Collaborative relationships within a subsidiary network context: a case study in the automotive industry (original) (raw)
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From a conceptual point of view it is accepted that in order to understand the business environment of companies we have to look beyond ordinary buyer-supplier relationships and into intricate webs of firms forming networks. The existing literature on buyer-supplier relationships rarely makes a connection between a dyadic and a network approach and most empirical studies fail to catch the complexity of business interactions. This paper, by exploring dyadic relationships within a network context attempts to make relevant contributions to the emerging body of knowledge in this important arena. The main objective of the study is to understand the dynamics of the relationships between a major automotive manufacturer with a network form of organisation and its suppliers located in Portugal. More specifically, this study attempts to capture the nature of the dyadic relationships involved and to identify the factors influencing their nature and development. In this paper an inter-disciplinary approach to inter-organisational relationships is followed, based on the combination of several research streams in which Supply Chain Management, Purchasing and Industrial Marketing appear as the major parent disciplines to the specific topics under investigation. A case study is favoured and in-depth interviews with key informants within both parties are undertaken. A conceptual framework, using Partnering as a central construct, is developed as a basis for the fieldwork. A Dyadic Process Model, constructed in the light of the findings of the case study where connections between contextual factors are specified, is presented. 1
Buyer–supplier collaborative relationships: Beyond the normative accounts
Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 2006
This paper presents a critique of the normative, buyer-supplier literature and in addition suggests that the more empirically-based literature needs to expand its scope of attention beyond its traditional confines of attention. Four main deficiencies are identified within much of the existing buyer-supplier literature. Firstly, collaborative buyer-supplier theories fail to discriminate sufficiently between individual and firmlevel buyer-supplier decision-making. Secondly, the stage models of relationship development are challenged. Thirdly, the interdependencies between buyer-supplier relations and other, competing organizational priorities are highlighted. Fourthly, we question the monolithic constructs of organizational 'commitment' and 'trust' underpinning much existing relationship-marketing literature.
The Strategic Importance of Supplier Relationships in the Automotive Industry
International Journal of Engineering Business Management, 2013
The aim of this paper is to analyse longitudinally the development of purchasing strategies in the automotive industry during the last 20 years. The amplitude of the business cycle during this time frame has been very high and includes periods of financial/automotive crisis as well as high sales and demand. Our empirical data is primarily drawn from a 1990–2010 longitudinal case study of the relationship between automaker Volvo Personal Cars and Autoliv, a supplier of seat belts and airbags, complemented with secondary data framing the development of the industry level. The theoretical focus is on outsourcing and purchasing strategies developed within long-lasting buyer-supplier relationships; theoretical pillars are found in transaction-cost theories and the resource-based view of the firm. Based on the longitudinal case study, our analysis pinpoints the importance of intimate cooperation between customer and supplier in areas close to the core values and core competences of the bu...
An exploratory study of ‘close’ supplier–manufacturer relationships
Journal of Operations Management, 2006
Close relationships with selected suppliers can enable manufacturers to reduce costs, improve quality and enhance new product development. Although the advantages of close co-operation are widely acknowledged in the literature, the specific attributes of such relationships are not well understood. To address this gap, 39 managers responsible for purchasing were interviewed using a technique from psychology, which is particularly effective at uncovering the characteristics of relationships. This approach is innovative in the context of supplier management research and gave insights into how manufacturers expect more from their suppliers than just reliable deliveries of high-quality, well-priced parts and components. The results of the empirical research enhance our knowledge of the attributes of manufacturer-supplier relationships and also indicate how manufacturers can establish close relationships with selected suppliers. Overall, the study has established the viability of a new approach for understanding the complex topic of manufacturer-supplier partnerships. #
Partnering and relationships within an international network context
This paper uses an empirical study of the collaborative business relationships between Opel Portugal as a subsidiary the American automotive manufacturer General Motors and its Portuguese-based direct suppliers (PBDS) as a means of exploring the contributions of the three research traditions of supply chain management, multinational theory and, crucially, the role of the IMP approach. Within this research, the supply chain management concept of partnering is used to provide a bridge between the dyadic and network perspectives. Also, due to its potential in describing complex business networks and in capturing the nature of dyadic business relationships, the analytical tool related to the IMP work, the ARA (activities-resources-actors) model, by Hä kansson and Snehota, is a major influence on the development of the conceptual framework presented in this study. The case results indicate the possibility of mapping the constructs of the partnering approach onto the ARA model to understand the dyad within a network context where the MNC's structure and operation exerts an often constraining role on the possible dyadic interactions.
Taking the leap from dyads to triads: Buyer–supplier relationships in supply networks
Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 2009
A network is made up of nodes and links. The smallest unit that consists of both these network elements is a dyad made up of two nodes (a buyer and a supplier) and the link that connects them (a buyersupplier relationship). Naturally, the focus of the supply chain management literature has been on this dyad. For instance, a buyer affects a supplier through its supplier evaluation and certificate programs, as well as long-term agreement practices. The relationship between a buyer and its supplier has been characterized as cooperative or adversarial. We have learned a great deal about supply chains through such studies in dyadic context. However, we submit that in a network, a dyad is not the smallest unit of a network. In fact, the smallest unit is a triad, made up of three nodes and the links that connect them. If so, how would this recognition guide us as we move forward to investigate supply chains as a network? What would be its implications to the genre of the literature on buyer-supplier relationships?
Collaborative buyer-supplier relation and the formation of centralised networks
Geoforum, 1996
Much of Western European and North American industry has been restructuring its supplier relations, introducing innovations such as JIT delivery, increased outsourcing and collaborative buyer-supplier relations. There is now a growing literature on the extent and general spatial implications of changing buyersupplier relations in the U.K. There is less evidence of the extent and form of collaborative inter-firm relations in the U.K. This paper provides some initial findings of the extent and form of collaborative buyer-supplier relations on processes of technology transfer. It draws on the results of surveys of electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and firms in their main supply industries in two contrasting study areas. The research findings suggest that there is, as yet, an absence of real depth in collaborative buyer-supplier relations. Furthermore, there are signs that the collaboration which is taking place appears to be concentrated between OEMs and suppliers with superior functional capabilities.