This research is intended to examine transportation suppliers coming up short due to participation in and response to bidding procedures. A mixed-methods approach is utilized to investigate the bid process and related outcomes for the transportation supplier. This study explores the bid process from the perspective of the transportation supplier. The first study is based on a quantitative approach, utilizing the Analytical Hierarchy Process methodology (AHP). The second study uses qualitative methodology, specifically utilizing semi-structured interview protocol. For the quantitative analysis, key factors related to the bidding process were studied, as the basis of the review. These factors were found through a systematic review of the literature, and are internal and external in nature. The results are that, of the factors studied, the Firm Related Internal Factor of Need for Work and Tender Related External Factor of Type of Bid are of the greatest significance when determining to bid. Key themes emerge from the semi-structured interviews, leading to the Assertation of Bid Submission Assessment, including a systematic review of relationships, current market conditions, and risk appraisal for the transportation supplier. This research explores economic, relational and strategic impacts on supplier performance aligned with the bid process, and how supply chain companies can build effective bid responses to enable practitioners to improve stability and financial performance, while avoiding supply chain disruptions. To better understand proposal response will aid the transportation supplier with restoring profitability levels lost, due to the bidding process (buyer to transportation supplier). / Business Administration/Strategic Management

La sûreté de fonctionnement (SdF) des produits, processus et services est une préoccupation permanente de tous les acteurs industriels. C'est le cas notamment dans le secteur automobile à l'exemple des équipementiers confrontés à des clients de plus en plus exigeants en matière de sûreté de fonctionnement. Jusqu'alors uniquement intéressé par les résultats, le client requiert aujourd'hui, dès les négociations couplées à l'appel d'offre (AO), une information précise sur la démarche même que le fournisseur prévoit de mettre en place pour satisfaire aux exigences SdF. Conscients de ces nouveaux besoins, nous nous sommes intéressés à la problématique d'identification de la "dimension SdF" du produit au stade de l'AO et à l'évaluation de l'impact économique de son intégration sur le développement futur du produit. Les conséquences de la prise en compte de la SdF sont doubles puisqu'elles concernent à la fois le produit qui voit sa robustesse optimisée mais aussi la démarche d'analyse permettant de dimensionner les solutions appropriées. Dans l'objectif de répondre à la problématique, nous avons proposé une organisation du processus de réponse à appel d'offre en différentes étapes instrumentées allant de l'identification des éléments relatifs à la SdF dans les documents clients fournis pour l'AO à la définition et à l'évaluation de l'impact SdF. / Products Dependability, process and services is a major and permanent topic for industrial actors and especially in automotive industry, where products suppliers are faced to customers more and more aware about dependability. Until now, Customers was only interested about results, they request today, in bid process timeframe, informations about processes put in place in order to reach dependability objectives. Taking these new requirements into accounts, we have focused our work on dependability identification during bid process and the evaluation its cost impact on development. Taking dependability into account allow to increase product robustness but also to make better design choice in term of dependability. Thus, in order to reach this objective, we propose a step by step process for bid phases from dependability topics identification to cost impact.