The effect of organizational culture on territorial exclusivity in international marketing channels: a study of Japanese manufacturing exporters

Purpose

It is important for an exporting manufacturer to motivate its foreign channel partners to sell and promote its products. An excellent way to motivate such foreign channel partners is to give them exclusive territories. Unfortunately, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the determinants of territorial exclusivity. This study aims to investigate the relationship between organizational culture and territorial exclusivity and the moderating role of firm size in this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data were collected from manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Japan. To test the hypotheses, a regression analysis was conducted using the ordinary least squares technique.

Findings

Empirical evidence shows that the cultural values of collectivism and uncertainty avoidance influence territorial exclusivity; collectivist exporters are likely to use territorial exclusivity, whereas exporters with high uncertainty avoidance are not likely to use it. Furthermore, the larger the firm size, the smaller the impact of cultural values on territorial exclusivity; this suggests that large SMEs do not rely on their organizational culture to make decisions about exclusive territories.

Originality/value

The export marketing literature emphasizes the advantages of exclusive territories. By contrast, the channel management literature suggests that exclusive territories also have disadvantages. As exclusive territories have both advantages and disadvantages, it is crucial to answer the following question: What kinds of exporting manufacturers grant exclusive territories to their foreign channel partners? By addressing this question, this study contributes to a better understanding of export channel strategy.