Governance of business services exchanges: contracts, relations and frontline employee behaviour
Year: 2007
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Because of increased sourcing practices, the interaction between buyer and seller gains in importance in services settings. However, few studies have investigated the mechanisms used to govern business service exchanges after the purchase. This is especially true for those services considered less strategically valuable like support services delivered by frontline employees at the premises of the buying organization. The main goal of this dissertation is to examine how performance in business services exchanges can be enhanced by means of frontline employee behaviour and contractual and relational governance mechanisms. Therefore, we investigate the relevance of purchased business services and their impact along the service supply chain. Next, we examine contractual and relational governance mechanisms of business services exchanges, their impact on performance outcomes and the influence of certain features of the service transaction. Finally, we examine how different types of frontline employee behaviour influence performance outcomes in business services exchanges. The empirical research studies are carried out in the Belgian security services market. Several valuable contributions are made. From a theoretical point of view, this dissertation contributes to the supply chain literature and business network theory by indicating that organizations supplying business services considered less critical, such as support services, should also be regarded as a member of the business network. Second, the results indicate that specific service characteristics have an impact on the most frequently cited antecedents of exchange governance in transaction cost theory, i.e. asset specificity and behavioural uncertainty. A third contribution is on the study of contracting and coordination mechanisms, supporting the complementary nature of contractual and relational governance based on the two-dimensional structure of contracts. Finally, this dissertation also contributes to frontline employee behaviour literature by diminishing the mediating role of in-role behaviour and stressing the importance of extra-role behaviour in performance productivity. From a practical viewpoint, to enhance the performance outcomes of business services exchanges, an appropriate level of contract detail, contract flexibility and relational norms should be developed, dependent on the features of the specific support service transaction, and in-role and extra-role behaviour of frontline employees should be stimulated.
Author: Darline Vandaele
Language: English
Subfield: Management Information Systems
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1203380176