본 연구에서 저자는 최근 대, 중소기업 간 상생 협력의 대표적인 방법으로서 각광을 받고 있는 성과공유(benefit sharing) 제도를 대상으로 상생 협력의 문화적 정합성을 분석했다. 저자는 성과공유 제도를 운영하고 있는 한국, 미국, 일본 등지 의 기업들을 대상으로 준표준화된 면접과 구조화된 관찰을 하였다. 연구 결과, 지식 기반 신뢰, 귀속 기반 신뢰 등이 고르게 형성된 일본 공급 망들은 제안제도, 공급사 개발, 신제품 공동 개발(목표원가) 등의 방법을 고르게 활용하고 있고, 계산 기반 신뢰, 지식 기반 신뢰 등이 형성된 미국의 공급 망들은 제 안제도, 공급사 개발 방법 등을 활용하고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 반면에, 귀속 기반 신뢰와 지식 기반 신뢰가 약한 한국 의 공급 망들은 제안제도를 주로 활용하는 것으로 나타났다. 성과공유 제도의 운영에는 문화적 정합성이 있다는 본 연구의 결과는, 상생 협력과 문화의 관계에 대한 연구적 갭(gap) 을 메워주는 역할을 할 뿐만 아니라 성과공유 제도 도입을 놓고 고민하는 기업들, 그리고 성과공유 제도 확산을 위해 노 력하는 정책 입안자들에게 좋은 지침을 제공할 것이다.
Scholars argue that trust can lead to, and is a necessary condition for, cooperative behavior among organizations. They also argue that a certain form of group based trust is linked with group membership and develops as an individual organization identifies with the goals espoused by particular organizations. In these situations, salient group identification greatly enhances the level of cooperation and provides a far better explanation than self-interest approaches for understanding cooperative behavior. This study examines the role of culture-based inter-firm trust in influencing the adoption of benefit-sharing practices, a formal process which committed the buyers to encouraging, reviewing, and acting on suppliers innovative ideas quickly and fairly, and to sharing the benefits of those ideas with suppliers. More specifically: Are there any differences in benefit sharing methods among supply networks in such countries as the United States, Japan, and South Korea? If so, what are the most influential causes? The case study method is chosen for this research because only small numbers of supply networks adopt benefit-sharing practices. I employ semi-structured interviews with managers from fifteen buyers, and twenty of their suppliers in the United States, Japan, and South Korea. The fifteen buyers are all global firms. I find that Japanese networks have adopted a higher level of trust-demanding, with a higher level of value-creating, methods such as supplier development, joint-new-product-development, whereas, the United States’ networks have adopted low to middle level trust-demanding methods such as supplier’s suggestion and supplier development. However, Korean networks have only adopted the lowest trust demanding, also the least profitable, method, namely supplier’s suggestion. In terms of work-related cultural values, I find that Japanese networks emphasized collectivism. Both buyers and suppliers in the Japanese networks are supposed to have common causes. In contrast, the United States’ networks emphasized individualism. Both buyers and suppliers of the United States generally do not identify that they are common group members with a common cause. Contrary to the well-known assertions, Korean networks are much closer to the United States than to Japan in terms of inter-firm-relationshiprelated values. Korean networks have undergone dramatic changes in inter-firm-relationshiprelated values. Since the Foreign Currency Crisis in 1998, buyers and suppliers in Korea do not identify that they are common group members with a common cause. In some sense, Korean networks emphasize individualism more strongly than compared with those of the United States. The findings of Korean networks strongly show the changes of Korean society. The findings also demonstrate that the cultural base of trust has a decisive influence on the adoption of benefit sharing methods for firms in the United States, Japan, and South Korea. The findings further show that benefit sharing practices are culture-specific, and are not easily transferable to countries emphasizing individualism. Taken as a whole, although benefit-sharing practices are believed to serve by enhancing the competitiveness of supply networks, it is necessary for supply networks to investigate their trust level before they adopt specific benefit-sharing practices. This study makes a contribution by providing a framework for explaining the differences of benefit-sharing practices among countries. I identify and articulate the role of trust on the adoption of benefit sharing methods in accordance with trust level. The framework will provide a useful guide to not only supply networks that want to adopt benefit sharing practices but also government authorities seeking targeted interventions.