earticle

영어

As today business environment is changing rapidly and competition is more intensive in the market, it is more important to adapt to the rapidly changing market environment. And also, companies think that they need to have win-win cooperation as they aware that there is a limit to adapt the today market environment alone. But there are asymmetric structures in market because small and medium business have relied on large companies so far. Therefore, it is very important to study the small and medium businesses protection mechanism for maintaining healthy business relationships in this asymmetric structures. This research focus on social exchange theory as a academic background to facilitate mutual cooperation and accompanied growth. Therefor, we set up a small and medium business protection mechanism to facilitate mutual cooperation and mutual growth of large companies and small and medium businesses with social exchange theory, not transaction cost theory. That is, we want to demonstrate whether social exchange theory is appropriate protective mechanisms for small and medium businesses or not through a literature review and hypothesis testing. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate the impact of relationship specific investment and relational capital between large companies and small and medium businesses on relationship learning. The purpose of this study is to find out whether relationship specific investment, relational capital, and relationship learning can be an antecedent of relationship satisfaction and long-term relationship. For this study, data were gathered by survey and analyzed by structural equation modeling. The sample size in the present study was 245. The reliability of the all seven dimensions was estimated with Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability values and average variance extracted values. We determined whether the measurement model supports the convergent validity and discriminant validity by Exploratory factor analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. For each pair of constructs, the square root of the average variance extracted values exceeded their correlations, thus supporting the discriminant validity of the constructs. Hypotheses were tested using the AMOS 19.0. As expected, the all hypotheses were supported. The greater degree of relationship specific investment and relational capital between large companies and small and medium businesses were the more favorable to relationship satisfaction and long-term relationship. In addition, relationship satisfaction affected long-term relationship. In summary, the large cooperations could reduce the opportunistic behavior of small and medium businesses by one-sided transaction specific investments, however the small and medium businesses can not reduce the opportunistic behavior of large companies. because of the transaction specific investments, the small and medium businesses was only respond to unreasonable demands, such as price cuts targeted at small and medium businesses. This is not a valid win-win cooperation, resulting in lowering of the products quality of these small businesses to meet the unreasonable demands which large companies want. As a result, it aggravate large companies’ management performance. Relationship capital being built through the relationship specific investment and the relationship between large companies and small and medium businesses facilitate to learn from each other between trading partners, and eventually leads to a long-term orientation. This study demonstrated the justification and rationale for the mutual cooperation of large companies and small and medium businesses, which we would like to mention in this study. This means that the social exchange theory is an important theoretical background to have a win-win effect through transaction of large companies and small and medium businesses. And also we could identify that relationship specific investment and relational capital based on social exchange theory have positive effect on the transaction performance because small and medium businesses are immersed in the relation with large companies. Therefore, they can be mutually win-win by utilizing the relationship aspects based on social exchange theory as strategy aspects of corporate activity. Traditionally large companies has used management strategies to reduce transaction cost and get more benefit with power as a the strong, which could attack to themselves in long-term point of view. That is, this research results mean that large companies force small and medium businesses to get unfair transaction by using superior position in the transaction with small and medium businesses, which adversely affect large companies in performance aspect. Rather, the relationship capital and investment for positive relationship with small and medium businesses are important key factors that small and medium businesses would have a long-term oriented relationship by themselves. Therefore, we suggests that large companies should reinforce the interactive process to improve the relationship quality through relationship specific investment and relational capital with small and medium businesses.

한국어

빠르게 변화하는 시장 환경에 기업이 적응하려 할 때, 독자적인 대응에는 한계가 있음을 인지하게 되면서 상생협력을 통한 기업 간의 유기적인 대응이 점점 중요해지고 있다. 기존의 기업 간 거래에 있어서 기업거래 관점은 거래비용 이론으로 제시되어 왔다. 즉, 기업 간 거래에 있어서 거래 기업의 기회주의적 행위를 제한하기 위해 계약 및 제도, 지배구조 등을 이용하여 상대 기업의 협력적 행동을 이끌어 내야 한다고 언급하고 있다. 그러나 이러한 관점은 의존도가 상호 간 유사할 경우 가능하며, 의존도가 비대칭적일 경우에는 의존도가 높은 기업이 낮은 기업의 기회주의 행동을 제한할 수 없게 된다. 대기업과 거래를 하는 중소기업의 경우 대기업에 비해 상대적으로 의존성이 크며, 따라서 대기업과 중소기업 의존구조는 비대칭적으로 이루어진다. 즉, 거래비용 이론은 중소기업의 입장에서 대기업을 협력적 관계로 통제하는데 한계가 있다. 이러한 한계점을 극복하기 위해 본 연구에서는 사회교환 이론의 관점으로 중소기업과 대기업 간의 거래를 살펴보고자 하였으며, 실증적 분석을 통해 국내 대 중소기업의 성공적인 거래관계의 방향과 학술적 시사점을 제공하고자 한다. 본 연구의 결과를 요약하면, 관계특유투자와 관계자본은 관계학습에 긍정적인 영향을 미치고, 관계학습은 거래관계 만족과 장기지향성에 긍정적으로 영향을 미치는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 이러한 연구결과는 사회교환 이론의 관점에서 관계특유투자 및 관계자본과 같은 관계중심의 접근법이 결국에는 중소기업의 장기지향성에 긍정적으로 작용함을 보여준다. 이는 의존구조가 비대칭적인 기업거래 상황에서, 의존구조가 낮은 거래관계의 강자가 지배구조 등을 통한 강압적인 관점이 아닌 관계적 접근법으로 다가서도 의존도가 높은 거래상의 약자는 장기적으로 관계를 맺고자 함을 보여준다. 기존의 대기업은 중소기업과의 거래에서 효율성과 효과성을 중시하여 불공정거래 논란이 일고, 우월적 지위를 남용하는 사례가 다수 발생하였다. 본 연구결과에서는 대기업의 이러한 정책이 궁극적으로는 대기업의 성과적 측면에서 바람직하지 못함을 반증한다. 따라서 중소기업과의 관계특유투자와 관계자본을 강화함으로서 관계품질을 높이기 위한 상호작용의 프로세스를 강화시킬 필요가 있다.