Development of a Validated Scoring Instrument for Businesses to Help Measure Negotiation Styles in Business Partnerships

Diploma Thesis from the year 2003 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,3 (A), RWTH Aachen University (International Economy / School of Marketing), language: English, abstract: Over the last years the number of business partnerships has increased significantly (e.g., Eden and Huxham, 2001; Mohr and Spekman, 1994; Teegen and Doh, 2002). There are various drivers for this kind of strategic re-orientation among companies. Whereas companies have previously relied on profitability of protected home markets, the changed economic climate1 has fostered collaboration between them (Bleeke and Ernst, 1993). Firms collaborate to master the challenges caused by these changes. At the same time they benefit from better access to new markets, pooling or swapping technology, sharing of risks, larger economies of scale in joint research and/or production, and economies of scope (e.g., Contractor and Lorange, 1988; Lorange and Roos, 1991). Business partnerships can be defined as purposive strategic relationships between independent firms who share compatible goals, strive for mutual benefit, and acknowledge a high level of mutual interdependency (Mohr and Spekman, 1994, p. 135). Examples of organizational forms which support this kind of cooperation are strategic alliances, joint ventures, licence agreements, research and development (R&D) partnerships, and franchising (e.g., Borys and Jemison, 1989; Ring and Van de Ven, 1992). Ring and Van de Ven (1994) explain that business partnerships emerge, evolve and dissolve over time. In spite of the benefits which business partnerships can contribute to a company's success, reported failure rates range between 30 and 70 percent (e.g., Bleeke and Ernst, 1993; Das and Teng, 2000; Visioni, 2002). Differences between collaborating companies in terms of aims, cultures, structures, procedures, languages, power, and accountabilities are said to make the effective management of business partnerships not easy and are admittedly unerringly negative influencing factors on their success (e.g., Eden and Huxham 2001). [...] 1 e.g., emergence of intense global competition, economic integration among countries, formation of regional markets, technological innovation, and shortening of product life cycles (cf. Olson and Singsuwan, 1997). 2 Partnerships attributes are, for example, trust, interdependency, commitment, culture, cooperation, and coordination. 3 Communication behaviour: quality, participation, and information sharing. 4 Conflict Resolution techniques: joint problem solving, persuasion, domination, and harsh words.