مفاهیم عملکرد شبکه خرید خرده فروشی : نقش سرمایه اجتماعی

This study employs social capital theory to examine how a retail buyer's network of industry peers influences retail performance. We propose that performance is enhanced by three network resources – access, referral, and influence – that result from two structural facets of a retail buyer's network: contact diversity and contact position. We test the model by collecting sociometric data that measures interpersonal ties among 84 retail buyers operating in the same geographic territory in the U.S. golf industry. The results offer evidence that network resources lead to higher levels of performance, even when accounting for differences in human capital and organizational resources. The paper concludes with a discussion of managerial and theoretical implications.

This study employs social capital theory to examine how a retail buyer's network of industry peers influences retail performance. We propose that performance is enhanced by three network resources – access, referral, and influence – that result from two structural facets of a retail buyer's network: contact diversity and contact position. We test the model by collecting sociometric data that measures interpersonal ties among 84 retail buyers operating in the same geographic territory in the U.S. golf industry. The results offer evidence that network resources lead to higher levels of performance, even when accounting for differences in human capital and organizational resources. The paper concludes with a discussion of managerial and theoretical implications.

The present study contributes to channels research in a retail setting by employing social capital theory as a framework that captures network relationships as strategic resources. Taken as a whole, the test of the model provides evidence of the value of social capital derived from external ties to industry peers. Retail purchasing agents with external ties to representatives of a wide variety of firms were more likely to reach prominent peers. This finding corroborates the structural foundations of social capital (Burt, 1992 and Granovetter, 1973) that emphasize the value of reaching diverse contacts for goal-directed behavior. In turn, the results support that one's reach to prominent contacts enhances the mobilization of network-embedded resources, which highlights a linkage between the structural and relational dimensions of social capital (Lin, 2001 and Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998). A second contribution is the individual-level of analysis of social structure and resources on the effectiveness of retail purchasing agents. The findings illustrate that a linkage between network configuration and performance is mediated by a reach to prominent contacts who offer three network resources: enhanced access to marketplace information, increased word-of-mouth referral, and greater influence in dealings with representatives of upstream firms. The analysis of retail performance here complements efforts to assess implications of external ties for industrial sellers (Atuahene-Gima and Murray, 2007 and Gu et al., 2008). In contrast with group- or firm-level studies that capture network ties with psychometric items, this study offers a novel approach by using sociometric methods to capture interpersonal ties. Not only does this approach provide added confidence in network measures (Bernard et al. 1984), but the individual-level analysis also permits a tighter methodological coupling between network ties and performance. The findings also highlight how individual-level performance gains from social capital may spillover to benefit the firm as a whole. A final contribution of this study is the investigation of informal ties linking individuals operating at the same level in a supply chain. Research examining network ties among channel participants often focuses on prescribed ties that stem from consciously planned contractual relations (e.g., Luo et al., 2007, Palmatier, 2008 and Rindfleisch and Moorman, 2003). Our analysis contributes to a growing understanding of the informal ties among industry peers that “shadow” more formal relationships (e.g., Gu, Hung, and Tse 2008). Prior research in the retail literature offers evidence of informal ties among retail buyers (Hirschman and Mazursky, 1982 and Kline and Wagner, 1994). The current study extends these findings by offering evidence that informal ties contribute to performance and provide a critical vehicle for firms to mobilize resources within the channel environment.