Asset specificity's impact on outsourcing relationship performance: A disaggregated analysis by buyer–supplier asset specificity dimensions

Activity outsourcing and competitive strategy in the hotel industry. The moderator role of asset specificity

“…A more specific activity is likely to be performed in-house, although it could also be outsourced under certain conditions, such as in a high level inter-organizational relationship where the suppliers are highly integrated with the hotel. For this purpose, the supplier must be capable of adapting the activity to the hotel's characteristics and needs, or even make specific investments (Lui et al, 2009;De Vita et al, 2010).…”

Vendor Opportunism in it Outsourcing: A TCE and Social Capital Perspective

“…Taking into account the broadness of uncertainty as a concept, we observe that a number of TCE studies have operationalized uncertainty in a relatively constrained manner, taking into account certain facets of uncertainty while ignoring others or neglecting the role of uncertainty all together (De Vita et al,et al, 2010;Thouin, et al,et al, 2009;Gooroochurn & Hanley, 2007). Williamson (1985) himself did not give a very detailed definition of uncertainty.…”

“…While this stream of research has generated significant insights, the very own phenomenon of opportunism, particularly with regards to its behavioral dimensions, has not be adequately addressed (Lacity et al, 2011;Rindfleisch et al, 2010;Macher & Richman, 2008;Wathne & Heide, 2000). Moreover, a number of TCE studies have taken into account certain facets of uncertainty while ignoring others (Tiwana & Bush, 2007;Aubert et al, 2004;Poppo & Zenger, 2002) or neglecting the role of uncertainty all together (Lumineau & Quelin, 2011;De Vita et al, 2010Jap & Anderson, 2003Grober & Cheon, et al), focusing solely on the construct of asset specificity. More generally, research on TCE has been criticized for neglecting the social context of transactions (Zazac & Olsen, 1993;Granovetter, 1985).…”

Inter-firm collaboration in new product development in Chinese pharmaceutical companies

“…First, asset specificity (Williamson, 1983), that is, the investment made to an asset that is specific to a given transaction and therefore not deployable by other transactions (Williamson, 1985). IFC means that firms will designate investment in human capital, physical assets, time and co-ordination, specialized knowledge to the collaborative relationship (De Vita, Tekaya, & Wang, 2011). Such designated investment is specific to the collaboration, resulting in high switching costs if one partner is to be replaced (Williamson, 1981).…”