The importance of power in distribution channels has been noted by a number of writers. However, the concept of power has found only limited attention in the literature of marketing and, until quite recently, had not been the subject of any empirical enquiry. In this thesis a theory of power relations between organisations in distribution channels is developed, drawing on the contributions from a number of disciplines outside that of marketing. The theory attempts to explain the sources from

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... ch organisations der ive power, the manner in which it may be used and with what results. Power is defined in this context as the ability of an organisation to affect the decision making and/or behaviour of another organisation. The theory developed is tested by applying it to an actual channel of distribution for a particular product. The perceptions of the key executives in the organisations comprising the channel, regarding the effect other organisations have on various decisions made by their organisation, are used to measure power. A number of different aspects of the theory developed are examined in the empirical analysis. First, an attempt is made to relate the power attributed to an organisation to a number of variables suggested by the theory. Significant relations I would also like to thank Robert March for his help in selecting the distribution channel for study and all my colleagues in the School of Marketing and Graduate School of Business for their helpful advice and encouragement. My thanks are also due to Denise for her great patience and moral support. Lastly, I would like to thank the typists for their efforts.