Doctor of Philosophy / Buyer-supplier relationships have been increasingly considered a critical part of contemporary supply chain management. In response to dynamic and unpredictable market changes, buyers and suppliers enter into cooperative relationships to pursue individual goals and joint goals for better economic and non-economic performance of the supply chain. On the other hand, cooperation between channel members is surrounded by uncertainty, which can create a detrimental impact on the performance of a supply chain. Previous research has focused on various aspects of uncertainty that could affect supply chain member behaviour. The present research contends that relationship behavioural factors play an important role in increasing or mitigating channel members’ perceived uncertainty in their supply or purchase decision-making. Specifically, the purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of retailer-supplier cooperation and retailer/supplier’s decision-making uncertainty (DMU) on retail supply chain performance from the perspectives of both the retailer and the supplier. A holistic model was developed as the theoretical framework for this conceptualisation. A sample of 202 retailers and 64 suppliers in the sporting goods retail business in Taiwan was used to separately test a number of hypothesised relationships by using structural equation modelling (SEM). The findings indicate that both cooperation and DMU are the key determinants of retail supply chain performance, including financial performance and non-financial performance (i.e., supply flexibility and customer service). Financial performance is positively affected by retailer-supplier cooperation and negatively affected by DMU in both the retailer model and the supplier model. The five dimensions of retailer-supplier cooperation (i.e. trust, guanxi, dependence, coercive power and non-coercive power) have significant effects on cooperation. However, apart from guanxi with the retailer/supplier, neither other relationship dimensions nor retailer-supplier cooperation have any influence on retailer’s DMU or supplier’s DMU. The results also indicate that differences and similarities exist across retailers and suppliers with respect to the effects of several relationship dimensions on cooperation and uncertainty. 2 The holistic empirical model developed for this research contributes further to understanding the links, which have been lacking in the extant channel relationship literature and supply chain management literature, between buyer-supplier relationships, DMU, and supply chain performance. The findings that a retailer/supplier’s DMU can erode the performance of a supply chain in various aspects highlight the need for improvement in some areas of supply chain efficiency and effectiveness, through cooperation-enhancing actions between the retailer and the supplier. From a managerial perspective, the performance improvement in the supply chain, in turn, will motivate more reciprocal commitment and efforts from the retailer and the supplier to maintain their working relationship. As such, mutual trust and enriched guanxi, dependence and non-coercive power help both the retailer and the supplier to have less uncertainty in their purchase/supply decision-making process. It creates a win-win position for both parties in the supply chain.

Doctor of Philosophy / Buyer-supplier relationships have been increasingly considered a critical part of contemporary supply chain management. In response to dynamic and unpredictable market changes, buyers and suppliers enter into cooperative relationships to pursue individual goals and joint goals for better economic and non-economic performance of the supply chain. On the other hand, cooperation between channel members is surrounded by uncertainty, which can create a detrimental impact on the performance of a supply chain. Previous research has focused on various aspects of uncertainty that could affect supply chain member behaviour. The present research contends that relationship behavioural factors play an important role in increasing or mitigating channel members’ perceived uncertainty in their supply or purchase decision-making. Specifically, the purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of retailer-supplier cooperation and retailer/supplier’s decision-making uncertainty (DMU) on retail supply chain performance from the perspectives of both the retailer and the supplier. A holistic model was developed as the theoretical framework for this conceptualisation. A sample of 202 retailers and 64 suppliers in the sporting goods retail business in Taiwan was used to separately test a number of hypothesised relationships by using structural equation modelling (SEM). The findings indicate that both cooperation and DMU are the key determinants of retail supply chain performance, including financial performance and non-financial performance (i.e., supply flexibility and customer service). Financial performance is positively affected by retailer-supplier cooperation and negatively affected by DMU in both the retailer model and the supplier model. The five dimensions of retailer-supplier cooperation (i.e. trust, guanxi, dependence, coercive power and non-coercive power) have significant effects on cooperation. However, apart from guanxi with the retailer/supplier, neither other relationship dimensions nor retailer-supplier cooperation have any influence on retailer’s DMU or supplier’s DMU. The results also indicate that differences and similarities exist across retailers and suppliers with respect to the effects of several relationship dimensions on cooperation and uncertainty. 2 The holistic empirical model developed for this research contributes further to understanding the links, which have been lacking in the extant channel relationship literature and supply chain management literature, between buyer-supplier relationships, DMU, and supply chain performance. The findings that a retailer/supplier’s DMU can erode the performance of a supply chain in various aspects highlight the need for improvement in some areas of supply chain efficiency and effectiveness, through cooperation-enhancing actions between the retailer and the supplier. From a managerial perspective, the performance improvement in the supply chain, in turn, will motivate more reciprocal commitment and efforts from the retailer and the supplier to maintain their working relationship. As such, mutual trust and enriched guanxi, dependence and non-coercive power help both the retailer and the supplier to have less uncertainty in their purchase/supply decision-making process. It creates a win-win position for both parties in the supply chain.

Industrial online-reverse-auctions have become a common procurement strategy used by many firms to reduce the cost of purchased goods and services. The advantages of online-reverse-auctions include significant price reductions, increased purchasing and selling efficiencies, and access to new supply and purchasing markets. Despite these benefits, practitioners and academics alike have raised concerns with respect to the impact of online-reverse-auctions on the buyer-supplier relationship. Previous research suggests that the parameters and characteristics of an online-reverse-auction can influence the perceptions of online-reverse-auction participants. This dissertation investigates this phenomenon by examining how the design of an online-reverse-auction influences the supplier's perception of the buyer-supplier relationship. Specifically, this research considers the effects of online-reverse-auction design in terms of the independent variables of auction control, auction bid visibility, and auction award rules and the dependent variables of supplier commitment to the buyer and supplier trust in the buyer. Using a 2 x 2 x 2 quasi-experimental design and the statistical technique of MANCOVA, this study tests hypotheses related to how different online-reverse-auction design characteristics influence supplier commitment to the buyer and supplier trust in the buyer. The results of the study suggest that the type of online-reverse-auctions buyers utilize can have an impact on supplier perceptions of the buyer supplier relationship. Overall, the result suggest that supplier trust is influenced by the type of auction design buyers utilize, however, supplier commitment is not. Auctions utilizing third party auction providers, partial bid visibility, and post auction negotiations tended to result in higher levels of trust on the part of suppliers. This study makes a contribution to the literature in the following areas. First, this study is one of only a handful of empirical studies examining the effects of online-reverse-auction designs on the buyer-supplier relationship. While a considerable debate exists within the literature concerning the pros and cons of online-reverse-auctions, little empirical work exists. This study makes a contribution by providing insight with respect to how online-reverse-auction designs influence supplier perceptions of the buyer-supplier relationships. Secondly, this analysis considers the buyer-supplier relationship in terms of commitment and trust. Previous studies have largely neglected these constructs despite their prominence in the buyer-supplier relationship literature. Finally, given that the use of online-reverse-auctions seems well entrenched in the purchasing strategies of many buying organizations; this study provides guidance for the design of online-reverse-auctions such that buyers can potentially reduce the negative aspects of the process.

Este trabalho aborda a estratégia na relação com os fornecedores em empresas de alta tecnologia e produtos complexos. Para tanto, foi tomado o caso da fabricação de aeronaves produzidas pela Embraer, que se destacou pela sua estratégia de parceria com seus fornecedores, principalmente na linha dos produtos das Famílias ERJ 145 e E-Jets. No entanto, na sua última linha de produtos, o que se percebe é uma estratégia diferenciada no seu modo de se relacionar com seus fornecedores, o que levou à questão da pesquisa. O presente trabalho discute as opções de relacionamento com fornecedores, do simples fornecimento ao compartilhamento de investimentos e riscos, e as racionalidades subjacentes. As técnicas utilizadas para elaborar o trabalho foram observação direta e pesquisa em dados secundários, revistas especializadas, web sites vinculados à indústria aeronáutica e associações, artigos acadêmicos e documentos da empresa. Além disso, foram conduzidas entrevistas semi-estruturadas, com empregados e ex-empregados da empresa, inclusive diretores. Os resultados mostram que, apesar de as grandes empresas como Boeing e Airbus terem adotado o modelo de parceria de risco desenvolvido pela empresa em estudo, esta hoje adota um modelo híbrido, com foco em lições anteriormente aprendidas na relação com fornecedores. / This paper discusses the strategy for relationship with the suppliers at high-tech and complex product companies. Therefore, the case studied was the manufacture of aircraft produced by Embraer and its unique strategy of partnering with suppliers, mainly when dealing the products of the ERJ145 and E-Jets families. In the company\'s latest line of products a particular strategy is observed in terms of relationship with suppliers, which led to our research question. This paper discusses the options of supplier relationships, from simple supply to shared investments and risks, and the rationales that underly them. The techniques used in this study were direct observation and research on secondary data, journals, websites linked to the aircraft industry and associations, academic papers, and the company\'s documents. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with both current and former employees. The results show that despite the fact that large companies like Boeing and Airbus use the partnership model of risk adopted by the company under study, Embraer is currently adopting a hybrid model focusing on lessons learned earlier in its supply chain.

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2017-09-26T13:05:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tiago Silva de Souza_.pdf: 989483 bytes, checksum: 54a4ff4a17ced1ad3c89fe08ea1cc911 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-26T13:05:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tiago Silva de Souza_.pdf: 989483 bytes, checksum: 54a4ff4a17ced1ad3c89fe08ea1cc911 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-06-14 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Institutional voids are typically found in emerging economies. When governments lack in essential facilities, in order to ensure the well function of their supply chains, companies have to properly deal with this situation by themselves. An example is a situation happening in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, since 2013, where a sequence of investigations focused on the dairy industry. Due to a lack of regulation, milk was the target of adulterations throughout the supply chain processes of the companies. The frauds affected processes of companies from different sizes and nationalities. However, in this context, a local cooperative called Cooperativa Languiru, one of the leader dairy companies in the state, has different practices with its suppliers and was not affected by this contingency. Thus, the purpose of this research, through a case study, was to analyze the relationship between a dairy buying company and its suppliers in this environment of regulatory institutional voids. Aiming to have a wider perspective, this qualitative study explored how the lack of institutions affected the sector. As results, it was verified that political and economic interferences affect the chain as well as political lobby acts. Likewise, the lack of inspectors and infrastructure impact the well-functioning of it. Nevertheless, the close relation between the Cooperativa Languiru with its suppliers abled the company to have record results without having situations in terms of adulteration. Thus, this study proposed a research framework conceptualizing that firms must closely manage their relations with suppliers in order to deal with institutional voids.

<p>Till följd av marknadens utveckling har beroendet av informationsutbyte och samverkan i olika nätverk ökat. De senaste årtiondenas fokus på informationsutbyte och samarbete ledde till att Supply Chain Management uppstod. Flera forskare har karakteriserat lyckad styrning av samverkan som en kärnkompetens som krävs för att vara konkurrenskraftig. Ägande och kontrollfunktioner som tidigare låg inom samma verksamhet har förändrats och tillämpningen av VMI har uppkommit. VMI innebär att leverantören övertar ansvaret för lagerstyrningen hos kunden. Samarbetet kräver effektivt informationsflöde inom försörjningskedjan och ett bättre informationssystem, vilket ökar möjligheten att förbättra kedjans effektivitet. Vi hade, med den här utgångspunkten i åtanke, för avsikt att besvara problemformuleringen: Hur hanteras information i VMI-styrda relationer inom koncerner? Syften med undersökningen var att undersöka hur lagerstyrning i form av VMI fungerar i en koncern, förklara hur VMI påverkar informationsflöde och relationer i en koncern samt att analysera betydelsen av VMI för informationsutbytet. Efter teoretiska studier genomfördes en undersökning på en koncern där VMI har införts och givit resultat. Resultaten från intervjuerna har sedan analyserats och vi har kommit fram till följande. För att hantera information i VMI-styrda relationer krävs att det finns bra system, en tydlig ansvarsfördelning och förtroende mellan parterna.</p>

Small and medium sized companies are important to the European economy and considered as the true backbone of the European economy, being primarily responsi-ble for wealth and economic growth. Further, the purchasing function of small and medium sized companies had become more and more important to firms within the creating of competitive advantages. Additional, former research emphasizes the need of companies to engage in closer relationships in order to survive in nowadays business environments. These three issues, - SMEs, its purchasing performance and the relationships the small and medium sized firms are engaged with are interrelated and therefore the essences of the thesis. The thesis is limited to the manufacturing industry due to the potential wide area of small and medium sized companies. The purpose of the thesis is to examine the purchasing practices of small and me-dium sized enterprises with a focus on strategic considerations and supplier relation-ships. The research project is developed with four single case studies. Participating companies were two small sized manufacturing companies and two medium sized manufac-turing companies, defined according to the definition of the European Commission. The study is built on a critical review of former literature and research findings within the purchasing area and the area of small and medium sized companies. The find-ings from literature review (frame of references) and the findings from the empirical study were connected in order to fulfill the purpose of the thesis as well as the developed research questions. In the analysis, the characteristics of SMEs purchasing process were outlined. Evi-dence for strategic consideration were found and the characteristics of the companies relationships where established. Small and medium sized enterprises have developed its purchasing performance po-sitively in the comparison to former research findings. By using business technology systems, strategic planning and deliberations and finally through building close and long-term relationships, manufacturing SMEs found a suitable ways to perform its purchasing activities successful and found its place in sophisticated supply chains.

Till följd av marknadens utveckling har beroendet av informationsutbyte och samverkan i olika nätverk ökat. De senaste årtiondenas fokus på informationsutbyte och samarbete ledde till att Supply Chain Management uppstod. Flera forskare har karakteriserat lyckad styrning av samverkan som en kärnkompetens som krävs för att vara konkurrenskraftig. Ägande och kontrollfunktioner som tidigare låg inom samma verksamhet har förändrats och tillämpningen av VMI har uppkommit. VMI innebär att leverantören övertar ansvaret för lagerstyrningen hos kunden. Samarbetet kräver effektivt informationsflöde inom försörjningskedjan och ett bättre informationssystem, vilket ökar möjligheten att förbättra kedjans effektivitet. Vi hade, med den här utgångspunkten i åtanke, för avsikt att besvara problemformuleringen: Hur hanteras information i VMI-styrda relationer inom koncerner? Syften med undersökningen var att undersöka hur lagerstyrning i form av VMI fungerar i en koncern, förklara hur VMI påverkar informationsflöde och relationer i en koncern samt att analysera betydelsen av VMI för informationsutbytet. Efter teoretiska studier genomfördes en undersökning på en koncern där VMI har införts och givit resultat. Resultaten från intervjuerna har sedan analyserats och vi har kommit fram till följande. För att hantera information i VMI-styrda relationer krävs att det finns bra system, en tydlig ansvarsfördelning och förtroende mellan parterna.

As demands on companies’ accountability have increased, researchers have turned their attention towards the social auditing practice and studied its role in companies supply chains. This study highlights a theory gap, questioning existing praise and criticism correlated to the categorization of social auditors. By comparing two different social audit categories, namely the independent and internal auditors, this paper contribute with a broader understanding of the similarities and differences between the two audit types. This study addresses the research question; how does the independent and internal social audit type support companies’ work with improving social standards in the supply chain? The theoretical framework includes aspects within the area of social auditing, buyer-supplier relationships and theories regarding the categorization of the two audit types. The study draws upon a qualitative approach investigating two cases with different social auditors, finding that both auditor types have their strengths and weaknesses, and therefore support companies in different ways. Referring to this tradeoff, this study concludes that the praise and criticism correlated to the two audit classifications of independent and internal auditor might not be completely valid, which calls for further research.

The purpose of this study is to better understand the functioning of knowledge sharing in the supply chain of Taiwan IT industry and face the current practice of modular component outsourcing with a theoretical threat of architecture change and modularity trap. Today, modularity and component outsourcing became almost an prerequisite for an successful IT company. Product architectures are widespread and well defined. It is however the question nobody dares to ask – what if this changes? How can the Taiwan suppliers make sure, that they will still be in the game even if the rules change? How can they assure that their position as the cutting edge component providers won`t be taken by someone else? The basic premise of the research is, that the relationship management of supplier and buyers often seen in countries with Confucian tradition can overcome this threat thanks to deeply rooted trust and good and opened communication patterns. This paper first introduces the Supplier-buyer relationship theory and background on its functioning within the New Product Development (NPD) area. The study also touches on the issue of Early Supplier Involvement (ESI) into the New Product Development. Next the theory on Modularity and Modularity Trap are introduced. Based on the literature review, I construct an research framework, consisting of two bodies: The architecture as a variable and Buyer-supplier relationship and NPD. The major conclusions of this study are (1) The architecture of the product to be developed is an important driver on the supplier-buyer relationship creation. (2) To build the relationship with buyers is important step for the suppliers, but it can only be build around technology that is important for the buyer. (3) Supplier`s understanding of architecture knowledge of its buyers is crucial. (4) The main reason to invite supplier into New product development is buyers technological distance between what they can have and what they want to have. (5) Product Complexity (number of parts and their interconnections within the product) have a positive influence on the supplier role creation. (6) All buyers have a rather good component knowledge. (7) The management alignment will be greatly influenced byt architectural attributes of the product to be developed.