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KEYWORDS
Channel conflict,
Shared values,
Channel management
ABSTRACT
The channel conflict is a kind of conflict among distributors, manufacturers and members of distribution channels, which mainly caused by four factors as follows: channels structural factors, communication factors, economic factors and channel design. The faced problems that between manufacturers and channel partners require to give up the previous channel design ideas of shared values, then understand and operate the relationship from the views of team-building, value-added chain and shared values in order to apply channel integration, vendor alliances and capital penetration and so on, provide valuable service with communication, cooperation and win-win model for channel partners; at last, to set up a good relationship-based, collaborative model of channel relationship. Therefore, improve the overall quality and efficiency of marketing channels and achieve win-win marketing strategy.
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1 Theory Creation and Development of Channel Conflict
Management theory of channel conflict stems from the conflict research of western philosophy and sociology. The results of it are adopting and developing conflict theory of organizational behavior, which is used on marketing channel by scholars.
According to the western scholars Stern (L.W.Stern), EI.Ansari (A.I.EI-Ansary), Bowersox (D.J.Bowersox), Cooper (M.B.Cooper), Waiters (C.G.Waiters), Sims (J.T.Sims), Foster (J.R.Foster) and Woodside (A.G.Woodside), the results showed that channel conflict can be seen from two sides: one is resulting behavior for pillaging scarce resources or thinking the impeded objective realization from others channel partners. The other is defining channel conflict as opposition of objectives and behavior, or competing behavior among channel partners. Synthesizing these two points, channel conflict can be defined as an objective, ideal and action between channel partners in a dissatisfied status. On this basis, scholars have studied the relationship among channel conflict and competition and cooperation, the types of channel conflict, the development process of channel conflict, and the dual impact of channel conflict on performance. The fundamental purpose of the research raises the main reasons of channel conflict. They are inconsistent with the objectives, non-complementary role, resources scarcity, recognizing differences, differences in expectations, failed consensus on decision-making and lack of communication and so on. In fact, channel conflict can be a negative impact as well as a positive one. On the one hand, the negative impact results mainly in...