尋找初始夥伴：名聲、信任與適應的影響

Abstract

過去研究顯示對於對方能力的信任信念是很重要的 (Mayer, Davis, & Schoorman, 1995)，然而對於對方專心致力的信任信念的重要卻被忽略。以實務而言，聯盟中夥伴間的相互依賴使得挑選者需要選擇可以有效且和諧合作的聯盟夥伴。但選擇所謂「正確」的初始夥伴對於創業公司卻是相當困難的。為探索初始夥伴是如何被選出的，本文聚焦在進入無先前經驗或足夠市場資訊市場的新創事業。鑑於研究背景奠基在創業公司的草創初期，本研究首先將探討聲譽(即認證、口碑、以及推薦)如何影響對於潛在夥伴的能力和專心致力的信任信念與檢驗其對於決定和此潛在夥伴聯盟動機的中介效果。 此外，本研究建議搜尋夥伴的過程為多階段式。意即，從有和此潛在夥伴聯盟的動機到承諾與其建立長期聯盟關係之間需要考量適應力。因此，本文也將檢驗適應力對於願意承諾長期聯盟關係的影響程度。尤其將分別探討夥伴相關的適應力和任務相關的適應力。 實證結果指出，來自於認證、口碑、以及推薦對於潛在夥伴能力的信任信念分別具有顯著的中介效果，其可促進形成聯盟的動機；同時，認證可藉由對於潛在夥伴專心致力的信任信念而引發形成聯盟的動機。其結果意指對於能力的接受度眾人具有一致看法，然而對於判斷專心致力的看法則是分歧的。受試者將認證視為無受他人扭曲的事實，而將推薦視為值得列入考慮的評價。在考量專心致力方面，受試者顯示無法評估二手資訊(即口碑)造成資訊扭曲的程度。此外，研究結果也顯示夥伴相關和任務相關的適應力都將促使建立長期聯盟關係。

Research has demonstrated that trusting belief in one’s ability is critical (Mayer et al., 1995); however, the importance of trusting belief in dedication has been ignored. In practice, the interdependence between partners involved in alliance requires the selector to choose an alliance partner who can work efficiently and peacefully together. However, choosing the ‘right’ initial partner is particularly challenging for the entrepreneurial firms. To explore how the initial partner was chosen, the focus of this dissertation is those newly start-ups entering into a market which they have no prior experience and adequate market information. Since the research context bases on the early career life of those entrepreneurial firms, the first aim of this study is exploring how reputation, i.e., word-of-mouth, certification, and recommendation, affects trusting belief in a potential partner’s ability and dedication and examines its mediating effects in determining the intention to ally with the potential partner. Moreover, this study suggests the process of searching partner includes multiple stages. That is, the path from the intention to ally with the potential partner to the commitment to a long-term allying relationship requires a consideration of adaptation. Thus, the second aim of this dissertation is to examine the influence of adaptation in determining the willingness of commitment in a long-term allying relationship. Specifically, the partner-related adaptation and task-related adaptation are considered separately. Empirical results show significant mediating effects of trusting belief in a potential partner’s ability from certification, word-of-mouth, and recommendation, which in turn motivate the intention of alliance formation; whereas certification leads to the intention of allying through trust in a potential partner’s dedication. The findings refer a unitary acceptance of ability exists, while the recognition of dedication is divergent. The focal party may regard certification as factual without personal distortion, while the recommendation is an evaluation worth considering. In considering dedication, the focal party may unable to assess the extent of distortion from second-hand information (e.g., word-of-mouth). Moreover, the findings also suggest that the adaptation (both partner-related and task-related) blooms the long-term allying relationship.