Authors: Ruoß, Fabienne
Title: Three essays on governance in exporter-distributor partnerships
Language (ISO): en
Abstract: This dissertation aims at contributing to the discussion on the influence of various governance mechanisms in international business. In particular, regarding exporters and their cooperation with independent foreign distributors, research reveals gaps in understanding how governance mechanisms work. Despite its relevance to successful export management, empirical studies on governance mechanisms applied in cross-cultural settings remain comparably scarce. The dissertation comprises three essays investigating exporter–distributor relationships based on different methodologies. Essay I provides a detailed analysis of the state-of-the-art operation of various governance mechanisms (i.e., contractual governance, monitoring mechanisms, relational governance, incentive mechanisms) in exporter–distributor relationships. The findings of the study uncover inconsistent results within the four research areas and research gaps that generate promising avenues for future research. In Essay II governance measures used by exporting SMEs to steer international distributors are explored. Building on 13 qualitative interviews with leading managers of German small- and medium-sized exporters, the best practices for distributor governance are examined. The purpose of this study is to broaden the knowledge regarding governance practices that are commonly utilized by SMEs to steer their international distributors; thus, this study contributes to distributor governance literature by investigating SMEs only. Additionally, this study contributes to existing research by developing a classification scheme that provides an overview of the governance activities applied. In response to the autonomy of a foreign distributor and the competition between the manufacturers it represents, it is essential for exporters to develop a well-designed and effective governance strategy by resorting to various incentive and control measures. Current export research neglects the question of how different incentives affect the distributor and ultimately export performance and how these incentives interact when used simultaneously with control measures. Thus, Essay III is devoted to the influence of social and economic incentives on export performance and to the interaction of incentive measures with output and process control. Applying a standardized online survey, investigations of a sample of 189 German SMEs demonstrate that social and economic incentives, explained via distributor cooperation and distributor dependence, have a significant impact on export performance.
Subject Headings: Distributor management
Governance
Incentives
Cooperation
Export
Subject Headings (RSWK): Export
Exportmarketing
Absatzmittler
Anreiz
Governance
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2003/41228
http://dx.doi.org/10.17877/DE290R-23072
Issue Date: 2023
Appears in Collections:Lehrstuhl Marketing

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