Chapter 5 Discussions
5.4 Research Constraints
A few caveats must be noted, however. First, the data is from a single company, PFC.
Although the company is large enough to provide observations on entry mode in all major
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cities of China, caution must be exercised when generalizing the results as some company-specific features may contaminate the data. Second, there may be more varieties in institutions than in transaction costs across regions, as transaction costs tend to be more related to product characteristics than to regions. Therefore, institutions have more explanatory power than transaction costs probably because we are analyzing the regional differences. Third, the less developed the regions were, the more affected by institutions.
Finally, due to the difficulty in obtaining sophisticated survey data, measurements on institutional factors have been simplified to a manageable level. This may conceal some important information regarding institutional environments in China.
47
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Appendix A
Scales of Independent Variables and Control Variables
Institutional variables
Construct Variables Scales
REG1
Do you think the local government discouraged or forbade the establishment of wholly-owned subsidiaries? “very strongly agree” to “very strongly disagree” (7 scales)
REG2 How fast has the local government relaxed the regulations on the distribution business in this region in the past few years? “very slow” to “very fast” (7 scales)
REG3 How transparent do you think the local taxation or levy on distributors is? “very non-transparent” to “very transparent” (7 scales)
Regulative institutions
(REG)
REG4 How well do you think the financial institutions have been developed in this district?
“very poorly developed” to “very well developed” (7 scales) Professional
Norms PN How much do you think the professional associations shape or establish the rules of the game in your industry? “absolutely no influence” to “very influential” (7 scales) Network
Relations NET Do you think good relations with the local distributors and wholesalers are important to your business? “very strongly disagree” to “very strongly agree”(7 scales)
Mimetic
behaviors MIMIC What is the entry mode of your rivalry brand--Master Kong in your sale district?
1□contracted agent 2□wholly-owned subsidy Cognitive
pressure COGNITIVE
How easily a newly established distributor can be accepted in the local market? “very difficult” to “very easily” to (7 scales)
Cultural
distance CD Do you think the communications between PFC and local customers have been impeded by cultural differences? “very strongly disagree” to “very strongly agree” (7 scales) Transaction costs variables
TSA1 (opportunism)
How much damage do you think a leakage of proprietary information about PFC products will cause? “no damage” to “very substantial” (7 scales)
TSA2 (contracting cost)
How difficult is it to write and enforce a contract with the local distributors in your district? “extremely easy” to “extremely difficult” (7 scales)
Transaction-
Do you think the modern distribution channels that require special distribution arrangements or facilities (e.g. merchandise stores, chain stores, and chain supermarkets) are important in your district? “very strongly disagree” to “very strongly agree” (7 scales)
Control variable
AGE Time of entry; measured by the age (years) of distributor since the time of entry Note: Except for MIMIC and AGE, all variables are measured in 7-point Likert scale.
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Appendix B Results of Scale Purification
TC Loading Cronbach's alpha TSA1 0.749
TSA2 0.754
TSA3 0.64 0.518
Regulative Loading Cronbach's alpha REG1 0.79
REG2 0.756 REG3 0.614 REG4 0.54
0.603
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Appendix C
Results of Using “Area” as Control Variable
Note: Our unit of analysis is sales district. When we say “regional differences”, we mean differences between the sales districts. Six regions are administrative headquarters of PFC, our sample company. We do not study the differences between six regions. To avoid confusion, we have changed the word “region” to “sales district” when necessary.
Variables Coefficient Std. Error
TC TSA 0.087 0.0697
REG 0.1548* 0.073
PN -0.0687 0.059
NET -0.1322** 0.0451 MIMIC 1.1895** 0.184 COGNITIVE 0.1390* 0.056 IT
CD -0.0875 0.0539 AGE -0.0528** 0.019 Control
AREA -0.1057** 0.041 Log likelihood -273.525
Degree of freedom 9
P value 0
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Appendix D Questionnaire
您好:
这是一份学术性的研究问卷，目的在探讨统一公司在每一个销售区域选择为经销商或自营所的考虑 因素，研究结果仅作为学术研究分析的参考！您所填写的资料将仅用作学术上的整体分析，不会揭露个 别资料，敬请放心作答。
茲将几个重点说明如下：
1. 每一答卷者请依照该经销商(或营业所)之销售区域来作答
2. 因为是分析当初统一公司进入此区域的状况，所有问题皆请回顾当初该区开始经营统一方便面的市 场状况来回答。
3. 调查对象为经营方便面之经销商或自营所。
您的意见对本研究非常重要，敬请仔细并正确作答，本卷共3 頁，每一问题皆须作答，问卷才算有
效。
敬祝 平安喜乐！如鹰展翅！
研究单位:台湾交通大学管理科学系 教授:杨千博士 博士生 陈永瑞敬上
我的电话：00886915-135145 E-mail：[email protected]
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個 人 簡 歷
本人目前服務於統一企業，感謝公司的支持，才得以到交大在職進修。主要研究興 趣在行銷通路、公司經營管理。以下為個人學經歷:
學歷
◆ 國立中興大學農經系
私立東海大學 EMBA 管理碩士
國立交通大學 EMBA 第五屆(肄業) 經歷
統一公司產品經理
廣州統一辦事處經理
統在公司經理
統一公司台中業務處課長
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在學期間著作
期刊論文
1. Yung-Ray Chen, Chyan Yang, Sue-Ming Hsu, Yau-De Wang " Entry Mode Choice in China's Regional Distribution Markets: Institution vs. Transaction Costs Perspectives ", Industrial Marketing Management (accepted) (SSCI)