Digitalisering har med tiden fått en allt större betydelse och vikten av att företag utvecklas i takt med dess framväxt förväntas öka. En anledning till det är globaliseringen som bland annat medfört en ökad konkurrens. För att bibehålla alternativt förbättra konkurrenskraften bör företag ha en tydlig strategi för hur resurser gällande digitala satsningar ska avsätts. Ytterligare en viktig aspekt för att överleva på marknaden är företagets förmåga att hantera inköp samt ha nära och långsiktiga leverantörsrelationer. För att åstadkomma det behövs en god kommunikation där information snabbt och enkelt kan delas. Företag har generellt svårt att utvecklas i takt med digitaliseringens framfart på grund av att de prioriterar sina resurser till annat. Studien syftar därmed till att besvara följande frågeställning: ”Hur kan ett företag prioritera sina resurser för uppströms digitalisering?”. För att besvara ovanstående frågeställning genomfördes en fallstudie på Axis Communications AB. Syftet med studien är att effektivisera och förenkla kommunikationen gällande uppströms digitalisering genom att hjälpa Axis att prioritera sina resurser. För att åstadkomma det kommer Axis nuvarande kommunikationsflöde med deras leverantörer att undersökas. För att få en trovärdig bild av hur kommunikationen ser ut i dagsläget genomfördes flera intervjuer med anställda på Axis och en enkätundersökning distribuerades till leverantörerna. För att få ökad inspiration samt säkerställa att rekommendationerna är realistiska hölls två benchmarkingintervjuer och ett möte med en specialist inom området digitalisering. Baserat på litteraturstudien, empirin och analysen utformades en prioriteringslista för Axis som innefattas av följande sex steg, där respektive steg bör genomsyras av att ”Kontinuerligt arbeta med digitala möjligheter och utmaningar”. Skapa intern förståelse Skapa nära och långsiktiga samarbeten med leverantörerna Undersöka värdet av att digitalisera kommunikationen Förändra och effektivisera nuvarande arbetssätt Anpassa digitala lösningar utefter leverantörens mognadsgrad Fortsätta implementera EDI För att åstadkomma en lyckad digital satsning bör Axis inledningsvis arbeta med att skapa en intern förståelse. Först efter det ska Axis avsätta resurser på att förbättra leverantörssamarbetet. För att sedan säkerställa att en digital satsning är fördelaktig att genomföra ska Axis undersöka värdet av förändringen. Därefter bör Axis bestämma hur de vill förändra och effektivisera sina nuvarande arbetssätt innan de kan erbjuda leverantörerna anpassade digitala lösningar, baserat på deras digitala mognadsgrad. Efter det bör fokus vara att fortsätta implementera EDI. Då prioriteringslistan innehåller generella rekommendationer är den även applicerbar på andra företag men kan anpassas utifrån den specifika situationen. / Digitalisation has, over time, become increasingly important and the importance of companies developing in pace with its growth is expected to increase. One reason for this is globalisation, which among other things has led to increased competition. To maintain or improve competitiveness, companies should have a clear strategy for how resources for digital investments should be allocated. Another important aspect for surviving in the market is the ability of companies to manage purchases and have close and long-term supplier relationships. To achieve this, good communication is needed where information can be shared quickly and easily. Generally, companies find it difficult to develop in the same pace as the digitalisation since they prioritise their resources for other things. Thus, the study aims to answer the following research question: “How can a company prioritise its resources for upstream digitalisation?”. To answer the research question above, a case study was conducted at Axis Communications AB. The purpose of the study is to streamline and simplify the communication regarding upstream digitalisation by helping Axis prioritise its resources. To achieve this, Axis’ current flow of communication with their suppliers will be investigated. In order to obtain a credible picture of the current communication, several interviews were conducted with employees at Axis and a survey was distributed to the suppliers. To gain more inspiration and ensure that the recommendations are realistic, two benchmarking interviews and a meeting with a specialist within digitalisation were held. Based on the literature review, the empirical data and the analysis a priority list including the following six steps was designed for Axis, where each step should be permeated by “Continuous work with digital opportunities and challenges”. Create internal understanding Create close and long-term partnerships with the suppliers Examine the value of digitising the communication Change and streamline current working methods Customise digital solutions according to the supplier’s maturity Continue to implement EDI To achieve a successful digital initiative, Axis should initially work on creating an internal understanding. After that Axis will set aside resources to improve supplier collaboration. Thereafter, to ensure that a digital investment is advantageous to implement, Axis will examine the value of the change. Then, Axis should decide how they want to change and streamline their current working methods before they can offer the suppliers customised digital solutions, based on their digital maturity. At last, the focus should be on continuing to implement EDI. Since the priority list contains general recommendations, it is also applicable to other companies, but can be adapted to the specific situation.

Um mercado globalizado altamente competitivo e a crescente horizontalização das cadeias de abastecimento realçam a importância da racionalização dos custos e da adequada seleção de fornecedores. Esses mesmos fatores, no entanto, agravam a complexidade envolvida no desempenhar dessas tarefas. A fim de desatar tais nós, o presente trabalho propõe uma abordagem para a seleção de fornecedores que conjuga técnicas de programação matemática que permitam a exploração de economias de escala e escopo a uma metodologia inovadora para construção de cenários de demanda baseada em conceitos modernos de suprimentos. O resultado desta abordagem foi um modelo de programação inteira mista visando a minimização dos custos por desempenho adquirido. Os resultados obtidos na aplicação a um caso hipotético relevam efetividade na redução dos custos, sem prejuízo à qualidade dos materiais adquiridos. O impacto nos custos decorre da reconfiguração da demanda, aumento do poder de barganha interno e externo e aproveitamento de ganhos de escala e escopo. / A highly competitive globalized market and a growingly horizontalization through supply chains highlight the importance of properly selecting suppliers and managing costs. These same factors, however, increase the complexity in performing such tasks. In order to solve this plot, it is presented in this work an approach for supplier selection connecting mathematical programming techniques, which allow the use of economies of scope and scale, and an innovative methodology that applies modern concepts of purchasing management for constructing new demand scenarios. From this approach a mixed integer programming model derives, with the goal of minimizing costs per performance acquired. The results of its application in a hypothetical case reveal the effectiveness of the approach in reducing the costs with no significant impact on the acquired performance. This is explained by the reconfiguration of the demand, a shift in the bargaining power within and out of the company and the incorporation of economies of scope and scale.

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.

Esta dissertação buscou identificar junto a empresas de grande porte quais os critérios de seleção de fornecedores que são considerados mais importantes quando se deseja construir relacionamentos de parceria dentro da cadeia de suprimentos. A revisão de literatura foi dividida em três grandes partes. Na primeira parte procurou-se abordar aspectos da gestão de suprimentos que são relevantes para o tema, como organização de compras, classificação de tipos de produtos e tipos de relacionamentos entre empresas, onde as características teóricas das parcerias com fornecedores foram exploradas. A segunda parte foca as características do processo de seleção de fornecedores. A terceira parte é dedicada ao estudo dos critérios encontrados na literatura para a escolha da mais adequada fonte de suprimentos. A consolidação desta parte do trabalho resultou na apresentação de uma lista com 45 critérios de seleção de fornecedores e suas respectivas definições para uniformização de abrangência e compreensão dos critérios. Com base nesta lista, a pesquisa foi conduzida na forma de estudo de casos junto às Gerências de Suprimentos de três empresas de grande porte com operações no mercado brasileiro de bens industriais e de consumo. Através de questionários e entrevistas foram identificados 17 critérios como sendo os mais importantes para o processo de seleção parceiros. A pesquisa também encontrou que os conceitos de parcerias com fornecedores são definidos pelas realidades de mercado de cada empresa e não convergem para os conceitos apresentados na literatura acadêmica. Parcerias vêm sendo definidas somente como relacionamentos de longo prazo com fornecedores em detrimento de qualquer outro atributo referenciado pela literatura acadêmica. Portanto, a utilização deste termo precisa vir precedida de uma conceituação precisa para evitar duplicidade de interpretações. / This dissertation aimed the identification of the most important supplier selection criteria used by large size companies when they want to build partnering relationships in their supply chains. The review of literature was separated in three parts. The first one concerns the supply management subjects that are relevant to the theme, such as purchase structure, product classification and sort of companies relationships, where the supplier partnerships characteristics were explored. The second part focuses the characteristics of supplier selection process. The third part is dedicated to the selection criteria found in the literature used to choose the most appropriated source of supply. The consolidation of this part resulted in the presentation of a list with 45 supplier selection criteria and their definitions to standardize the scope and comprehension. Based on this list, the research was conducted as case studies with Purchasing Managers of three large size companies that have operations in the Brazilian markets of industrial and consumer goods. Using questionnaires and interviews procedures, 17 criteria were considered the most important for the partner selection process. The research also found that the suppliers’ partnerships concepts are defined by the market realities of each company e do not converge to concepts shown in the academic literature. Partnerships has been defined only as long term relationships with suppliers rather than any other attribute mentioned in the academic literature. Therefore, before making use of the term Partnership it should be precisely defined in order to avoid misinterpretation.

Significant literature on sustainable supply chain management exists but there is a lack of theory explaining diffusion of sustainability practices within the supplier base led by manufacturing firms. In particular diffusion theory is insufficiently developed to characterise the development of sustainability practices in suppliers. The purpose of this research is to establish the conditions for enhancing the diffusion of environmental and social sustainability practices across the supplier base from the buying firms’ perspective. The research design is based on a theory building strategy. The data analysis was carried out based on a triangulation of different sources of data (e.g. 30 interviews with directors or managers of four sustainability leading manufacturing firms from the beverage, cosmetic and textile sector, and an extensive array of documents) and cross-case analysis and application of diffusion of innovation theory (DoI). This research identified environmental and social practices diffused through supplier selection (implementation of requirements), performance assessment and development. This map of sustainability practices provides a unique perspective; hence it distinguishes practices diffused across different supply chain tiers, as well as the mechanism/initiatives employed to diffuse them. The findings suggested that more emphasis was given to environmental practices than social practices. In general, social practices were more related to compulsory level (e.g. human rights) and were evaluated (selection), monitored (performance) and diffused through development (especially educating initiatives) in both 1st tier and 2nd tier. Critical materials suppliers in the 2nd tier were more likely to be engaged by specific procurement teams through the selection, performance and development activities, especially with the aim of meeting compliance and improving performance. The findings also suggested that joint initiatives with critical industrial suppliers focused more on environmental practices. Diffusion of innovation theory was applied to consider different elements that have not been covered in the literature, for instance, emphasis on communication channels and social system elements. The rate of adoption of sustainability practices was directly affected by supporting suppliers in measuring and collaborating in implementing improvements plans, as well as intense educating initiatives. DoI provides a powerful lens to help explain the role of buying firms in the diffusion of sustainability practices. The research provided a more comprehensive view on how sustainability practices were diffused through the supplier selection, performance assessment and development. This work is the first instance of considering intra- and interorganisational factors in the same model for enhancing the diffusion of sustainability practices. Overall, this depicts patterns of the factors and points out the most critical variables influencing the implementation of sustainability practices across the supplier base. This research has the potential to serve as an analysis tool to uncover gaps in activity that could lead to greater adoption of sustainability practices by suppliers, as well as gathering good practice in a structured way.

This research investigates the relationship between supplier capabilities, inter-firm governance and buyer-supplier collaboration. The research focuses on three functional capabilities (Research and Development (R&D), Production and Support services capability), two governance mechanisms (Contractual and Relational governance) and three types of buyer-supplier collaboration (Information sharing, Collaborative product/service development and Collaborative problem solving). A theoretical framework is developed which first examines the multiple mediation effect of contractual and relational governance on the relationship between capability and collaboration type, and second, explores the relative strength of the indirect effect through contractual and relational governance. Survey based research methodology is used to empirically test the hypotheses in this research. Data are collected from a total of 120 SMEs in the UK aerospace industry. Bootstrapping based techniques are used to analyse the data and to examine the proposed relationship between capability, governance and collaboration. The empirical findings indicate that although both contractual and relational governance are important in order to link the supplier capability with collaboration, the individual effect of contractual and relational governance varies in different combinations of capabilities and collaboration types. The potential contribution of this research is twofold: first, in terms of academic contribution, this study combines the arguments of Resource Based View and Transaction Cost Economics to provide a holistic view in explaining the interrelation between capability, governance and buyer-supplier collaboration; Second, in terms of practical contribution, this study improves the understanding of practitioners in both buying and supplying firm regarding the alignment of interfirm exchange processes with capabilities to achieve better performance in collaboration.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-05T18:36:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 10 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Mudanças significativas em diferentes mercados ocorridas nas últimas décadas elevaram o grau de competitividade entre os diferentes setores industriais. Ao mesmo tempo, a evolução da Logística neste período permitiu a aproximação das organizações pertencentes a uma Cadeia de Suprimentos. Na busca pelo alcance e manutenção da competitividade, muitas organizações visualizaram esta aproximação como uma oportunidade de obter vantagens através da inclusão de fornecedores no processo de desenvolvimento de novos produtos e processos. Esta inclusão de fornecedores permite a criação de um ambiente de Desenvolvimento Simultâneo Tridimensional, no qual o produto, o processo e a cadeia de suprimentos são desenvolvidos ao mesmo tempo. Apesar dos benefícios desta inclusão serem amplamente divulgados, nem todas as empresas que realizaram esta integração conseguiram sucesso. Parte dos fracassos pode estar relacionada com a falta de um mecanismo que oriente a integração de fornecedores no desenvolvimento de produtos e proc / At the last decades, significant changes occured in different markets raised the degree of competitiveness among the different industrial sectors. At the same time, the evolution of the Logistic allowed the approach of the companies that belong to the Supply Chain. In the search for the reach and maintenance of the competitiveness, many organizations had visualized this approach as a chance to get advantages through the inclusion of suppliers in the process of development of new products and processes This inclusion of suppliers allows the creation of an environment of Three-dimensional Simultaneous Development, in which the product, the process and the supply chain is development at the same time. Despite the benefits of this inclusion being widely divulged, nor all the companies who had carried through this integration had obtained success. Part of the failures can be related with the lack of a mechanism that guide the integration of suppliers in the development of products and processes. Aiming at to f

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.

Vietnam has experienced a rapid economic growth during the last decades. However, this rapidgrowth is not only positive. Working conditions in many factories are poor and insufficient wagesare very common. As a response to this and the increased external pressure from stakeholdersregarding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), many multinational companies (MNCs) haveconstructed codes of conduct which acts as guidelines for the suppliers. The purpose of this studyis to explain and contribute to an increased understanding of how complying with a code ofconduct set up by an MNC affects a Vietnamese shoe supplier’s view of committing to CSR as away of increasing its profitability. This multiple case study was conducted using a qualitativeresearch approach and is based on data that was gathered from mainly semi-structured interviews.As a way of getting access to Vietnamese suppliers we cooperated with a MNC that had theirproduction outsourced to producers in Vietnam. By using the information in the theoreticalframework we analyzed the empirical findings and found that a collaborative partnership betweensuppliers and MNCs when implementing CSR practices deriving from a code of conduct iscrucial if the supplier don’t have any prior knowledge of such implementation. Benefits thatsuppliers have reaped from committing to CSR are decreased employee turnover, morecommitted workers and improved reputation. We also found that when experiencing thesebenefits gained from committing to CSR the commitment increases even more. The suppliers arealso aware of the importance of CSR practices to achieve long term profitability. In the future,Vietnam may only attract customers that order high quality products. To be able to handle thesenew demands commitment to CSR and new technology are of grave importance.This thesis will continue to be in English. / Program: Civilekonomprogrammet

SammanfattningDenna rapport har utarbetats i samarbete med företaget Back on Track som till hösten skall lansera ett nytt friluftsvarumärke. I denna kollektion kommer en grov skidhandske att ingå. Avsikten med denna rapport är att hjälpa företaget att ta fram underlag för att produktutveckla och producera denna handske med störst fokus på material och miljömärkningar. Handsken har delats in i fyra materialdelar; grundmaterial, detaljmaterial, foder och isolering. För varje materialdel redovisas 3-4 förslag med dess positiva och negativa egenskaper, miljöaspekter och i vissa fall även priser. Det är mycket komplext arbete att utveckla en skidhandske. En handskes konstruktion och passform gör att sömnadsmomenten blir avancerade. Handens rörlighet är av högsta prioritet och dess utformning är en väsentlig del för handskens ergonomi. När det kommer till funktionsplagg måste materialvalen vara genomtnkta. Materialen är avgörande för att handsken uppfyller sina krav gentemot komfort. Det finns en djungel av funktionsmaterial framtagna med olika konstruktioner och behandlingar. Det är övervägande syntetmaterial som redovisas som förslag till denna handske.Företaget önskar också att ha en etisk och miljömässig kärna i nya varumärket. Därför innehåller även rapporten ett underlag på en rad olika leverantörskrav i form av organisationer, certifieringar och standarder som de kan implemetera i sin verksamhet. Många organisationer som arbetar med miljö och etik är till grunden mycket lika varandra. Det tar upp mycket tid att bygga upp ett miljöarbete samtidigt som det genererar stora kostnader. Det gäller att se över sina egna resurser och överväga vilka delar i produktionsledet man skall fokusera på.Trevlig läsning!Anna Eriksson och Cajsa Thomsson / <p>AbstractThis report has been composed in cooperation with the company Back on Track. In fall 2010 they will launch a new outdoor brand and in this first collection a ski glove is included. The report is intended to help develop a basis for product development and production of this glove with greatest focus on materials and environmental work. Gloves were divided into four different part materials; basic materials, detail materials, linings and insulation. It’s given 3-4 suggestions per part of material with its positive and negative features, environmental aspects and in some cases prices. It is a complex work to develop a ski glove. The construction of the product makes sewing operations advanced. Hand movement is of highest priority and its design is an essential part of the glove ergonomics. The choice of materials in such product must be well considered. There are a lot different kinds of functional materials to choose between at the same time as you have to be aware of the structure and treatments of the material. It is predominantly synthetic materials suggested. The company also wish to have an ethical and environmental base in the new brand. Therefore, the report also contains a basis on a variety of supplier requirements. Many organizations working with environmental and ethical questions are fundamentally very similar. Environmental work demands lot of time and generates costs as well. The company needs to review their own resources and consider which part of production to focus on. Hope you’ll find the report interesting,Anna Eriksson & Cajsa Thomsson</p><p>Program: Textil produktutveckling med entreprenörs- och affärsinriktning</p>