Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

12-1986

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Business Administration

Major Professor

David J. Barnaby

Committee Members

Robert H. Orr, William E. Cole, Roger L. Jenkins, Ray A. Mundy

Abstract

This study investigated the application of power and dependency theories to situations in a developing country. Group power theories were incorporated into the conventional dyadic power of the marketing channel. The Sino-Thai rice export community in Thailand was selected as the study unit and the study was divided into three parts. The first part was a descriptive study of procurement managers' and rice brokers' uses of power to control default of verbal agreements and to resolve disputes over the loose grain grading method employed in the Thai rice market. The Sino-Thai group established the norms of responsibility and willingness to compromise needed for the transactions among its members. The group also withholds trade services from those who refuse to follow the norms. The group, however, had limited ability to detect the behavior of all its members. High-status and alliance members had better opportunities to gain the group's attention and use it as their power source to control others' default intention. In addition to the group's power sources, an individual's power sources were also employed. When an irresolvable default occurred, an individual would initially sanction his counterpart with his own power bases; and then, through appeal, the group's power sources.

The second part was also a descriptive study which obtain cooperation from other members. This cooperation was grouped into three classes according to their risk levels. The first class was routine, low risk transactions to which the group's norm were applied, and so exporters were willing to do business with any member of the group. The second class was nonroutine, short-term activities to which group power did not apply, and exporters perceived the higher risk of default and were willing to join with only more trustworthy members of the group. The last class was long-run or high-risk enterprises which exporters strictly joined with their closest business associates.

The third part tested the statistical significance of the association between the dyads' joint business ownership, high risk activity, and status and personal relationships. The discriminant analytical method indicated that the joint business ownership tended to occur among the dyads where there existed a close personal relationship between the members: high status was less of a significant criterion.

These findings show that it is necessary to incorporate group power concepts into the dyadic power knowledge when the power phenomenon in the channel of distribution of developing countries is observed.

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