| Buyers and Suppliers: Different strokes for different folks |
| | Wasti, Nazli | Middle East Technical University, Ankara | nazli@man.metu.edu.tr | (312)-210-2010 |
| | It is becoming more common to see research on how well Japanese buyer-supplier relations have been adopted in other geographical areas or by firms of other nationalities. The present study enhances the body of knowledge on inter-company relationships in developing countries by adding a new dimension to the pioneering descriptive studies on the Turkish automotive industry. While these studies provided detailed background information on Turkish buyer-supplier relations, factors affecting these relations have not been investigated. The purpose of this exploratory study is to use questionnaire data from 106 Turkish supplier firms in order to identify determinants of close buyer-supplier relations in the rapidly expanding Turkish automotive industry. The relationships have been evaluated on aspects of communication intensity, trust towards the buyer, and loyalty towards the relationship. The strongest predictors of communication intensity are the certified quality management practices of the supplier, the level of customization of the supplier's equipment to the buyer, the length of the relationship, and the level of technological uncertainty regarding the part provided. On the other hand, trust and loyalty in the relationship seem to be primarily driven by the supplier's being helped and not punished by the buyer if the supplier does not perform satisfactorily. It is clear that any future research needs to go beyond established models based on industrialized countries' data and delve deeper into the characteristics of local contexts. |
| | Keywords: Buyer-supplier relations; Automotive industry; Turkey |
| A Comparison of Centralized and Decentralized Purchasing Structures |
| | Gove, Steve | Arizona State U. | Steve.Gove@asu.edu | (602)-965-8813 |
| | Zsidisin, George A. | Arizona State U. | george.zsidisin@asu.edu | (602)-965-6044 |
| | Stuckwisch, Suzanne M. | Pricewaterhouse Coopers | suzanne.stuckwisch@asu.edu | (602)-280-1800 |
| | Hendrick, Thomas E. | Arizona State U. | Tom.Hendrick@asu.edu | (602)-965-6044 |
| | Logistic regression was used to test a series of hypotheses regarding the association of corporate transaction characteristics, the level of firm diversification, and environmental characteristics with the purchasing organization having a centralized or decentralized structure. The hypotheses represent two theoretical explanations of purchasing structure - transaction cost economics and contingency theory. Empirical results indicate that the use of a tiered purchasing system is associated with centralized purchasing structures and that increased levels of firm diversification are marginally associated with decentralized structures. These results provide support for a view of purchasing structures being associated with transaction cost economizing. |
| | Keywords: organizational; purchasing; structure |
| Specifications in Outsourcing: A Case Study |
| | Nellore, Rajesh | SCANIA, | trn@hhs.se | (46)-8-55380319 |
| | Motwani, Jaideep G. | Grand Valley State U. | motwanij@gvsu.edu | (616)-771-6742 |
| | The power of the specifications has been little investigated in the product
development literature. Specifications have many roles to play and are not
only a tool for engineers to work with. The role of specifications as a
tool to aid otsourcing decisions will be described in this paper. In order
to understand the roles of specifications, a longitudinal study was under-
taken in an automotive OEM (global family), truck OEM and four medium sized
expert supplier firms located in Europe. It is concluded that specifications
may be required to complement current models on outsourcing in order to make
the outsource/insource decision more risk free. This will also allow the
developers to make a more objective decision on outsourcing and allow this
research to open up a critical debate in product development. |
| | Keywords: OUTSOURCING; SPECIFICATIONS; AUTOMOTIVE |
| Strategies for supplier evaluation: A framework for potential advantages and limitations |
| | Purdy, Lyn | U. of Western Ontario | lpurdy@ivey.uwo.ca | (519)-661-4193 |
| | Safayeni, Frank | U. of Waterloo | fsafayeni@engmail.uwaterloo.ca | (519)-885-1211 |
| | Despite the increase in use of supplier evaluation, there is still very limited examination of the supplier evaluation process. Most of the discussion in the literature treats information about suppliers as factual, technical information without regard for the social and organizational biases involved in generating this information. This article presents a framework for examining the process of supplier evaluation. A framework for supplier evaluation is developed based on whether the supplier evaluation process focuses on information from product or process-based domains and whether the information acquisition mode used is direct or indirect. A critical examination of these four approaches to supplier evaluation is presented. In doing so, various advantages and limitations related to each approach are identified. Furthermore, the relationship between the evaluation approach and organizational realities are discussed. Finally, the need for an integrated mechanism to deal with supplier information within organizations is identified. |
| | Keywords: information in supplier evalua; assessing supplier evaluation |