Title: The impact of transaction specific investments on partnership performance

Authors: Trond Hammervoll, Trude Hogvold Olsen

Addresses: Department of Business Administration and Social Sciences, Harstad University College, NO-9480 Harstad, Norway. ' Department of Business Administration and Social Sciences, Harstad University College, NO-9480 Harstad, Norway

Abstract: Collaborating with partners in supply-chains is generally accepted as a critical success factor. In governance value analysis (GVA), it is assumed that undertaking transaction specific investments is a key enabler of innovation and improved competitive standing in the market. However, critics contend that GVA is not a theory that deals with innovation because the unit of analysis is the transaction between firms. By means of an empirical study in the seafood industry we provide some empirical support for the critics| view. While undertaking transaction specific investments has efficiency benefits, no effectiveness gains were found in partnerships in the food supply-chain. These results suggest that while GVA is appropriate for explaining innovation in operational collaboration with the aim of achieving cost-efficient transactions between supply-chain partners, it is less able to explain innovation in strategic, problem-solving like, collaboration.

Keywords: supply chain partnerships; effectiveness; efficiency; transaction cost theory; seafood industry; food chains; supply chain management; SCM; governance value analysis; innovation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIRD.2011.038921

International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development, 2011 Vol.3 No.2, pp.141 - 158

Published online: 29 Nov 2014 *

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