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.

Despite the vast research within the fields of buyer-supplier relationships and the fashion industry, a lack of comprehensive understanding concerning the connection between the two seems to be found. Research regarding long-term relations and key concepts in form of trust and commitment, are stated to be crucial in order to create a long-term relationship. However, the importance of these concepts application regarding small-sized fashion retailers was identified to be an unexplored area; thus, a research gap was detected. This highlights a need for further research of the characteristics of the buyer- supplier relationships within small-sized fashion retailers. The purpose of this study was consequently to investigate buyer-supplier relationships within small-sized fashion retailers. Furthermore, based on the literature review of the theoretical framework, three research questions were formulated. To gather empirical data, a multiple-case study was conducted and semi-structured interviews with four purchasing managers working in the fashion industry were performed.   This study discloses that the concepts of trust and commitment were identified as being of great importance, in order to maintain a long-term relationship between the parties. Further, several factors, e.g. communication, conflict resolution and identification were distinguished to have a significant impact on the character of a close relationship. Finally this study concluded that the relation between the buyer and supplier is highly valued; with especially trust as a key factor. Both affective and calculative commitment was identified to exist, often depending on the size and dependence of the supplier. However, the prosperity of the business was ultimately argued to be the main reason for maintaining a partnership. Hence, the retailers preferred a close relationship, but sometimes accepted a transactional one due to their own customer demand.

Background: The need to cut costs, save money, become profitable, be innovative, improve product quality and be responsive to customers’ demands is encouraging some organizations to form strategic relationships with suppliers. In achieving this, certain joint investments, called structural bonds, are developed within the relationship life-cycle. Although the bonds tend to tie down the partners and also create impediments for the termination of the relationship, they inevitably contribute to the achievement of mutual goals and sustaining competitive advantage. Past researches failed to relate the structural bonds’ development to any of the stages of the relationship life-cycle, which this study investigated. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate why and in which stages of a strategic buyer-supplier relationship are structural bonds initiated. Method: A multiple case study approach, involving four companies, was undertaken to achieve the purpose of this study. The method used in collecting the empirical data is in-depth interviews with purchasing employees of these companies: Lagermetall AB, Atlas Copco AB, SAAB Tech AB and Husqvarna AB. Results: Most of the structural bonds, based on this study, were introduced at the beginning of the relationships. Some of the reasons for introducing these bonds are: improved product quality, joint product development, knowledge transfer, innovation and communication. Though the bonds may be introduced by the more powerful organization in the relationship, there is interdependency in the relationship. The bonds influenced the following in the relationship: trust, commitment and cooperation, information sharing, and performance but also generated lock-in effects.

<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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p>

Cette thèse vise à étudier l’impact du guanxi sur la gestion de la chaîne d’approvisionnement. Dans un premier temps, nous examinons historiquement l’évolution de guanxi et discutons ses impacts sur les performances de l’entreprise. Ensuite, en utilisant des données d'entretiens qualitatifs et une enquête quantitative auprès d'acheteurs chinois en France, nous créons une échelle de mesure guanxi pour la relation acheteur-fournisseur Sino-Française et montrons que l'impact du guanxi sur la performance de la chaîne d'approvisionnement est positif. De plus, grâce aux données d'enquête de 200 fabricants chinois exerçant des activités à l'étranger, nous démontrons que la relation médiatisée entre le guanxi et la performance de la chaîne d'approvisionnement est modérée par la culture individuelle. Nos résultats de recherche non seulement prouvent empiriquement l’importance du guanxi sur le marché international, mais révèlent également que l’efficacité des différents types de guanxi dépend de l’orientation culturelle du partenaire. / This thesis aims to investigate guanxi’s impact on supply chain management. As a first step, we historically review guanxi’s evolution and discuss its impacts on business performance. Next, by using data from qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey collected from Chinese buyers in France, this thesis creates a guanxi measurement scale for Sino-Franco buyer-supplier relationship, and reveals that guanxi’s positive impact on supply chain performance is mediated by supply chain collaboration. Furthermore, through draw on the survey data of 200 Chinese manufacturers with overseas business, this thesis demonstrates that the mediated relationship between guanxi and supply chain performance is moderated by individual culture. Our research results not only empirically prove guanxi’s importance in the international market, but also uncover that the effectiveness of different types of guanxi that depends on the partner’s cultural orientation.

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.

No contexto atual do ambiente empresarial, a gestão da cadeia de suprimentos surge como um veículo através do qual as empresas podem obter vantagem competitiva. As empresas passaram a ser instadas a alterar o modelo tradicional de relacionamento distante e de curto prazo - mercado puro, com seus fornecedores, por uma relação colaborativa de longo prazo - parceria. A literatura relevante sobre parceria destaca uma série de atributos e características que devem estar presentes neste tipo de relacionamento, para que as empresas possam atingir os resultados a que se propuseram. Nesta pesquisa, desenvolve-se uma análise da literatura relevante em gestão de cadeia de suprimentos e gestão de relacionamentos, e apresenta-se um modelo conceitual, desenvolvido por Mohr e Spekman e revisitado pelo autor, que expõe os fatores associados a parcerias de sucesso. Um estudo de caso foi realizado, durante o ano de 2006, mostrando a evolução do modelo de relacionamento entre fabricante e fornecedor, em uma indústria aeronáutica brasileira, buscando verificar a presença ou não das características do modelo apresentado. O resultado do estudo gera a percepção de que, embora tenha havido uma evolução no relacionamento fabricante-fornecedor em direção ao modelo colaborativo, ainda existe um bom caminho a ser trilhado pela empresa para atingir a relação de parceria preconizada pelo modelo referencial utilizado neste trabalho. / In the current context of enterprise environmental, supply chain management appear as a vehicle through which a company can get competitive advantage. Companies started to be pushed to change the traditional far away and short term relationship model - arm\'s length - with their suppliers for a long term collaborative relation - partnership. The relevant literature about partnership points out a series of attributes and characteristics that should be present in this kind of relationship in order to allow companies to attain proposed results. This research develops an analysis of relevant literature concerning supply chain management and relationship management, and provides a conceptual model, developed by Mohr and Spekman and revisited by this author, that shows the factors associated with successful partnership. A case study is dropped, during 2006, showing the evolution of such buyer-supplier relationship model, in a Brazilian aerospace industry, searching to verify the presence or not of those attributes presented in the conceptual model. Results from the study generates a perception that, although have been noticed an evolution on buyer-supplier relationship toward the collaborative model, there is a long way ahead to meet the partnership referenced at the conceptual model presented in this study.

No contexto atual do ambiente empresarial, a gestão da cadeia de suprimentos surge como um veículo através do qual as empresas podem obter vantagem competitiva. As empresas passaram a ser instadas a alterar o modelo tradicional de relacionamento distante e de curto prazo - mercado puro, com seus fornecedores, por uma relação colaborativa de longo prazo - parceria. A literatura relevante sobre parceria destaca uma série de atributos e características que devem estar presentes neste tipo de relacionamento, para que as empresas possam atingir os resultados a que se propuseram. Nesta pesquisa, desenvolve-se uma análise da literatura relevante em gestão de cadeia de suprimentos e gestão de relacionamentos, e apresenta-se um modelo conceitual, desenvolvido por Mohr e Spekman e revisitado pelo autor, que expõe os fatores associados a parcerias de sucesso. Um estudo de caso foi realizado, durante o ano de 2006, mostrando a evolução do modelo de relacionamento entre fabricante e fornecedor, em uma indústria aeronáutica brasileira, buscando verificar a presença ou não das características do modelo apresentado. O resultado do estudo gera a percepção de que, embora tenha havido uma evolução no relacionamento fabricante-fornecedor em direção ao modelo colaborativo, ainda existe um bom caminho a ser trilhado pela empresa para atingir a relação de parceria preconizada pelo modelo referencial utilizado neste trabalho. / In the current context of enterprise environmental, supply chain management appear as a vehicle through which a company can get competitive advantage. Companies started to be pushed to change the traditional far away and short term relationship model - arm\'s length - with their suppliers for a long term collaborative relation - partnership. The relevant literature about partnership points out a series of attributes and characteristics that should be present in this kind of relationship in order to allow companies to attain proposed results. This research develops an analysis of relevant literature concerning supply chain management and relationship management, and provides a conceptual model, developed by Mohr and Spekman and revisited by this author, that shows the factors associated with successful partnership. A case study is dropped, during 2006, showing the evolution of such buyer-supplier relationship model, in a Brazilian aerospace industry, searching to verify the presence or not of those attributes presented in the conceptual model. Results from the study generates a perception that, although have been noticed an evolution on buyer-supplier relationship toward the collaborative model, there is a long way ahead to meet the partnership referenced at the conceptual model presented in this study.

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In this research, we explore the impact of international buyer-supplier relationships on sustainability practices in the Ready-Made Garments (RMG) industry, concentrating specifically on the context of Bangladesh. The root of this investigation centers around unpacking the influence of global business interconnectivity on operational approaches at the supplier juncture, with a specific emphasis on sustainability. Two core research queries were set as the guiding posts for this investigation: (1) What is the impact of international buyer-supplier relationships on sustainable practices in the RMG sector of Bangladesh? and (2) How do different types of buyer-supplier relationships influence this impact? Drawing from the theoretical discourse, the study ventured to hypothesize those certain elements of international buyer-supplier relationships - the relational dynamics, enduring alliances, and the commitment of international buyers to sustainability - have a positive bearing on sustainable practices within the Bangladeshi RMG industry. To provide empirical support to these assumptions, a quantitative study involving 66 managers working within Bangladesh's RMG industry was undertaken. Utilizing covariance-based descriptive statistics as our analytical tool, we proceeded to examine the validity of our hypotheses. The findings provided a resounding confirmation, highlighting that attributes like trust, commitment, open communication, and long-term partnerships favorably influence the incorporation of sustainable practices. Moreover, it was observed that the commitment of international buyers to sustainability, demonstrated through the enforcement of standards and initiatives to support suppliers, has a substantial influence on suppliers' operational strategies, elbowing them towards the adoption of sustainable and ethical business practices. These insights shed light on how international buyer-supplier relationships impact global trading dynamics and underscore the intensifying significance of sustainability in modern business ethics. This research extends the theoretical discourse on international business, supply chain management, and sustainability. Additionally, it offers pragmatic insights for managers operating within Bangladesh's RMG industry, accentuating the necessity to cultivate enduring, trust- centric relationships with international buyers and to align their operational strategies with the global shift towards sustainable business practices.