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Cited by 1,990Management and Organizational StudiesOutsourcing and Supply Chain ManagementEconomic Theory and Institutions

Price, Authority, and Trust: From Ideal Types to Plural Forms

Bradach, Jeffrey L., Eccles, Robert G.·1989·Annual Review of Sociology
DOI 10.1146/annurev.so.15.080189.000525
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Abstract

This review article focuses on the three control mechanisms that govern economic transactions between actors: price, authority, and trust. In contrast to conventional approaches that view market and hierarchy as mutually exclusive control mechanisms (or as poles of a continuum), we argue that price, authority, and trust are independent and can be combined in a variety of ways. For instance, price and authority are often played off each other within firms, while trust and price are sometimes intertwined to control transactions between firms. We also identify a type of organization largely ignored in the literature: the plural form. In the plural form, organizations simultaneously operate distinct control mechanisms for the same function. For example, organizations operate franchises and company-owned units under the same trademark, and companies sometimes make and buy the same part. To understand this form, the analytic focus must move from individual transactions to the broader architecture of control mechanisms

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Authors
Bradach, J. L., & Eccles, R. G.
Affiliations
Harvard University (US)
Venue
Annual Review of Sociology
Publisher
Annual Reviews
Published
1989-08
Volume
15
Issue
1
Pages
97-118
ISSN
  • 0360-0572 (ISSN-L)
  • 1545-2115
DOI
10.1146/annurev.so.15.080189.000525
OpenAlex
W2124013233
Cited by
1,990
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 43 · 2021: 41 · 2020: 56 · 2019: 62 · 2018: 67 · 2017: 57 · 2016: 75 · 2015: 78 · 2014: 95 · 2013: 106 · 2012: 109
FWCI
11.26
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Annual Review of Sociology (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Management and Organizational Studies
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Management Information Systems › Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Economic Theory and Institutions
Keywords
control mechanisms, price, authority, trust, plural forms, market and hierarchy, organizational control, franchising, make-or-buy decision, economic transactions, organizational architecture

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