On the Acceptance of Gain Sharing Methods in Supply Chain Collaboration

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the acceptance of different gain sharing methods in practice. In addition, the influence of behavioural aspects on the acceptance of these allocation methods is observed. Design/methodology/approach – In order to investigate the research question, a behavioural study is conducted in form of online surveys. The online surveys are performed with manufacturers, logistics service providers (LSPs) and retailers from the Dutch fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry. Further, a control group consisting of students is used in order to investigate potential cognitive biases of business practitioners.Findings – Results indicate that the acceptance of a gain sharing method depends on the information availability and cognitive biases. Further, due to a different influence of information availability and varying cognitive biases no gain sharing methods is preferred by all involved parties.Practical implications –The major barrier for the implementation and the success of a SCC is a fair allocation method which is accepted by all parties involved in the SCC. One practical implication of this study to overcome this barrier is to provide each party individually all relevant information. Originality/value – The study extends the work by Cruijssen et al. (2007a) as well as Leng and Parlar (2009) and provides novel insights in the understanding of the acceptance of gain sharing methods through the investigation of the acceptance levels and the integration of behavioural decision-making literature.