A meta-analytic review of the effects of organizational control in marketing exchange relationships

A growing body of empirical research has investigated various aspects of control in exchange relationships; however, understanding of this phenomenon is still in its infancy. The objective of our research is to review this literature quantitatively with meta-analysis to derive some empirical generalizations and reconcile the contradictory results about the effects of organizational control in marketing exchange relationships. This study finds that process and output control generally produce positive outcomes, especially when used jointly. It also finds that, because control encompasses more than monitoring alone, the former is generally more effective in producing positive outcomes. Our research also finds that organizational control can have either positive or negative consequences depending on the organizational setting (i.e., interorganizational vs. intraorganizational context).