Understanding Governance Decisions in a Partially Integrated Channel: A Contingent Alignment Framework

This article examines governance decisions within an emerging and increasingly common form of channel: the partially integrated channel (PIC). The PIC is defined as a single vertical channel in which both market governance and hierarchical governance exist (i.e., the employees of one channel member work on a full-time basis at an exchange partner's facilities, performing functions that the exchange partner traditionally performs). Building on the transaction cost analysis and governance value analysis literature streams, the authors examine ongoing governance decisions within the PIC. Data were collected in the fashion apparel market of South Korea using multisource, reciprocally matched data in which a manufacturer's directly employed sales force is deployed at department store retailers as the sole frontline employees for their brand. The authors find that brand reputation, downstream market uncertainty, and sales force performance ambiguity influence manufacturer control over sales operations and manufacturer flexibility with retailers in unique ways. The authors discuss implications of this work for theory and practice.

• 저널Journal of Marketing Research · 48(3) · 603–616
• 토픽Customer Service Quality and Loyalty · Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management
• DOI10.1509/jmkr.48.3.603
• 저자Stephen K. Kim, Richard G. McFarland, Soongi Kwon, Son Sang-gi, David A. Griffith