type full article on google you will get pdf for this article,.. On importer tru
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type full article on google you will get pdf for this article,.. On importer trust and commitment: a comparative study of two developing countries.
I need to do assignment on the article on
On importer trust and
commitment: a comparative study of two developing countries.
REQUIREMENTS OF REPORT TO DO
I. Introduction
This section should include the major conclusions from your analysis.
II. Your Analysis of the Article (4 to 5 pages)
Analyze the article by taking a point of view: do you agree with the article?
Make note of how the article deals with economic theory: do you think it lacks sound economic theory?
Also make note of whether the article needed additional facts: do you think it needs more relevant facts? If so, then be sure to mention additional references.
etc.
III. Conclusions
Explanation / Answer
On importer trust and commitment: a comparative study of two developing countries
I. Introduction
Purpose: Relationship trust and commitment are two key dimensions of international exchanges. Both have been extensively investigated from an exporter (as opposed to importer) perspective in developed country (as opposed to developing country) contexts. To address these gaps, this study aims to develop a model of antecedents and outcomes of importer trust and commitment in two developing countries.
Design/methodology: The authors test the proposed model using data from Chile and Bangladesh. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM).
Findings: SEM analysis revealed that most of the hypotheses were supported in both the Bangladeshi and Chilean context. The findings of this study also suggest that the effects of importer transaction-specific investments on importer commitment are distinct in the Bangladeshi context.
Practical implications: Practically, these results show that trust and commitment are essential for enhancing importer relationship performance in developing countries. Importer trust in a foreign supplier is effective when suppliers are competent and provide relatively superior facilities, as opposed to opportunistic proclivity. Importer commitment to a foreign supplier is stronger when importers perceive that the foreign supplier is not opportunistic, but is knowledgeable and experienced with the importer market, and they perceive that it is an advantage importing from that supplier. Cultural similarity between importers and foreign suppliers improves importer trust in both countries. However, importer commitment in Chile increases with importer transaction specific investment, but this is not found to be the case in Bangladesh.
Originality/value: This study contributes to the importer-exporter exchange relationship literature by testing a model of antecedents and outcomes of importer trust and commitment. The tested model is one of few that considers developing country contexts and incorporates two novel antecedents of trust and commitment: importer knowledge and experience, and supplier resource competency.
Keywords: Importer, Foreign Supplier, Relationship Performance, Trust, Commitment,
Chile, Bangladesh
Paper type: Research paper
II. Your Analysis of the Article (4 to 5 pages)
A) Analyze the article by taking a point of view: do you agree with the article?..AGREED
We test this model using structural equation modeling (SEM) in two developing-country contexts: Bangladesh and Chile- These countries were chosen because they embody two different cultures from developing continents, which will enable comparisons across developing countries and increase the generalizability of the findings. This is an opportunity to verify whether theoretical models created in developed countries explain the same underlined causal effects across developing countries and thus can continue to be used in developing country contexts. Next, the research method is detailed, including the measures and data collection in two countries. Subsequently, the results of the data analyses are presented, followed by a discussion of the major findings and managerial implications. Finally, some limitations of the study are noted, along with avenues for future research.
Research Framework
The international purchasing research suggests that importing is a dynamic process
that is influenced by company-specific elements and the environmental context (Quintens et al., 2005). In addition, importers and exporters may differ in their rationale, objectives, and competitive strengths for developing relationships due to their different roles in the buyer-seller process (Lye and Hamilton, 2001; Overby and Servais, 2005). Moreover, cultural differences complicate relationships between importers and foreign exporters (Salmi, 2006). Differences in cultures have long been acknowledged as an explanation for different business practices (Hofstede, 1980), and national culture has been shown to influence buyer behavior across markets in industrial settings (Money et al., 1998) and the development of trust and commitment in partnerships (Brencic and Zabkar, 2003; Bstieler and Hemmert, 2008; Dyer and Chu, 2003; Huff and Kelley, 2003; Zaheer and Zaheer, 2006).
Hypotheses Development
Hypothesis 1: There is a positive relationship between importer commitment to a foreign supplier and importer relationship performance.
Hypothesis 2: There is a positive relationship between importer trust in the foreign supplier and importer relationship performance.
Hypothesis 3: There is a positive relationship between the importer transaction specific investment and importer commitment to a foreign supplier.
Hypothesis 4: There is a negative relationship between the importer’s perception of the supplier’s opportunism and importer trust.
Hypothesis 5: There is a negative relationship between the importer’s perception of the supplier’s opportunism and importer commitment
Hypothesis 6: There is a positive relationship between an importer’s knowledge and xperience and an importer’s commitment.
Hypothesis 7: There is a positive relationship between the importer’s and the foreign supplier’s cultural similarity and importer trust.
Hypothesis 8: There is a positive relationship between the importer’s perception of a foreign supplier’s resource competency and importer trust.
Hypothesis 9: There is a positive relationship between the importer’s perception of foreign supplier’s resource competency and importer commitment.
Research Methodology
Research Setting, Unit of Analysis, and the Sample
Theories tested in developed country contexts may need to be replicated in developing country contexts for the purpose of generalizability. This is because the macroeconomic environment and business practices of a developing country may vary from those of developed countries.
Thus, we selected two developing countries for this study: Bangladesh in Asia and
Chile in Latin America. We chose two countries in different continents to ensure different environments. Further, we chose Chile because it is among the wealthiest developing countries (gross national income [GNI] per capita of US$8350) and Bangladesh because it is among the poorest developing countries of the world (GNI per capita of US$470) (World Bank, 2007).
In addition, there are significant cultural differences between the countries in terms of their historical background, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, language, and religion, which may affect some elements of importer-exporter relationships (Luo, 2002; Styles et al., 2008). Although they are culturally, economically, and geographically distant, both developing countries have a similar need for value-added imports and import demand for backup linkage industries and local consumption (EIU, 2008; Wall Street Journal, 2008).
The unit of analysis in this study was a specific relationship between an importer and a foreign supplier with respect to a particular importing activity. This was intended to capture an importer’s perception of the venture’s significant supplier relationship. In both countries, each importing firm was contacted by telephone to check the contact address (i.e. e-mail address in Chile and mail address in Bangladesh), to identify the appropriate key informant, and to solicit participation in the survey.
Measurement of Variables
The measurement items were adapted from Coote and colleagues (2003), Skarmeas and colleagues (2002), and Zineldin and Jonsson (2000). The measure captures the import manager’s perception of cultural similarity between the importer and its foreign supplier. A five-item scale was used that reflected importers and suppliers’ sociobusiness cultural similarity in terms of style of greetings, negotiations, business practices, ethics, contracts, and agreements. Two of the operational indicators were similar to those in a study conducted by Lee and colleagues (2007).
Instrument Development
For the process of instrument development, a structured questionnaire was designed using subjective rating scales that incorporated the previous operational indicators of each variable.
Informant Selection and Survey Response
In Bangladesh, out of the 2000 initially sampled firms, a total of 600 firms agreed to participate in the study and thus the survey packages were mailed to them. The survey package included a Bangla version of the questionnaire, a return envelope, and a letter of request from the Head of School to participate in the survey. Respondents were assured anonymity and promised a summary report of the research findings if the manager requested them.
Measurement Validation
The Bangladesh data set (n = 232) and Chile data set (n = 204) were analyzed. Descriptive statistics for the retained cases in both data sets revealed normality of the data. The scale reliability test of the measures revealed that one item in commitment and supplier resource competency respectively had very low inter-item correlation with other items in their respective scales in both contexts
Data Analysis and Findings
The results of the cross-country analysis revealed that all hypothesized paths are significant and supported in Chile; however, one path is non-significant and unsupported in Bangladesh. This suggests that there are no differences between the perceptions of importers in Bangladesh and Chile in terms of the effects of cultural similarity, of supplier opportunism and supplier resource competency on importer trust and commitment, of knowledge and experience and supplier resource competency on importer commitment, and trust and commitment on importer relationship performance
III. Conclusions
Discussion of Findings
The results of the impact of supplier resource competency on importer trust and commitment indicate that suppliers’ resources and capabilities drive importer trust and a committed relationship. This is new empirical evidence for the literature and is consistent with the conceptual argument that suppliers’ resources and capabilities influence importing firms’ Selection decisions to seek out competitive advantage (Masella and Rangone, 2000). This implies that importers’ perceptions of higher resource competency from a specific supplier lead to higher importer trust and commitment to that foreign supplier. The supplier’s resources and capabilities tend to bind both partners, resulting in a more committed relationship as long as the supplier continues to deliver a competitive, competent offer to the importer. This study validates using RBV (Barney, 1991) to investigate importer relationship behavior, where tangible and intangible supplier firm resources and capabilities are found to be relevant for increasing importer trust and commitment in both Bangladesh and Chile.
Managerial Implications
To business practitioners, this research pinpoints a particular challenge faced by importers in managing their relationships with overseas suppliers in order to achieve better performance. This study provides some guidance for both importing and exporting firms in their quest for building successful business relationships. Specifically, importer firms must recognize that they play a significant role in the international exchange process, and that understanding their relationship performance outcomes with a foreign supplier is imperative. Our research suggests that there are Several key factors that import managers must consider to enhance relationship performance for long-term international business gain. The findings of this study are expected to help Practitioners to formulate relationship strategies with foreign suppliers. We argue that trust and commitment play a pivotal role in the success of ongoing relationships between importers and their foreign suppliers. Importer trust in a foreign supplier is effective when suppliers are competent and provide relatively superior facilities as opposed to opportunistic proclivity. Importer commitment to a foreign supplier is strong and enduring when importers perceive that the supplier is not opportunistic, is knowledgeable and experienced with the product market, and when they perceive an advantage in importing from that supplier. Cultural similarity between the importer and a foreign supplier is a potential predictor of importer trust; thus,import managers should build committed relationships with suppliers from a similar cultural context.
Limitations and Future Research Directions
The evidence reported in this study should be interpreted in light of several
limitations inherent in the research. First, the findings must be interpreted with caution
when attempting to generalize to other contexts. It should be remembered that this study was conducted within a specific business setting and context: importing firms from Chile and Bangladesh trading directly with foreign suppliers. Testing the external validity of these findings requires replication of this study in other countries and contexts. Furthermore, although this empirical investigation focuses on the importer. perspective, it does not account for the other side of the dyad, which may limit the understanding of overall importer behavior. Second, the findings are based on managers’ self-reported perceptions of trust, commitment, and relationship performance at a single point in time rather than as a longitudinal assessment. Thus, the cross-sectional design employed in the study prevents us from making causal inferences regarding the links between the variables. Our conclusions are based only on associations between antecedents and outcome of trust and commitment. It does not reflect the dynamic nature of the relationship phenomenon that occurs between an importer and exporter over time. In addition, the response rate of the survey in Chile (21.5%) was lower than in Bangladesh (43.7%), although this rate is not dramatically different from response rates reported by other export-import studies using electronic surveys (Diamantopoulos and Kakkos, 2007).
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