Affiliations: Opus College of Business, University of St. Thomas,
Mail # TMH 343, 1000 LaSalle Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55403-2005, USA. Tel.:
+1 651 962 4350; Fax: +1 651 962 4710; E-mail: skumar@stthomas.edu | South Africa International Business Linkages (SAIBL),
Corporate Council on Africa, 1100 17th Street, N.W., Suite 1100, Washington DC,
20036, USA. Tel.: +1 202 263 3508; Fax: +1 202 835 1117; E-mail:
tbergstrom@africacncl.org
Abstract: We develop and investigate a model of long-term, inter-firm
relationships in three developing countries and develop international
organizational relationship antecedent factors from the local distributor's
perspective. We sought to test these factors across three developing countries
to see if manufacturers treated their local distributors differently in
different environments. A comprehensive survey was conducted in three
developing countries; South Africa, India, and Pakistan. A total of 116
interviews were carried out with local distributors in these countries to test
a conceptual model of the hypothesized relationships between satisfaction,
perceived conflict, use of coercion by distributor, use of coercion by
manufacturer, role performance, and dependency. This study furthers our
understanding of the relations between U.S. manufacturers and their local
distributors. Several key findings suggest ways to improve these relationships.
From our study it was clear that manufacturers treat their local distributors
differently in different settings. We show that the more developed a market was
(a buyers market) the better a local distributor was treated and stronger the
overall relationship. The local distributors in less developed markets were
found to be treated worse and there was more antagonism in the relationship.
Our sample was limited to 116 interviews with higher level managers who
generally spoke English. We also limited our research to a very specific
industry. Care should be given in extrapolating these results to other
industries. The paper elucidates the notion that U.S. companies do not always
have the best relationship with their local distributors. If they wish to
develop these markets more care should be given in developing long-term
relationships built on trust.
Keywords: Supply chain, international distribution channels, organizational trust, international market network, factor analysis
