Jean L. Johnson, Tomoaki Sakano, Joseph A. Cote, & Naoto Onzo The Exercise of Interfirm Power and Its Repercussions in U.S.- Japanese Channel Relationships The study investigates how Japanese distributors of U.S. manufactured consumer products perceive the exercise of power sources by both themselves and their U.S. suppliers in the across-culture distribution channel. The mediated and nonmediated bases of power found in domestic relationships were not rep- licated in Japanese distributors' perceptions. Results indicate a factor structure based on nurturing and authoritative bases of power. The Japanese also react to the exercise of power sources in a slightly different manner than Western channel participants. T HE increasing predominance and pervasiveness of the "global reality" has led to the emergence of previously unique distribution relationships, that is, across-culture distribution channels. Unfortunately, research on distribution channels has focused almost exclusively on relationships within Western cultures such as the U.S. (e.g., Frazier and Rody 1991), Scan- dinavia, Europe (Carman 1990; Hakansson 1982; Jo- hanson, Hallen, and Seyed-Mohamed 1991), and Australia (Wilkinson 1979). Even the few noteworthy exceptions (Frazier, Gill, and Kale 1989; Kale 1986) address managing channel relationships within the confines of a single non-Western culture (India). Explorations of distribution channel relationships in other non-Western cultures have suggested differ- ences in channel participants' behaviors. Frazier, Gill, and Kale (1989), for example, argue that reciprocal action phenomena may be contingent on the cultural context. They caution researchers about generalizing from traditional domestic channel management to the management of international channel relationships. Jean L Johnson is Assistant Professor and Joseph A. Cote is Associate Professor, Department of Marl<eting, Washington State University. To- moaki Sakano and Naoto Onzo are Associate Professors of iVIanage- ment, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. The authors acknowiedge the comments and contributions of James R. Brown. Further, they allude to significant gains in the under- standing of channel relationships from a broadened re- search perspective that takes market and cultural con- texts into account. When the cultural and market context examined is that of a critical trading partner (e.g., Ja- pan), their observations become even more important. Responding to the paucity of research, we exam- ine the exercise of power sources and its repercussions in distribution channel dyads that span the boundaries of two diverse cultures, Japan and the United States. Specifically, we examine how Japanese distributors relate and respond to power in general by exploring the factor structure of exercised power sources. In ad- dition, we investigate Japanese responses to the ex- ercise of certain power sources to see whether, like U.S. managers, Japanese managers respond in kind when those power sources are exercised. Last, our study includes an examination of how Japanese distributors' perceptions of and responses to the wielding of chan- nel power affect relationship quality. Researchers have widely acknowledged the cen- trality of social power in channel management. Con- sequently, an extensive and rich body of research has emerged over the past several decades. The study of social power began with investigations into sources or bases of power (French and Raven 1959) and attri- Journal of Marketing Vol. 57 (April 1993), 1-10 U.S.-Japanese Channel Relationships/1