Resource dependence theory

About: Resource dependence theory is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2732 publications have been published within this topic receiving 184871 citations.

Multinational Parent Companies’ Influence over Human Resource Decisions of Affiliates: U.S. Firms in Mexico

Abstract: This study provides empirical evidence for the relationship between the degree of influence U.S. parent companies have over the human resource decisions of their Mexican affiliates and the affiliates’ resource dependencies on the parent company. Both wholly-owned and Joint venture affiliates are examined. Resource dependence was the factor most closely related to parent influence over affiliate human resource decisions. The importance of an affiliate to a parent company, the nationality of affiliate managers, and the type of ownership arrangements were also found to affect parent influence, but to lesser extents than resource dependencies.

Development of organizational trust among employees from a contextual perspective

Abstract: It is becoming increasingly accepted that trust in the workplace is an important factor which potentially leads to enhanced organizational performance and can be a source of competitive advantage in the long run (e.g. McAllister 1995, Whitener et al. 1998, Leana & van Buren III 1999, Wicks et al. 1999, Gould-Williams 2003). Although it may be unreasonable to expect that any firm can have boundless trust among employees, the starting point of this paper lies in the argument that organizational trust is more desirable from the viewpoint of the firm’s economic prosperity than its lack. Organizational trust is important for successful socialization, cooperation and effective teamworking (cf. Putnam 1993, Fukuyama 1995) and in the long run helps to minimize risks and decrease operating costs (Connell et al. 2003). In addition, trust provides a foundation for social order (Lewis & Weigert 1985, Hosmer 1995, Lewicki et al. 1998) and contributes to improved quality of life. In recent years, the issues of globalization in the business world have drawn scholars’ attention to the role of socio-cultural context in organizational life (Putnam 1993, Doney et al. 1998). Expanding internationalization implies a need for companies to understand the impact of the socio-cultural context on their operations and to pay attention to the risks arising from it. Despite rapid development in theory building in the field of organizational trust during recent decades, the literature on the subject has been criticized for insufficient focus on the role of the context in formulating theories and practical methods of trust-building (Doney et al. 1998, Wicks & Berman 2004). Consequently, too little work has been done to understand how a socio-cultural context is related to the development of organizational trust. Through this article, we attempt to contribute to the existing gap and develop a contextsensitive theoretical model of organizational trust. The model derives from the theory of resource dependence (Aldrich & Pfeffer 1976, Pfeffer & Salancik 1978, Wicks & Berman 2004) and identifies four different contexts from the viewpoint of the level of work morale of the employees in a particular society. Based on the findings of prior research, we argue that trust among employees is not inherent, but management can nurture it with the help of appropriate and context-sensitive managerial practices (Creed & Miles 1996, Paine 1997, Whitener 1997, Whitener et al. 1998, Connell et al. 2003, Gould-Williams 2003, Blunsdon & Reed 2003, Young & Daniel 2003). For example, interventions by the management, such as development of workplace ethics, better provision of information, and support for employees have an impact on employees’ trust in the workplace. Respectively, Professor, School of Business and Economics, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland and Doctoral Student, Center for Business Ethics, Kaunas Faculty of Humanities, University of Vilnius, Lithuania.

The Contextual Impact of Nonprofit Board Composition and Structure on Organizational Performance: Agency and Resource Dependence Perspectives

Abstract: We study the relation between stability of the nonprofit organization’s environment and its board structure and the impact of this relation on organizational performance from the perspectives of both Agency Theory and Resource Dependence (Boundary Spanning) Theory. The impact of board characteristics on organizational performance is contextual. Specifically, we predict and show for a sample of U.S. nonprofits that board mechanisms related to monitoring are more likely to be effective for stable organizations, whereas board mechanisms related to boundary spanning are more effective for less stable organizations. We find that the two theories are complementary and address different aspects of nonprofit performance, but the results are statistically stronger and more often consistent with resource dependence than with agency theory. Overall, this study supports Miller-Millesen’s (Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 32: 521–547 2003) contention that, because the nonprofit environment is often more complex and heterogeneous than the for-profit world, no one theory describes all tasks of nonprofit boards.