Do political ties facilitate operational efficiency? A contingent political embeddedness perspective

Lu Shen; Kevin Zheng Zhou; Kui Wang; Chuang Zhang

doi:10.1002/joom.1203

journal article Aug 02, 2022

Do political ties facilitate operational efficiency? A contingent political embeddedness perspective

Lu Shen

Kevin Zheng Zhou

Kui Wang

Chuang Zhang

Journal of Operations Management Vol. 69 No. 1 pp. 159-184 · Wiley

View at Publisher Save 10.1002/joom.1203

Abstract

AbstractAlthough the significance of relational ties with supply chain partners to firms' operations management has been frequently studied, it is unclear how political ties, which represent another form of relational ties that is especially important in emerging economies, relate to operational efficiency. Drawing on the political embeddedness perspective, we propose a negative association between political ties and operational efficiency and examine how this association is moderated by environmental and firm‐level factors. Using panel data of listed private firms in China, we show that political ties are negatively correlated with operational efficiency. In addition, this negative relationship is stronger when firms operate in regions with less developed factor markets and in highly competitive industries. However, the negative relationship is weaker for firms with high levels of foreign shareholding and customer concentration. These findings caution against the downsides of political ties for operations management and highlight strategies for reducing their negative effect.

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Metrics

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Citations

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References

Details

Published: Aug 02, 2022
Vol/Issue: 69(1)
Pages: 159-184
License: View

Authors

L

Lu Shen

School of Maritime Economics and Management Dalian Maritime University Dalian China

K

Kevin Zheng Zhou

Faculty of Business and Economics The University of Hong Kong Pokfulam Hong Kong

K

Kui Wang

Business School Southwest University of Political Science and Law Chongqing China

C

Chuang Zhang

School of Business Administration Dongbei University of Finance and Economics Dalian China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China Award: 71772031

Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee Award: HKU 17501219

Cite This Article

Lu Shen, Kevin Zheng Zhou, Kui Wang, et al. (2022). Do political ties facilitate operational efficiency? A contingent political embeddedness perspective. Journal of Operations Management, 69(1), 159-184. https://doi.org/10.1002/joom.1203

Do political ties facilitate operational efficiency? A contingent political embeddedness perspective

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