Managing triads in a military avionics service maintenance network in Taiwan

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how different types of triad structures, and the management mechanisms adopted by the focal company, affect cooperative performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses a social network perspective to examine the triad management phenomenon in the military avionics maintenance context, which is closely associated with the field of operations management.

Findings

This paper demonstrates that different triad structures and management mechanisms influence perceived cooperative performance. Four main findings emerged: in a triad, a firm playing a bridging role perceives higher cooperative performance than when playing a peripheral role in the triad or being located in a fully connected triad. When a firm plays the bridging role in a triad, and has a high level of trust, this leads to higher perceived cooperative performance. When a firm plays a peripheral role in a triad, high levels of coordination mechanism combined with high levels of trust result in higher levels of perceived cooperative performance. In a fully linked triad, when the coordination mechanism is well developed, the level of trust is high, so that the resulting level of perceived cooperation is high.

Originality/value

This paper extends the knowledge of triad management by providing an in‐depth study of a well‐defined network setting with exceptionally high‐level access to the most senior executives. In practice, this paper shows how to manage different triads.

Citation

Peng, T.A., Lin, N., Martinez, V. and Yu, C.J. (2010), "Managing triads in a military avionics service maintenance network in Taiwan", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 398-422. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443571011029985