Alors que la littérature fait état du manque de reconnaissance de la fonction achat, de sa difficulté à établir des relations collaboratives et de son incapacité à se légitimer autrement que par la réduction des coûts, les associations professionnelles exhortent les acheteurs à se professionnaliser en renouvelant leurs rôles, leurs pratiques et leurs liens avec les membres de l’organisation. En mobilisant la sociologie interactionniste des professions et le cadre d’analyse d’Abbott (1988, 2003) sur les juridictions professionnelles, cette recherche vise à améliorer la compréhension de la dynamique professionnelle des acheteurs et la manière dont ils se saisissent des dispositifs de contrôle intra et inter-organisationnels pour améliorer leur position dans la gouvernance des partenariats client-fournisseur. A travers une étude qualitative préliminaire et deux études de cas approfondies nous distinguons deux logiques dominantes de gestion des partenariats dans lesquelles la performance financière est soit légitime, soit en quête de légitimité. Dans chacun des contextes, nous décrivons les projets professionnels qui façonnent les solutions juridictionnelles et reflètent les univers cognitifs des acheteurs ; puis nous analysons la rhétorique et les compromis juridictionnels établis entre les acheteurs et les autres groupes professionnels. / Literature points out a lack of recognition of the purchasing function, its difficuties to establish collaborative relationships with operationnal managers, and its inability to legitimize itself otherwise than by reducing costs. At the same time, professional associations urge buyers to professionalize by renewing their roles, their practices and their links with members of the organization. Building on this observation, we refer to the interactionist sociology of the professions’ research and Abbott’s framework on professional jurisdictions (1988, 2003) to enhance the understanding of buyers’ professional dynamics and how they take advantage of intra and inter-organizational control systems to improve their position in the governance of buyer-supplier partnerships. Through a preliminary qualitative study and two case studies, we first identify two dominant logics of partnership management in which financial performance is either legitimate or seeking legitimacy. Then, in each context, we describe the professional projects that shape the jurisdictional solutions and reflect the cognitive universes of buyers. Finaly, we analyze the rhetoric used by buyers and highlight the jurisdictional arrangements they established with other professional groups.

Aujourd’hui, la quête de compétitivité est devenue une préoccupation quotidienne des entreprises car elle permet de maintenir et de gagner des parts de marché. Ce défi est complexe à relever pour la firme qui navigue dans un environnement en perpétuelle évolution, que ce soit au niveau des besoins de ses clients, de la concurrence, des transformations technologiques et des changements de modes de fonctionnement. L’essor des opérations de recentrage tactique des firmes sur leurs activités cœur de métier entraine de fait une augmentation significative de la part achetée dans le chiffre d’affaires, installant ainsi les directions achats comme contributrices clés au chiffre d’affaires et à la rentabilité. Cependant ce phénomène engendre des changements initiés et subis par l’acheteur qu’il doit piloter dans leurs déploiements. La fonction achat a donc dû s’adapter, se muer afin de répondre à ces nouveaux enjeux, pour se faire, elle a mis en œuvre une démarche de professionnalisation adaptée. Au travers de son évolution, elle est devenue une interface privilégiée entre l’entreprise et les marchés fournisseurs permettant ainsi une meilleure qualification de ces derniers en fonction des besoins (marketing achat), en leur procurant de nouveaux leviers de compétitivité comme l’innovation et en développant le «capital fournisseurs». Néanmoins la fonction achat globalement n’a pas encore atteint son niveau de maturité le plus élevé dans tous les secteurs d’activité. La vocation de notre recherche est donc de déterminer et comprendre de façon exploratoire le rôle de la professionnalisation de la fonction et plus particulièrement du marketing achat, de l’innovation et de la conduite du changement dans la compétitivité de l’entreprise. Pour cela, notre étude s’est appuyée sur un modèle conceptuel et des hypothèses via une analyse mixte auprès d’une population de 174 personnes issues majoritairement de la fonction achat. Nos apports viennent enrichir le corps théorique du management de la fonction achat, de la professionnalisation, du marketing achat, de la conduite du changement, de l’innovation, et de la compétitivité. D’un point de vue managérial, notre recherche constitue une incitation à reconsidérer le management de la fonction achat pour bénéficier de tout son potentiel de création de valeur. / Vocation of our research, is to determine and understand in an exploratory way the role of the professionalization of the function and more particularly of purchasing marketing, innovation and change management on companies’ competitiveness. To proceed, our study was based on a conceptual model and assumptions via a mixed analysis to a population of 174 people mainly from the purchasing function. Our contributions come to enrich the theoretical corpus by management from the purchasing function, the professionalization, purchasing marketing, change management, innovation, and competitiveness. From a managerial point of view, our research establishes an incentive to reconsider the management of the purchasing function to take benefit of all its value creation potential.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:50:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 4035.pdf: 3387369 bytes, checksum: 4470ddf3972f1d3664754fc285c4cfd9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-12-14 / Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais / The influence and status that the purchasing function has gained in manufacturing companies are not reflected in the literature related to aircraft manufacturers. There are few studies that adopt, in this environment, the analysis of the purchasing function as the central theme of research. Particularly, there is a lack of studies on the challenges and problems it faces. In order to provide a contribution to this theme, an exploratory case study (single) in an aircraft manufacturer (Embraer) has been carried out aiming to identify the challenges and problems generated in its purchasing function due to the influence of the supply chain, the product (aircraft) and the dynamic environment in which the aerospace industry operates, and to analyze how they should be faced, considering the Supply Chain Management (SCM) approach and the supply chain flexibility concept. The following challenges and problems were identified: changes in customer purchase orders and in the aircraft manufacturer production plan; risks of harmed relationships with suppliers and lack of suppliers confidence on demand information; product changes; customization; late configuration; geographical dispersion and physical distance from suppliers; material acquisition lead-times; increase in production rate; disputes among customers for suppliers limited resources; bargaining power of suppliers; some potential sources of material shortage. The strategies to face them were defined based on the SCM elements (supply chain overall operational efficiency, process integration, information sharing, strategic alignment, and relationship among companies) and the supply chain flexibility dimensions (organizational, supply, market, logistics, information systems, and operations). The results reveal the importance of SCM and supply chain flexibility for the purchasing function and, by extension, for an aircraft manufacturer and the aerospace industry. They also show that SCM and supply chain flexibility can be used in a complementary and convergent way. Although the purchasing function stands at a privileged position regarding the potential of influence over business competitiveness, in the case of an aircraft manufacturer that position is also very challenging. As the aircraft manufacturers are driving their focus to some specific competencies, the challenges and problems analyzed in this research drive the purchasing function to prioritize competences related to the design and management of the supply chain. / A influência e o status que a função compras vem conquistando nas empresas de manufatura não se refletem na literatura relacionada aos fabricantes de avião: há poucos trabalhos que adotam, neste ambiente, a análise da função compras como tema central de estudo. Particularmente, faltam trabalhos sobre os desafios e problemas que ela enfrenta. Visando oferecer uma contribuição a este tema, foi realizado um estudo de caso (único) exploratório em um fabricante de avião (Embraer) com o objetivo de identificar os desafios e problemas gerados em sua função compras devido à influência da cadeia de suprimentos, do produto (o avião) e do ambiente dinâmico em que a indústria aeronáutica está inserida, bem como analisar como eles podem ser enfrentados, considerando as perspectivas da abordagem da Gestão da Cadeia de Suprimentos (GCS) e do conceito de flexibilidade em cadeias de suprimentos. Os seguintes desafios e problemas foram identificados: alterações nos pedidos de compra dos clientes e no plano de produção do fabricante de avião; riscos de desgaste do relacionamento com os fornecedores e falta de confiança dos fornecedores na informação sobre a demanda; modificações de produto; customização; configuração tardia; dispersão geográfica e distância física dos fornecedores; lead-time de aquisição dos itens comprados; aumento da cadência produtiva; disputas entre os clientes pelos recursos limitados dos fornecedores; poder de barganha dos fornecedores; algumas fontes potenciais de risco de falta de material. As estratégias para enfrentá-los foram definidas com base nos elementos da GCS (compartilhamento de informação, alinhamento estratégico, integração de processo, eficiência operacional global da cadeia e relacionamento entre as empresas) e nas dimensões da flexibilidade em cadeias de suprimentos (organizacional, de fornecimento, de mercado, logística, dos sistemas de informação e de operação). Os resultados revelam a importância da GCS e da flexibilidade em cadeias de suprimentos para a função compras e, por extensão, para um fabricante de avião e a indústria aeronáutica. Eles também mostram que a GCS e a flexibilidade podem ser utilizadas de forma complementar e convergente. Embora a função compras ocupe uma posição privilegiada quanto ao potencial de influência na competitividade das empresas, no caso de um fabricante de avião esta posição também é bastante desafiadora. Assim como os fabricantes de avião estão direcionando o seu foco para algumas competências específicas, os desafios e problemas analisados direcionam a função compras para a priorização de competências relacionadas ao projeto e à gestão da cadeia.