Researchers are invited to present ideas and research results in this forum to accelerate their application and to foster interdisciplinary discussion on knowledge, strategies and tools leading to sustainable management of Canada's boreal forest. Working Papers are published without peer review. Do not cite this Working Paper without the expressed written consent of the author(s).Shades of Green:

1 The Role of the Institutional Environment in Marketing Channels Marketing literature has predominantly used an efficiency-based task environment perspective and largely overlooked a legitimacy-based institutional environment approach in studying channel attitudes, behaviors, processes, and structures. The purpose of this article is to highlight the importance of the institutional environment and develop a comprehensive conceptual framework that incorporates the institutional environment into current marketing channels research. The institutional environment perspective relies on the primacy of (1) regulatory institutions (e.g., laws), (2) normative institutions (e.g., professions), and (3) cognitive institutions (e.g., habitual actions) in influencing the legitimacy of channel members. Using institutional theory, the authors augment the current task environment approach by (1) developing three institutional processes and their underlying mechanisms and (2) elaborating on how these institutions might influence channel relationships. The article ends with a discussion of some future research directions and practical implications. 2 The social sciences are in the midst of a theoretical retreat from society... it is not possible to understand individual and organizational [channel] behavior without locating it in the social context.

The past decade has seen increased scholarly interest in alliances. Authors have devoted attention to the factors underlying alliance formation and the attainment of alliance goals. Concurrently, scholars in the marketing strategy literature examined marketing’s contributions to firm strategy. The following paper explores the intersection between these two bodies of work: the attainment of market knowledge through alliances. Topics include the motivations underlying the desire for market knowledge, the difficulty in transferring market knowledge across organizations, and the presence of opportunism within alliances. Also included are a series of propositions and an agenda for future research.