본 연구의 목적은 볼런터리 체인의 가맹점 기회주의를 콘텐츠(즉, 계약 vs. 반응)와 능동성(즉, 적극성 vs. 소극성)의 관점에 따라 4가지 형태로 분류하며, 체인 본부의 분배 공정성, 가맹점(즉, 회원 소매업체) 간 사회적 상호작용, 그리고 가맹점 성과가 이들 기회주의를 어떻게 완화하는지를 실증적으로 고찰하는 것이다. 가설 검증은 일본 소매 주도형 볼런터리 체인에 가맹한 241개 중소 슈퍼마켓 소매업체들에 대한 설문 조사 데이터를 가지고 위계적 다중 회귀분석을 실시하였다. 본 연구에서의 주요한 연구 결과로서, 첫째, 체인 본부의 분배 공정성은 계약기반 적극적/소극적 기회주의 및 반응 기반 적극적 기회주의를 완화시킨다. 둘째, 가맹점 성과가 높을 경우, 가맹점 간의 사회적 상호작용이 활발하면 할수록, 체인 본부의 분배 공정성이 계약 기반 적극적/소극적 기회주의 및 반응 기반 적극적 기회주의를 억제하는 효과가 강화된다. 셋째, 흥미롭게도 본 연구 가설에서 반응 기반 소극적 기회주의에 대한 억제 효과는 검증되지 않았다. 이들 발견은 기회주의에 대한 볼런터리 체인의 관리 전략의 효과가 가맹점의 다양한 문제적 행동에 따라 달라질 수 있다는 점을 시사한다. 따라서, 본 연구는 중소 소매업체들의 경쟁력 강화를 도모할 수 있는 네트워크 조직인 볼런터리 체인의 경영 과제를 경제학적 그리고 조직론적 관점에서 고찰하면서, 소매 기업 혁신 연구를 위한 이론적 프레임워크의 구축에 공헌할 수 있다.
Purpose: This study extends the knowledge of the relationship between distributive justice and opportunism in a horizontally and loosely connected retail network organization. To this end, we first elaborate the concept of member retailers’ opportunism by classifying it into four types from the perspective of content (contract vs. response) and activeness (active vs. passive): a) contract-based active opportunism, b) contract-based passive opportunism, c) response-based active opportunism, and d) response-based passive opportunism. We then test the direct impact of organizational justice on opportunism. Second, we empirically investigate the effect of interactions between the headquarters’ distributive justice, social interactions between member retailers, and member retailers’ financial performance on member retailers’ opportunism. Research design, data, and methodology: By considering size and activeness, including retail history, we examine voluntary chains in the Japanese supermarket sector. By conducting a questionnaire survey with each member retailer’s CEO (key informant), we obtain data of 241 small- and medium-sized supermarket retailers affiliated with Japanese voluntary chains. To test our hypotheses, we employ confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Results: This study offers three main findings: First, we find that, whereas the headquarters’ distributive justice directly mitigates a) contract-based active opportunism, b) contract-based passive opportunism, and c) response-based active opportunism, the direct effect on d) response-based passive opportunism is not significant. Second, we find that when member retailers have high financial performance, the impact of headquarters’ distributive justice on the mitigation of a) contract-based active opportunism, b) contract-based passive opportunism, and c) response-based active opportunism is strengthened when the social interaction between member retailers is stronger. Third, we consistently failed to find that d) response-based passive opportunism has significantly decreased in all three hypotheses. These findings suggest that effects of organizational managements and strategies of Japanese voluntary chains for opportunism vary according to diverse problematic behaviors of member retailers. Conclusions: Given the pivotal role of voluntary chains as network organizations essential to the enhanced competitiveness of small- and medium-sized supermarket retailers, this study has three implications. First, we provide a better understanding of the baseline relationship between distributive justice and opportunism by elaborating on the concept of problematic behaviors of member retailers in voluntary chains. Second, we highlight the significance of adopting a strategic and holistic approach to reflect the organizational characteristics of voluntary chains in effectively managing such opportunism. Third, we offer fruitful avenues for future research by urging researchers to further study and discuss the concept of response-based passive opportunism. Therefore, this study contributes to the development of a theoretical framework for retail firm innovation research while investigating the key managerial problems of voluntary chains that inhibit their sustainable growth through the lens of economic, organizational, and social perspectives.