Design and Governance of Multichannel Sales Systems: Financial Performance Consequences in Business-to-Business Markets

Abstract

Multichannel sales systems in business-to-business markets vary substantially in their designs and thereby either attenuate or aggravate agency conflicts between manufacturers and sales partners. Drawing on multiple agency theory, the authors introduce direct and indirect channel usage as focal design dimensions of multichannel sales systems and investigate each channel’s performance effects using a matched manufacturer–sales partner data set. Whereas direct channel usage predominantly lowers agency conflicts in terms of information asymmetry and sales partner moral hazard, indirect channel usage amplifies moral hazard concerns. How those sales partner effects translate into manufacturer performance outcomes critically depends on governance mechanisms, confirming predictions from governance value analysis: formalization enhances performance outcomes for manufacturers in the case of indirect channel usage but diminishes performance in the case of direct channel usage. The authors observe converse effects for centralization and information exchange: centralization and information exchange enhance outcomes of direct channel usage but diminish outcomes of indirect channel usage. The focal managerial implication is that managers must align the design of their multichannel sales systems with effective governance mechanisms.

Multichannel integration through innovation capability in manufacturing SMEs and its impact on performance

“…Consequently, the effective integration of online and offline channels has predominantly become a priority for B2C companies (Verhoef et al , 2015; Ailawadi and Farris, 2017). Because of the increasing number of customers who start their customer journey online, Homburg et al (2020) highlight the need for extending research on the effectiveness of multichannel integration in a B2B context.…”

La centralización y descentralización en los procesos de departamentalización: una revisión de la literatura

“…De acuerdo con la literatura consultada, al aplicar un modelo centralizado en pequeñas empresas o en aquellas que recién están comenzando a operar, se obtienen mejores beneficios que al aplicar un modelo descentralizado, esto se debe a que la toma de decisiones por parte del gerente de la empresa establece la mejor solución al ser un contexto limitado e incipiente que necesita de la centralización para poder crecer en su rubro (Waldkirch et al, Revista de Investigación Valor Agregado 2021: 8(1),35 -51 44 2021; P. Zhang et al, 2020). Además, se pueden reducir los costos de distribución del producto que se ofrece (Homburg et al, 2020).…”

“…La centralización a nivel de actividades manufactureras podría reducir los costos de distribución; ya que el intercambio de información con los socios de ventas y la alta dirección, mejoran el rendimiento de uso de canales directos para el suministro de los productos a los Revista de Investigación Valor Agregado 2021: 8(1),35 -51 38 clientes, pero disminuyen el rendimiento de los canales indirectos (Homburg et al, 2020). A nivel político, una organización gubernamental bajo una administración centralizada es insuficiente para asegurar la uniformidad en el suministro de servicios públicos (Kogan, 2017).…”

Panel Data Analysis: A Nontechnical Introduction for Marketing Researchers

“…Germann et al (2015), for instance, offer an extensive study on the presence of a CMO on firm performance using a lagged dependent variable in their model. Homburg et al (2020) show that a dynamic approach is even feasible when only the dependent variable is constructed as a panel variable. In their study, the authors investigate the impact of multichannel sales system design (obtained from a cross-sectional survey) on firm performance (derived from secondary panel performance data).…”