Differentiated Relational Strategies in Major Supplier Networks: A Blessing or a Curse in Collectivist Cultures?

IF 9.9 2区管理学 Q1 MANAGEMENT

Journal of Supply Chain Management Pub Date : 2025-01-17 DOI:10.1111/jscm.12339

Zebin Yan, Zhi Yang, Haibin Yang, En Xie

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Extant literature highlights the positive performance outcomes of a differentiated supplier management strategy. However, this research presents counterintuitive findings in major supplier networks in a collectivist culture like China. In such contexts, differentiated supplier management strategies may violate the equality principle expected by major suppliers, hindering their collective value creation process and ultimately undermining the buyers' financial performance. Using a combination of survey data, secondary archival data from Chinese manufacturing firms and their major supplier networks, and qualitative triangulation, this research reveals that a buyer's differentiated relational strategy (DRS) in major supplier networks negatively affects its financial performance. The negative effects of a DRS intensify under demand uncertainty but lessen under technological uncertainty. This research reveals a contextualized perspective on differentiated supplier management strategies and enriches the literature on the effects of collectivist cultures in supply chain management.

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主要供应商网络中的差异化关系策略：集体主义文化中的福还是祸？

现有文献强调了差异化供应商管理策略的积极绩效结果。然而，这项研究在像中国这样的集体主义文化的主要供应商网络中提出了违反直觉的发现。在这种情况下，差异化供应商管理策略可能会违背主要供应商所期望的平等原则，阻碍其集体价值创造过程，最终损害买方的财务绩效。本研究结合调查数据、中国制造企业及其主要供应商网络的二手档案数据和定性三角测量，揭示了主要供应商网络中买方的差异化关系策略（DRS）对其财务绩效的负面影响。DRS的负面影响在需求不确定性下加剧，而在技术不确定性下减弱。本研究揭示了差别化供应商管理策略的情境化视角，丰富了集体主义文化对供应链管理影响的文献。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Supply Chain Management MANAGEMENT-

CiteScore

16.00

自引率

6.60%

发文量

期刊介绍： ournal of Supply Chain Management Mission: The mission of the Journal of Supply Chain Management (JSCM) is to be the premier choice among supply chain management scholars from various disciplines. It aims to attract high-quality, impactful behavioral research that focuses on theory building and employs rigorous empirical methodologies. Article Requirements: An article published in JSCM must make a significant contribution to supply chain management theory. This contribution can be achieved through either an inductive, theory-building process or a deductive, theory-testing approach. This contribution may manifest in various ways, such as falsification of conventional understanding, theory-building through conceptual development, inductive or qualitative research, initial empirical testing of a theory, theoretically-based meta-analysis, or constructive replication that clarifies the boundaries or range of a theory. Theoretical Contribution: Manuscripts should explicitly convey the theoretical contribution relative to the existing supply chain management literature, and when appropriate, to the literature outside of supply chain management (e.g., management theory, psychology, economics). Empirical Contribution: Manuscripts published in JSCM must also provide strong empirical contributions. While conceptual manuscripts are welcomed, they must significantly advance theory in the field of supply chain management and be firmly grounded in existing theory and relevant literature. For empirical manuscripts, authors must adequately assess validity, which is essential for empirical research, whether quantitative or qualitative.