前期銷貨收入變動方向是否影響不對稱成本習性？以企業競爭策略觀點

Do Directions of Prior Period Sales Change Affect Asymmetric Cost Behavior? From the Perspective of Competitive Strategy.

過去文獻對於執行競爭策略的企業之成本習性是否受到前期銷貨收入變動方向影響並無一致的看法。本文推論執行策略會增加經理人調整成本的代價，使前期銷貨收入變動對成本習性的關係有所差異，導致前期銷貨收入變動對成本習性的影響與策略的成本調整方向相配合時才會有關聯；反之，則不具關連性。以2010年至2020年間的臺灣上市櫃公司為實證樣本，並採用Miles, Snow, Meyer, and Coleman ( 1978 )的策略分類去區分出先驅者及穩健者。結果發現，先驅者在前期銷貨收入上升的條件下，營業費用呈現僵固性，而前期銷貨收入下降時，則與不對稱成本習性無顯著關聯；相對來說，穩健者在前期銷貨收入下降的條件下，營業費用呈現反僵固性，而前期銷貨收入上升時，則與不對稱成本習性無顯著關聯。此外，本文發現前兩期銷貨收入連續下降時，先驅者呈現反僵固性；而前兩期連續上升時，穩健者會呈現僵固性。這些實證結果說明執行競爭策略的企業需要更明顯的銷貨增減趨勢才會調整資源投入決策。本文具體指出企業為了執行競爭策略，將不易隨短期銷貨變化而改變資源投入決策並形成管理上之限制。

The current literature is inconclusive with respect to the effect of prior sales changes on the asymmetric cost behavior of companies with a competitive strategy. This study argues that companies implementing competitive strategies face significant resource adjustment costs, leading to varying relationships between prior sales change directions and asymmetric cost behavior. As a result, the prior sales change direction affects asymmetric cost behavior only when the effect direction is consistent with the strategy; otherwise, it is irrelevant. To test the conjecture, we used listed and OTC companies in Taiwan as a sample from 2010 to 2020. We categorized these companies into two subsamples, prospectors, and defenders, using Miles et 1978 strategy typology. Our first empirical finding shows that when prior sales changes increase, operating expenses exhibit stickiness for prospectors, whereas there is no evidence to suggest that downward of the prior sales change affects prospectors' asymmetric cost behavior. On the other hand, anti-stickiness takes place for operating expense when prior sales decrease for defenders. However, when the prior sales increases, there is no significant correlation with asymmetric cost behavior. In addition, this article finds that when sales declines for two consecutive periods, prospectors exhibit anti-stickiness; whereas when sales revenue rises for two consecutive periods, defenders show stickiness. These empirical results indicate that companies implementing competitive strategies need more pronounced trends in sales increases or decreases to adjust their resource allocation decisions. This article specifically points out that companies, in order to implement competitive strategies, are unlikely to change their resource allocation decisions in response to short-term sales fluctuations, thereby creating management limitations.