic, and interactive influences of stressors on organizational outcomes. Data gathered with 218 managers of dual-branded retail oil outlets indicate that the relevance of these alternative perspectives is mitigated by the form of effectiveness pursued by the organization. The results support a linear relationship between role conflict and bargaining efforts, yet they also offer evidence of nonlinear influences of role ambiguity on contributions to sales, customer satisfaction, and competence. The study concludes with a discussion of relevance of the findings to the management of horizontal alliances and to interorganizational theory.
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