How control system information characteristics affect exporter–intermediary relationship quality

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

“…Information sharing and collaboration between partners mainly concern the degrees of communication, trust, and interdependence for their willingness to work together in a joint manner, which can result in more stable transactions and reduction of uncertainty in market (Kumar and Van Dissel 1996). Control information characteristics influence on the development and the improvement of long-term relationships, identifying which characteristics are important in the alignment of partners (Velez et al 2015).…”

“…Although there is potentially some overlap (Velez et al 2015), distinguishing between them enables us to sort out their influences. The present research model defines the usefulness of MCIS as the convenience perceived by each partner to the CBSR in terms of timeliness, aggregation, integration, scope, and symmetry.…”

“…In CBSRs, information sharing refers to the extent to which a firm communicates critical, often proprietary, information to its partner (Mohr and Spekman 1994;Velez et al 2015). As the tightness (or strength) of relations between partners increases, asset specificity increases; then, opportunistic behaviors emerge from one party, and finally, resource control is necessary (Artz 1999).…”

“…Management control information sharing (MCIS) might arise from the development of management control systems, which permits coordination with suppliers and industrial clients, or alternatively, it might arise from the process when the boundary between firm and partner is not totally delimited. Some examples of providing and receiving management control information are found in production costs budgets, inventory cost, and budgetary data (Fiala 2005;Velez et al 2015;Ramon et al 2017). Even though transaction characteristics (such as asset specificity and safeguard mechanisms) and the parties' features (such as opportunistic behaviors) importantly affect governance models, the tightness of management control systems and coordination processes (Heide and Stump 1995;Liu et al 2010) and the effect of these factors on management control information sharing (MCIS) receive little or no empirical examination.…”

“…Although other transactional characteristics could influence the usefulness of MCIS, TCT research recognizes these three factors as determinants of governance mechanisms and design (Geyskens et al 2006). The model proposed here adapts the classical characteristics of information used in the design of management control systems-timeliness, aggregation, integration, and scope (Chenhall and Morris 1986;Velez et al 2015)-and adds symmetry because of its importance in transactional relationships (Williamson 1975). This study attempts to shed light on the usefulness of management control information beyond intraorganizational relationships, by analyzing the transactional determinants of relationships between firms (e.g., customer and supplier).…”