A framework for performance evaluation of channel partners in distribution relationships
08 Apr 2016-International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management (Emerald Group Publishing Limited)-Vol. 65, Iss: 4, pp 503-531
TL;DR: The authors developed the measurement scale by the three-stage protocol and established the scale’s reliability, factor structure and validity through the data collected from 252 firm-channel partner dyads across automobile firms in India.
Abstract: Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for performance evaluation of channel partners in distribution relationships and develop a scale to measure the proposed dimensions of performance.
Design/methodology/approach
– The proposed framework is built on the theoretical foundations of salesforce control systems and organizational performance. The authors developed the measurement scale by the three-stage protocol and established the scale’s reliability, factor structure and validity through the data collected from 252 firm-channel partner dyads across automobile firms in India.
Findings
– The proposed framework highlights three distinct dimensions of channel partners’ performance, i.e. output performance, the financial/other objective results; activity performance, the activities, behavior and process-compliance levels; and capability performance, the resources and capabilities of channel partners. An 18-item measurement scale is developed to measure the three proposed dimensions of channel partners’ performance.
Research limitations/implications
– The proposed framework conceptualizes the three key dimensions of channel partners’ performance that can assist firms in exercising a focussed approach to performance management in distribution channel relationships and other inter-firm contexts. This study contributes to the legitimacy and further development of research in the area.
Practical implications
– The measurement scale provides valid and reliable items for a rigorous performance analyses of channel partners, both at the individual level as well as at the level of the distribution channel as a whole. These performance analyses have multiple applications, right from managing the day-to-day channel activities to steering the channel strategy.
Originality/value
– The paper presents a multidimensional conceptual framework for performance evaluation of channel partners and provides a suitable instrument for operationalizing future empirical research in the area.
Citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a nuanced framework for evaluating a channel partner's performance in distribution channel relationships, where the latent change score (LCS) model within SEM framework provides mean paired-differences of the relevance ratings for each metrics.
Abstract: Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a nuanced framework for evaluating a channel partner’s performance in distribution channel relationships. Given a channel partner’s task environment characteristics (high/low munificence, dynamism and complexity), the study examines which performance metrics (output, activity or capability) are most relevant for evaluating its performance levels effectively.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts self-administered cross-sectional survey-based research design. Matched data were collected from 252 channel partners – manager relationship dyads. The latent change score (LCS) model within SEM framework provides mean paired-differences of the relevance ratings for each metrics. This was used to assess the empirical validity of the hypothesized relationships.
Findings
The study demonstrates the importance of calibrating performance evaluation metrics to a channel partner’s task environment state, made possible by its holistic approach to performance evaluation. Based on an extensive analysis, it shows that no single metric is relevant within all environmental states; rather, it could be dysfunctional, a result that differs from vast majority of the literature.
Research limitations/implications
Investigates individual linkages between task environment dimensions and performance metrics to provide a fuller understanding of these relationships. Also provides a theoretical framework to support further research on the topic.
Practical implications
The study provides managerial guidelines (and extensive graphical analysis) for nuanced and dynamic evaluation of channel partners’ performance that can enable firms to identify and promote their most valuable channel partners and prevent the deterioration of others.
Originality/value
First one to develop and empirically validate a nuanced framework for evaluating performance of exchange partners that operate under diverse task environment states.
6 citations
01 Jan 2019
Abstract: Small Construction Business Owners’ Strategies for Employee Retention by Charles H. Griner, Jr. MS, Troy University, 2006 BBA, University of Mississippi, 1991 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Business Administration Walden University November 2019 Abstract Thirty-four percent of people in the United States of America work for businesses that employ fewer than 100 people. However, many small business owners lack the strategies necessary to retain their valuable employees. Businesses that fail to retain valuable employees are as much as 28% less efficient. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies small construction business owners use to retain their valuable employees. Contingency theory provided the conceptual framework. The participants were three owners of three small businesses in the construction industry located in Mississippi which implemented successful policies and procedures to retain their employees. The data sources for this study were semistructured interviews, financial statements, newspaper articles, websites, and social media. A thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Three themes morphed to include challenging employees and reward them accordingly, mitigating unplanned turnover, and treating employees and others fairly. Potential implications for positive social change are that increased profits among small business owners may enable them to provide better benefits and pay and incentive increases to their employees. Small business owners with increased profits may also be better equipped to participate in community-based charitable organizations.Thirty-four percent of people in the United States of America work for businesses that employ fewer than 100 people. However, many small business owners lack the strategies necessary to retain their valuable employees. Businesses that fail to retain valuable employees are as much as 28% less efficient. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies small construction business owners use to retain their valuable employees. Contingency theory provided the conceptual framework. The participants were three owners of three small businesses in the construction industry located in Mississippi which implemented successful policies and procedures to retain their employees. The data sources for this study were semistructured interviews, financial statements, newspaper articles, websites, and social media. A thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Three themes morphed to include challenging employees and reward them accordingly, mitigating unplanned turnover, and treating employees and others fairly. Potential implications for positive social change are that increased profits among small business owners may enable them to provide better benefits and pay and incentive increases to their employees. Small business owners with increased profits may also be better equipped to participate in community-based charitable organizations. Small Construction Business Owners’ Strategies for Employee Retention by Charles H. Griner, Jr. MS, Troy University, 2006 BBA, University of Mississippi, 1991 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Business Administration Walden University November 2019 Dedication I dedicate this study to my mother, Brenda Morris Griner. She provided encouragement and served as an example of what one can accomplish with hard work and persistence. Acknowledgments I would like to thank my chair, Dr. Kenneth Gossett, for being patient with me while I was being impatient. I would also like to thank the faculty, staff, and my fellow students for all of their input and guidance along the way.
3 citations
Cites background from "A framework for performance evaluat..."
...A resource that companies depend upon is a distribution channel to market and sell their products and services to the end-users (Goyal & Mishra, 2016)....
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References
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address three questions: (1) Why are some organizations more market-oriented than others? (2) What effect does a market orientation have on employees and business performance? (3) D...
Abstract: This research addresses three questions: (1) Why are some organizations more market-oriented than others? (2) What effect does a market orientation have on employees and business performance? (3) D...
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TL;DR: In this article, McNally describes three fundamentally different mechanisms through which organizations can seek to cope with this problem of evaluation and control, referred to as markets, bureaucracies, and clans.
Abstract: The problem of organization is the problem of obtaining cooperation among a collection of individuals or units who share only partially congruent objectives. When a team of individuals collectively produces a single output, there develops the problem of how to distribute the rewards emanating from that output in such a manner that each team member is equitably rewarded. If equitable rewards are not forthcoming, members will, in future cooperative ventures, adjust their efforts in such a manner that all will be somewhat worse off cf. Simon [Simon, H. A. 1964. On the concept of organizational goal. Admin. Sci. Quart.9 1, June 1--22.], Marschak [Marschak, Thomas A. 1965. Economic theories of organization. J. G. March, ed. Handbook of Organizations. Rand McNally, Chicago, Ill., 423--450.], Alchian and Demsetz [Alchian, Armen A., Harold Demsetz. 1972. Production, information costs, and economic organization. Amer. Econom. Rev.62 777--795..
It is the objective of this paper to describe three fundamentally different mechanisms through which organizations can seek to cope with this problem of evaluation and control. The three will be referred to as markets, bureaucracies, and clans. In a fundamental sense, markets deal with the control problem through their ability to precisely measure and reward individual contributions; bureaucracies rely instead upon a mixture of close evaluation with a socialized acceptance of common objectives; and clans rely upon a relatively complete socialization process which effectively eliminates goal incongruence between individuals. This paper explores the organizational manifestations of these three approaches to the problem of control.
The paper begins with an example from a parts distribution division of a major company which serves to give some flesh to what might otherwise be overly-abstract arguments. Through the example, each of the three mechanisms is explicated briefly and discussed in terms of two prerequisite conditions, one social and the other informational. The more concrete organization design features of the three forms are considered, along with some consideration of the unique costs accompanying each form.
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In a two-stage study, organizational theorists and researchers were impaneled to make judgments about the similarity of commonly used effectiveness criteria. The model derived from the second group closely replicated the first, and in convergence suggested that three value dimensions control-flexibility, internal-external, and means-ends underlie conceptualizations of organizational effectiveness.
When these value dimensions are juxtaposed, a spatial model emerges. The model serves a number of important functions. It organizes the organizational effectiveness literature, indicates which concepts are most central to the construct of organizational effectiveness, makes clear the values in which the concepts are embedded, demonstrates that the effectiveness literature and the general literature on organizational analysis are analogues of one another, and provides an overarching framework to guide subsequent efforts at organizational assessment.
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