Table 1.
Different definitions of channel conflict
| Study | Definition | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Stern and Brown (1969) | “the opposition to goals, ideas, or performance behavior that occurs among the managements of institutions that make up the marketing channel” (p.155). | Not only behavior but also differences in ideas are important. |
| Lusch (1976) | “operationally define as the frequency of disagreement between manufacturer and dealer..” (p. 8) | Manifest conflict in forms of verbal and written disagreements. |
| Emerson (1962) | Emerson used his Power-Dependency model (1962) and states that channel conflict arises when channel members compare what they can do within the relationship with what they do outside of it. | Manifest conflict in terms of objectives. |
| Stern and Gorman (1969) | ”A change occurs in the task environment or within a channel member’s organization that eventually has implications for the channel members…. When the other affected member perceives the change as being potentially frustrating to their goals and attempts to remove the cause of frustration, a conflict situation emerges.” | The focus is on both sides of the conflict (manifest task and emotional conflict) |
| Gaski and Nevin (1985) | ”…conflict in a marketing channel to be the perception on the part of a channel member that his goal attainment is being impeded, or blocked, by another channel member.” (p. 131) | Mostly focus on perceived and manifest conflict (behavior) |
| Rose et al. (2007) | “Task conflict centers on disagreements about the means of achieving specific ends ……. while emotional conflict results from interpersonal disagreements and personality incompatibilities.” (p. 297) | Task (cognitive and manifest) conflict and emotional conflict are related but are different aspects of conflict |
| Schmidt and Kochan (1972) | “as overt behavior rising out of a process in which one unit seeks the advancement of its own interests in its relationship with the others” (p. 363). | Mostly focus on perceived and manifest conflict (behavior) |
| Jehn (1995) | “Conflict has been broadly defined as perceived incompatibilities…. Or perceptions by the parties involved that they hold discrepant views or have interpersonal incompatibilities”. (p. 257) | Both sides of conflict (manifest task and emotional) |