<p>The relationship between organizations and their customers is a critical issue when establishing a long-term relationship. It is difficult for organizations to really manage and main-tain the relationship with their customers as some organizations fail to build up relationships.</p><p>The process of learning and adapting to other customers is costly and time intensive. This is an issue that needs to be taken into consideration. Another aspect that needs to be looked at is the way organizations can set up a plan to build a competitive advantage. With this, most organizations do tend to loose their customers due to the inability to use their resources well and also managing them effectively.</p><p>This paper examines the relationship between the supplier and the customer and the possibilities of managing and maintaining the customer relationship.</p><p>Qualitative analysis is used in this paper since it is the appropriate method to meet our purpose. There were two companies interviewed from the logistic industry and mechanical industry.</p><p>Finally, our result in this paper indicates that in order to maintain customers, it is vital for organizations to meet their needs. As a result, satisfaction and loyalty is the ultimate goal for organization to maintain their customers. This is the way of avoiding key and non-key customers from leaving and also strengthening the relationship.</p>

<p>Både som land och som fenomen är Kina ett synnerligen aktuellt ämne, inte bara för Sverige utan för hela världen. Sedan början av 2003 har mer än 154 svenska företag etablerat verksamhet i Kina, inom antingen tillverkning, inköp eller försäljning. De små och medelstora företagen följer nu efter de stora multinationella till Kina.</p><p>Syftet med denna uppsats är att studera och analysera vilka kriterier företagen använder i sitt val av leverantörer eller samarbetspartners i Kina. Syftet är vidare att studera interaktionsprocessen mellan köparen och leverantören gällande kvalitetsproblem relaterade till såväl produktionsprocessen som produkten och leveransen av densamma. Att definiera kvalitet är inte enkelt då kvalitet inte längre bara handlar om objektiv statistik. Kvalitet bör vara en naturlig del av både företagets affärsprocesser och deras relationer med leverantörer och kunder. Idag är därför mer subjektiva och mjuka värden relaterade till kundens uppfattning, deras behov och deras förväntningar naturliga delar av det kvalitativa arbetet. Det kan vara svårt att överföra kundens uppfattningar, behov och förväntningar till leverantörerna. Interaktionsprocessen mellan kund och leverantör är därför långt ifrån enkel och rak, utan beror till stor del på de människor som är involverade i processen.</p><p>Sammanlagt beskrivs och analyseras fem olika fall i studien. I samband med dessa har ett antal företag valts ut och nyckelpersoner inblandade i interaktionsprocessen med de kinesiska leverantörerna har intervjuats. Företagen har medvetet selekterats så att de representerar heterogena förhållanden gällande produkt, erfarenhet med affärer av Kina och företagsstorlek.</p><p>Utifrån analysen av de empiriska data som samlats in står det klart att merparten av de kvalitetsproblem som existerar härrör till kommunikationen mellan kunden och leverantören. Det finns inga egentliga bevis vare sig för dålig eller låg kvalitet i något av fallen. Kvalitet är viktigt för dem alla, men kunden får oftast levererat det han har frågat efter. De kulturella skillnaderna gör att specifikationer, krav och behov hela tiden måste upprepas för att upprätthålla en hög kvalitativ nivå. För att utveckla goda relationer med de kinesiska leverantörerna är det viktigt att vara närvarande. Det som är taget för givet i Sverige är inte taget för givet i Kina och vice versa och det är därför viktigt att vara tydlig och att upprepa allt om och om igen. Det är viktigt att undvika att de kinesiska leverantörerna förlorar ansiktet och det är därför viktigt att de svenska företagen utvecklar en förmåga att läsa mellan raderna, framförallt som kinesiska leverantörer inte är lika uppriktiga och raka i sin kommunikation.</p> / <p>China as country and phenomenon is a topic of great impact to the entire world society. As many as 154 Swedish companies have established business activities either within manufacturing, sourcing or sales in China since the beginning of 2003. The small and mediumsized companies are now following the larger MNEs to China.</p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to study and analyse which criteria are used in the selection of suppliers or partners in China. The purpose is further to study the interaction process in between the Swedish buyer and the Chinese supplier regarding quality issues and -problems related to the manufacturing process and product as well as the delivery of the products. Defining quality is not easy as quality no longer relies only on objective and functional statistics, but should be incorporated into the business processes. More subjective parameters related to the perceptions of the customers and their needs and expectations are involved and of importance. Such perceptions and needs can be difficult to transfer in between the buyer and the supplier. The interaction in between is far from a straightforward process and as such it depends and relies a lot on the people involved in the process.</p><p>Representing a total of five different cases a number of companies and respondents directly involved in the interaction process with the Chinese suppliers were purposefully selected and interviewed. The sampling aimed at companies repre-senting heterogeneity regarding the three factors of products, experience of deal-ing with China and size of the company.</p><p>From the analysis of the empirical findings it is clear that it is all a question about communication. There is no evidence of any low or bad quality in any of the cases. The buyer will be delivered what he asks the supplier to deliver. The cul-tural web including communication and language differs between Sweden and China. In order to develop good relations with the suppliers the presence is of great importance. It is important for the Swedish company to continuously repeat their specifications, demands and needs over and over again in order to maintain a high level of quality on their products. What is taken for granted by Swedish buyers is not taken for granted by the Chinese suppliers and it is important for the buyer to be very clear in both communication and specification, though without risking the Chinese supplier to loose face. Adapting an ability to read between the lines is necessary for the buyer as Chinese suppliers are referred to as not being as outspoken as Swedish suppliers.</p>

<p>Bakgrund: Flera stora produktionsföretag har börjat använda sig av utvecklingsprogram för sina leverantörerna för att sprida beprövade tanke- och arbetssätt och därigenom erhålla förbättrade prestationer av leverantörerna. Denna utveckling har i flera fall visat sig ge positiva förändringar på leverantörernas prestationer men det har varit svårt för kundföretagen att få kännedom om vad som verkligen har hänt i leverantörernas verksamheter. </p><p>Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att utreda vilka effekter som eftersträvas och erhålls när stora produktionsföretag, genom utvecklingsprogram, bedriver leverantörsutveckling. </p><p>Genomförande: Data och information har insamlats genom personliga intervjuer hos personer från ett stort produktionsföretag samt ett tvärsnitt av tre leverantörsföretags personal. </p><p>Resultat: Studien visar på att bakomliggande motiv till leverantörsutveckling är stabilitet i flödet, långsiktiga leverantörsrelationer, optimala processer och upprätthållandet av kontinuerliga förändring. Alla dessa motiv ligger som grund för ett övergripande motiv som är ökad konkurrenskraft i förädlingskedjan. Studien visar även på att beståndsdelar i utvecklingsprogram kan vara utbildning, gemensam problemlösning och certifiering av leverantörens verksamhet. Studien indikerar på initialt motstånd till leverantörsutvecklingen från leverantören. Resultatet av studien visar emellertid att leverantörsutveckling kan resultera i ett antal positiva effekter hos leverantörerna. Studien visar på positiva effekter på arbetsmiljö, personalens prestationer och samarbete, produktiviteten samt relationen till kundföretagen. Studien indikerar även att leverantörsutveckling kan få vissa effekter på leverantörerna i led två.</p>

<p>Globalization and associated economic changes have led to a lot of opportunities and hazards that companies are facing. Especially the increased role of customer demands and the interconnected shift from seller markets to buyer markets were the driving factors and incentives for the research work of this Master Thesis. One quite new strategy that companies tend to apply in order to meet the occurring challenges is supplier development. By reason of the actuality of this topic, it was of high worth to investigate, especially when it comes to the lack of theoretical findings about challenges, difficulties and problems. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis was to find out which problems can occur in the process of supplier development, and how they can be solved. Hereby, the focus was laid on the furniture retail industry, as it is one of the fastest growing sectors in Sweden. For the empirical research the retailers Ikea and Mio were selected, because they play a very important role within the Swedish furniture retail industry due to the fact that they are the two biggest when it comes to market shares. Furthermore, the suppliers Bitc Möbel AB, Lundbergs Möbler and AB Wilo were chosen in order to examine their dyadic relationship with Mio. For the purpose of investigating the supplier development within the dyadic relationship of Ikea and its supplier, Bodilsen a/s was interviewed.</p><p>Almost during the whole research of this thesis a lack of knowledge occurred. It was noticed that only few references exist regarding this topic, therefore the objective of this thesis was to attach importance to this issue, illustrate further problem areas and possible solutions. Hereby, a conceptual model was created that served as a basis for the empirical part. After collecting empirical data, a close analysis was accomplished. In the end, suggestions for companies to improve their supplier development were made and a final model was generated in order to illustrate the results of the study.</p><p>The Swedish furniture retail industry is exposed to a strong price pressure and stress of competition, which makes it necessary to improve companies’ performance in order to withstand the competition and to succeed in the end. Its proximity to end customers makes a continuous product development necessary, which can only be successful when working closely together with manufacturers. Therefore, deploying supplier development is a recommendable strategy, but one should be aware of challenges that can occur. The results of this thesis provide support for the improvement of supplier development, especially when it comes to problem areas and correspondent solutions within dyadic relationships.</p><p>Supplier development is an up-to-date topic and plays a crucial role within the fast changing business environment. It was chosen to raise the reader’s interest and to give an insight into current economic developments. The Swedish furniture retail industry turned out to be very interesting for the topic of this Master Thesis. Finally, there is nothing more to say than: ‘Enjoy the trip through the Swedish furniture industry!’</p> / <p>Research questions:</p><p>Which are the potential problem areas of Supplier Development within dyadic relationships in the Swedish furniture retail industry?</p><p>Which possible solutions for these problem areas can be found in order to improve Supplier Development?</p>

Background: The globalization of markets, competition in the market place, shareholder activism has compelled firms to rethink their way of doing business. In today’s world stakeholders are placing much emphasis on supplier relationships given that the survival of firms depends on the type of relationship that exists between the supplier and the buying firm. The maintenance of supplier relationships is a complex task due to differences in interest and the opportunistic behaviour which may be on the part of the supplier or the buyer. For this reason, firms have to look out for supplier relationships that can improve their business performance and enhance their competitive advantage. Purpose:     The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship that exists between medical devices manufacturers in Sweden and their key suppliers, and the reasons for establishing relationships. The authors were also interested in knowing how this relationship ultimately leads to improved business performance. Method: The authors used positivist perspective and a deductive approach for this thesis. The sampled firms in this study are Arcoma AB, Baxter and Cellavision and a convenience sampling method was used in selecting the companies. The empirical data for this study was collected through interviews with senior management personnel of the three companies whose head offices are located Lund and Växjö in Sweden. Results, conclusions: The supplier relationships established by Arcoma, Baxter and Cellavision, and their key suppliers was found to be collaborative. The quests to improve on quality, reduce cost and increase the responsiveness of the supply chain are some of the reasons why firms establish collaborative relationships. Establishing collaborative relationships with key suppliers leads to improved operational and financial business performance. Improvements in operational business performance could be in the form of reduction in defects, improved compliance with quality standards, and improvement in delivery reliability and reduced lead times. The benefits to the firms in terms of financial performance stems from cost reduction and the offering of competitive prices in the marketplace which leads to increased market share and revenue expansion.

Bakgrund: Efter en litteratursökning har vi uppmärksammat att forskning kring leverantörsrelationer existerar, men däremot är bristfällig när det kommer till kopplingen mellan incitament, interorganisatorisk styrning och osäkerheter. Att studera detta samband är därför av intresse för oss eftersom det bidrar till den akademiska forskningen inom interorganisatorisk styrning. Detta genom att införa en infallsvinkel på incitament, då vår teoretiska härledning menar att incitament hanterar osäkerheter i en leverantörsrelation. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva vilka interorganisatoriska osäkerheter som köparen upplever i en leverantörsrelation samt vilken effekt osäkerheterna har i leverantörsrelationen. Syftet är även att beskriva hur köparen med incitament hanterar interorganisatoriska osäkerheter i en leverantörsrelation. Genomförande: Genom att kombinera en teoretisk osäkerhetsmodell med kvalitativa intervjuer har en jämförande fallstudie av leverantörsrelationerna till Arcadia, Nexus och Valhalla genomförts för att besvara syftet. Slutsats: Uppsatsen bekräftar att det finns fyra olika typer av osäkerheter i en leverantörsrelation, vilka är uppgiftsosäkerhet, uppgiftsberoende, osäkerheter i omgivningen och relationell stabilitet. Effekten av dessa osäkerheter härleds i en teoretisk osäkerhetsmodell som även empiriskt bekräftas. I de studerade leverantörsrelationerna identifieras även olika incitament som hanterar osäkerheter som köparen upplever i en leverantörsrelation. / Background: After a literature review we discovered that research about supplierrelationships exists, but that the connection between incentives, interorganizational controlssystems and uncertainties is absent. To study this connection is therefore in our interestbecause it contributes to academic research in the field of interorganizational controlsystems. This is because incentives bring a new perspective to the connection betweeninterorganizational control systems and uncertainties. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe which interorganizational uncertaintiesa buyer experiences within a supplier relationship and how the uncertainties affect thesupplier relationship. The purpose of the study is also to describe how a buyer can handleinterorganizational uncertainties with incentives. Completion: A comparative analysis of the supplier relationships to Arcadia, Nexus andValhalla was achieved by combining a theoretical uncertainty model and qualitativeinterviews. Conclusions: The study confirms that there are four different types of uncertainties in asupplier relationship, which are task uncertainty, task interdependency, environmentaluncertainties and relational stability. The effect of the uncertainties in a relationship isderived in a theoretical uncertainty model and is also empirically confirmed. The studyfurthermore identifies incentives that handle uncertainties the buyer experiences in asupplier relationship.

Background: The markets conditions are changing and recent research show that the era of offshoring manufacturing and jobs to foreign countries now is coming to an end. Nearshoring gives the possibility to overcome the challenges that offshoring causes. Furthermore, both the internal parameters and key driving forces in the environment is important to consider in the decision of where to locate the future supplier base. Purpose: The purpose for this thesis is to identify how the future supplier base for the glass lighting segment should be located, taken into consideration the internal parameters availability, sustainability, product quality and cost, and the key driving forces in the environment. Methodology: In this thesis a case study approach is used, with a positivistic perspective and an abductive approach. To identify the key driving forces, the methodology of a scenario analysis is used. Conclusions: Considering the internal parameters and the key driving forces in the environment a use of three nearshoring hubs, closely located to the sales markets, Asia, Europe and North America, is supported for the future supplier base for the glass lighting segment.

Despite a general consensus concerning the relevance of supply partnerships to agility, the literature reveals disagreements and contradictions regarding their characteristics and, in particular, their duration. This is, whether partnerships in an agile strategy should be long-term (strategic partnerships) or short-term (agile partnerships). The research joins this debate by investigating the types and characteristics of supply partnerships to achieve agility. The underlying premise of the work is that the type of supply partnership is contingent on the degree of turbulence an agile strategy is designed to face. The research was carried out in the fashion industry, given the relevance of agility in this industry. Specifically, the research focused the supply partnerships developed by the footwear companies in the Macerata-Fermo district, the largest footwear district in Italy. The focus on district companies allow the comparison of several companies sharing a very similar business context, allowing a better control of external variables and increasing the internal validity of the study. The field research consisted of a preliminary survey on agility drivers and agile capabilities in the Macerata-Fermo footwear district, followed by an in-depth investigation on supply partnerships using multiple embedded cases studies. Overall six medium-large footwear companies have been analysed in their supply relationships with respect to five key supply categories. For each supply category, the buyer view of the focal firms has been complemented with a view from the supplier side. In total the fieldwork is built upon 30 interviews with 22 informants from 18 companies for a total of more than 23 hours of interviews. In all cases, except two, the key informant was owner, CEO or general manager of the company, eventually supported by another company manager. In two cases, the interviews data have been strengthened by a longitudinal analysis of purchase orders over eight years. The fieldwork highlights that agility drivers and agile capabilities impact on the footwear companies’ decision of developing agile supply partnerships. Specifically footwear companies that are under the pressure of high-turbulence agility drivers (here represented by a high collection renewal rate) and that have developed strong agile capabilities (here represented by a local supply network and a purchase orders postponement) choose agile supply partnerships with respect to supply categories that are sensitive to the fashion trends and therefore difficult to be sourced in a stable way – season after season – from the same suppliers. The main contribution to theory is related to the characteristics of supply partnerships in an agile strategy and specifically to the apparent paradox of “high-involvement & short- term” relationships (i.e. agile supply partnerships). In spite of the presence of time compression diseconomies in building up partnership and of the loss of relational (non- redeployable) benefits in closing down partnerships, scenarios of high-turbulence can give companies an incentive to look for short-term partnerships. Such finding can support a wider claim that different levels of turbulence call for different agility strategies requiring different capabilities and practices. The main contribution to practice is related to the way agile partnerships are selected, started and ended. Given that many industries are facing an increase in market turbulence, it appears that many companies – even outside the fashion industry – might have to learn how to balance high-involvement supply relationships with respect to a shorter time horizon.

In today’s competitive market, survival and response to customer needs and expectations are enabled through high-quality products for low costs – quality products provided by suppliers fulfilling today’s quality-requirements for a low price. Companies have until recent years selected suppliers only according to a pricing structure, leaving other criteria’s, such as quality, behind. The purpose of this master thesis is therefore to investigate quality aspects that must be considered from a supplier evaluation perspective and design a simple evaluation tool for first-time supplier selections. Both new and existing suppliers will be tested with the tool according to information given during a case study made at Flexit AS, a Norwegian ventilation-systems company looking to introduce a structured approach for selecting suppliers. Through an extensive literature- and empirical study, where a survey, of which evaluation criteria’s to be included in the evaluation tool, was conducted together with several both semi-structured and unstructured interviews, a foundation for the design of the tool was presented. Quality management systems and quality performance measurements, such as rejection rate and delivery precision, are considered as fundamental aspects to consider when assessing a supplier. Acceptance levels of approval are set according to in-house objectives. If any evaluation tool including quality should be usable, an in-house quality system must therefore first be implemented by the in-house company – a notable improvement recommended to the case company. The design of the tool given from the thesis provides the evaluator with an opportunity to visualize and compare existing suppliers according to five criteria’s including cost, together with an additional spreadsheet for evaluation of new suppliers put forward as a foundation and an indicator if new suppliers are considering quality on a basic level.

The outsourcing of non–core Information and Communication Technology services in the ICT industry has been successfully conducted for many years based on various models and frameworks. Client organisations embark on this for many reasons including cost savings, access to specialised skills and access to global resources to name but a few. This study identified and evaluated the management of outsource agreements between client organisations and suppliers with specific focus on creating an understanding of those factors that has a direct impact on the success of outsource agreements. The primary objective of the research study was to provide a comprehensive management guideline for client organisations embarking on outsource initiatives or planning to renew existing agreements. The secondary objective was to assist service providers with guidance on pitfalls and issues experienced in the management of such agreements and to highlight the lessons learned from the industry at large. The research was conducted by means of a literature study and empirical study. The literature study included background information on outsourcing, outsourcing theories as well as outsource management frameworks. Furthermore, it addressed lessons learned and issues and pitfalls to avoid by service providers. The literature review formed the basis for creating an understanding of those factors that has a direct impact on the success of outsource agreements. Based on the evaluation of the empirical study, it was concluded that client organisations that are planning to embark on the outsourcing or renewal of services need to follow a management framework with a full lifecycle in order to ensure success. The top issues that suppliers need to address are to ensure that a climate of trust exists between them and the client; they need to be as transparent as possible and ensure that they carry extensive business knowledge of the client being serviced. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.