IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormnsc/v49y2003i4p541-552.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Multimarket Competition, Consumer Search, and the Organizational Structure of Multiunit Firms

Author

Listed:
  • Myong-Hun Chang

    (Department of Economics, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio 44115)

  • Joseph E. Harrington, Jr

    (Department of Economics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218)

Abstract

This research explores how market competition influences a firm's optimal organizational structure. For this purpose, a computational model of competing multiunit firms is developed in which unit managers and corporate staff continually search for better practices, while consumers search among units to find a better match. Organizational structure impacts both the practices at the unit level and the extent of knowledge transfer. An increasing returns mechanism is identified, which results in the relative performance of the centralized form being greater when competition is more intense.

Suggested Citation

  • Myong-Hun Chang & Joseph E. Harrington, Jr, 2003. "Multimarket Competition, Consumer Search, and the Organizational Structure of Multiunit Firms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(4), pages 541-552, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:49:y:2003:i:4:p:541-552
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.49.4.541.14426
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.49.4.541.14426
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mnsc.49.4.541.14426?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James G. March, 1991. "Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 71-87, February.
    2. Myong-Hun Chang & Joseph E. Harrington, 2000. "Centralization vs. Decentralization in a Multi-Unit Organization: A Computational Model of a Retail Chain as a Multi-Agent Adaptive System," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(11), pages 1427-1440, November.
    3. Aghion, Philippe & Tirole, Jean, 1997. "Formal and Real Authority in Organizations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(1), pages 1-29, February.
    4. repec:ner:ucllon:http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/17678/ is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Myong-Hun Chang & Joseph E Harrington, 2000. "Organization of Innovation in a Multi-Unit Firm: Coordinating Adaptive Search on Multiple Rugged Landscapes," Economics Working Paper Archive 442, The Johns Hopkins University,Department of Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chang, Myong-Hun & Harrington, Joseph Jr., 2006. "Agent-Based Models of Organizations," Handbook of Computational Economics, in: Leigh Tesfatsion & Kenneth L. Judd (ed.), Handbook of Computational Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 26, pages 1273-1337, Elsevier.
    2. Pei, Zhi & Paswan, Audhesh & Yan, Ruiliang, 2014. "E-tailer׳s return policy, consumer׳s perception of return policy fairness and purchase intention," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 249-257.
    3. Lucio Biggiero & Enrico Sevi, 2009. "Opportunism by cheating and its effects on industry profitability. The CIOPS model," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 191-236, September.
    4. Nicolai J. Foss & Kenneth Husted & Snejina Michailova, 2010. "Governing Knowledge Sharing in Organizations: Levels of Analysis, Governance Mechanisms, and Research Directions," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 455-482, May.
    5. Meagher, Kieron J. & Wong, Arlene & Zauner, Klaus G., 2020. "A competitive analysis of fail fast: Shakeout and uncertainty about consumer tastes," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 589-600.
    6. Jason Barr & Nobuyuki Hanaki, 2008. "Organizations undertaking complex projects in uncertain environments," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 3(2), pages 119-135, December.
    7. Dong, Ciwei & Chen, Chenyi & Shi, Xiutian & Ng, Chi To, 2021. "Operations strategy for supply chain finance with asset-backed securitization: Centralization and blockchain adoption," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    8. Linda Argote & Bill McEvily & Ray Reagans, 2003. "Managing Knowledge in Organizations: An Integrative Framework and Review of Emerging Themes," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(4), pages 571-582, April.
    9. Nobuyuki Hanaki & Jason Barr, 2005. "Firm Structure, Search and Environmental Complexity," Computing in Economics and Finance 2005 222, Society for Computational Economics.
    10. Konur, Dinçer & Geunes, Joseph, 2016. "Supplier wholesale pricing for a retail chain: Implications of centralized vs. decentralized retailing and procurement under quantity competition," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 98-110.
    11. Hyun Seok (Huck) Lee & Saravanan Kesavan & Camelia Kuhnen, 2022. "When do group incentives for retail store managers work?," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(8), pages 3077-3095, August.
    12. Jin, Chenglin & Liu, Along & Liu, Hefu & Gu, Jibao & Shao, Meng, 2022. "How business model design drives innovation performance: The roles of product innovation capabilities and technological turbulence," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    13. Muge Ozman & Andrew Parker, 2023. "The effect of social networks, organizational coordination structures, and knowledge heterogeneity on knowledge transfer and aggregation," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 249-278, April.
    14. Jorge Colazo, 2016. "A Cognitive Load View And Empirical Test Of Collaboration Network Structure Versus Learning Rates In New Software Development," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(01), pages 1-28, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chang, Myong-Hun & Harrington, Joseph Jr., 2006. "Agent-Based Models of Organizations," Handbook of Computational Economics, in: Leigh Tesfatsion & Kenneth L. Judd (ed.), Handbook of Computational Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 26, pages 1273-1337, Elsevier.
    2. Desmarchelier, Benoît & Djellal, Faridah & Gallouj, Faïz, 2013. "Environmental policies and eco-innovations by service firms: An agent-based model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 80(7), pages 1395-1408.
    3. Jan W. Rivkin & Nicolaj Siggelkow, 2003. "Balancing Search and Stability: Interdependencies Among Elements of Organizational Design," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(3), pages 290-311, March.
    4. Bryan Hong, 2020. "Power to the outsiders: External hiring and decision authority allocation within organizations," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(9), pages 1628-1652, September.
    5. Nada Mumdžiev & Josef Windsperger, 2011. "The Structure of Decision Rights in Franchising Networks: A Property Rights Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(3), pages 449-465, May.
    6. Lichtenthaler, Ulrich, 2010. "Organizing for external technology exploitation in diversified firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(11), pages 1245-1253, November.
    7. Ngo Van Long & Antoine Soubeyran & Raphael Soubeyran, 2014. "Knowledge Accumulation Within An Organization," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1089-1128, November.
    8. Luigi Marengo & Corrado Pasquali, 2012. "How to Get What You Want When You Do Not Know What You Want: A Model of Incentives, Organizational Structure, and Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(5), pages 1298-1310, October.
    9. Emma von Essen & Marieke Huysentruyt & Topi Miettinen, 2019. "Exploration in Teams and the Encouragement Effect: Theory and Evidence," Economics Working Papers 2019-10, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    10. Beugelsdijk, Sjoerd & Jindra, Björn, 2018. "Product innovation and decision-making autonomy in subsidiaries of multinational companies," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 529-539.
    11. Nobuyuki Hanaki & Jason Barr, 2005. "Firm Structure, Search and Environmental Complexity," Computing in Economics and Finance 2005 222, Society for Computational Economics.
    12. Nobuyuki Hanaki & Jason Barr, 2005. "Firm Structure, Search and Environmental Complexity," Computing in Economics and Finance 2005 222, Society for Computational Economics.
    13. Emma von Essen & Marieke Huysentruyt & Topi Miettinen, 2020. "Exploration in Teams and the Encouragement Effect: Theory and Experimental Evidence," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(12), pages 5861-5885, December.
    14. Bryan Hong & Lorenz Kueng & Mu-Jeung Yang, 2019. "Complementarity of Performance Pay and Task Allocation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(11), pages 5152-5170, November.
    15. Jerker. Denrell & Christina. Fang & Daniel A. Levinthal, 2004. "From T-Mazes to Labyrinths: Learning from Model-Based Feedback," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(10), pages 1366-1378, October.
    16. Mu-Jeung Yang & Lorenz Kueng & Bryan Hong, 2015. "Business Strategy and the Management of Firms," NBER Working Papers 20846, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Arman Avadikyan & Gilles Lambert & Christophe Lerch, 2016. "A Multi-Level Perspective on Ambidexterity: The Case of a Synchrotron Research Facility," Working Papers of BETA 2016-44, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    18. Henri A. Schildt & Markku V.J. Maula & Thomas Keil, 2005. "Explorative and Exploitative Learning from External Corporate Ventures," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(4), pages 493-515, July.
    19. Giuliani, Elisa & Martinelli, Arianna & Rabellotti, Roberta, 2016. "Is Co-Invention Expediting Technological Catch Up? A Study of Collaboration between Emerging Country Firms and EU Inventors," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 192-205.
    20. Insoo Cho & Peter F. Orazem, 2021. "How endogenous risk preferences and sample selection affect analysis of firm survival," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1309-1332, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:49:y:2003:i:4:p:541-552. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.