This thesis aims at securing the quality of components from AP&T’s suppliers and to get a picture of different suppliers’ processes. In this thesis, samples supplied by various AP&T suppliers where measured at AP&T to gather data on how well the parts met design specifications. The collected data were analyzed using histogram and stratification. Further analysis was done using pareto chart and capability indices. Only the critical dimensions identified from the pareto chart together with discussions with experts on the shop floor were further analyzed using capability indices. This was done to focus more on the critical dimensions which needed more attention. The findings were critically studied and suggestions were made which served as a fundamental base for supplier product quality improvement plan at AP&T. However, there was no direct contact with the supplier process to ascertain its being in control; therefore, product characterization was carried out. In this case, all the results obtained from the analyses only gave a momentary picture of the process. Therefore, the results can not be used for future predictions.In the analysis, special attention was laid on the shape, spread and centering of the histogram. Studies were also done on the significant few; got from the pareto chart. Use was made of capability indices to get the momentary fall-outs of ppm and the percentage of the specification band used up by the process. / Uppsatsnivå: D

This dissertation is structured around three original studies that offer unique insights into the challenges of change in business-to-business markets. All three studies share as an important starting point that firms rely on other firms to achieve strategic flexibility in volatile business environments. This means that firms source critical resources from business relationships in order to reduce long-term investments in times of change. From this perspective, firms' competitive advantages cross the boundaries of the firm and are embedded in their business partner networks. Thus, firms' business relationships and networks have become an important locus of organizational change in order to respond to turbulence in firms' business environments. Study one of this dissertation recognizes the importance of supplier relationships as a mechanism to react to changing business environments. The article focuses on the dynamic capabilities that enable firms to structurally reconfigure their supplier portfolios or supply networks in order to access necessary resources. The framework of relationship management capabilities introduced, is structured around three important sub-dimensions: relationship initiation, development, and ending capabilities, which collectively enable a firm to manage the reconfiguration of resource portfolios accessed via supplier relationships. The key implication for management relates to thinking beyond firms' established supply chains in times of change. While to a certain degree change can be absorbed within firms' existing supply chains, there might be a need to be 'agile', i.e. search for other suppliers who are better suited to more efficiently and effectively address such changes affecting firm competitiveness in the long run. While study one highlights the importance of firms' agility in adapting their supply chains in response to changes in their business environment, study two of this dissertation, although with a focus on the demand side of the business model, addresses the managerial challenges associated with such an agile adaptation process. Study two conceptualizes a framework for business model change and provides managers guidance to approach business model redesign. In particular, study two focuses on service business models and introduces the concepts of service infusion and defusion as important processes of business model redesign. The service infusion and defusion framework provides a pragmatic and systematic approach to understanding the nature of the business model change that companies have to manage, as well as linking these changes with knowledge creation and transfer processes. These are shown to be key for successfully managing such a business model redesign. While studies one and two assume strategy and its implementation to be key to a successful response to changes in firms' business environment, study three draws attention to the difficulties of arriving at such an appropriate or fitting response strategy in the first place, given the available information. In particular, this study examines the link between sensing changes in firms' business environments and managerial decision making in the form of strategy choice. Thereby, the study shows that strategy change causes disruptions, which eventually affect firm performance. This effect is compounded with increasing sensitivity to change as well as increasing number of factors that trigger change, and thus impairs the long term benefits of such strategy change. Thus, the effectiveness of strategy or business model changes and their implementation is inevitably contingent on distinguishing key signals from noise that disturb or misguide firms' strategic decisions.

Resumo: O uso da Internet facilita e agiliza as comunicações entre empresas, por mais distantes que estejam. Tal fato, aliado aos avanços nos sistemas e processos dos operadores logísticos globais, fez com que o comércio internacional deixasse de ser lugar somente para multinacionais, mas também para pequenas e médias empresas. O objetivo central deste trabalho é mapear o processo de seleção de fornecedores através de marketplaces e a logística de importação da China, pela caracterização e análise dos processos e custos logísticos, compreendendo desde a fase de prospecção de fabricantes, a aplicação do método AHP para seleção de fornecedores, aspectos das negociações e a gestão da cadeia logística internacional. Foi desenvolvido, também, um roteiro que pode ser utilizado como manual de importações da China por pequenos e médios empresários. A premissa é a possibilidade de se aproveitar oportunidades de negócios advindos da oferta de produtos chineses com preços baixos e qualidade satisfatória para empreendedores do comércio exterior. Cabe destacar, como resultado importante deste estudo, a ferramenta (software) desenvolvida para seleção de modal e Incoterms, que considera, além dos custos logísticos do comércio exterior, o custo de oportunidade do capital (estoques), para uma correta avaliação do custo total de importação / Abstract: Internet improves communication and information for all companies worldwide, this fact and development of logistics providers processes and systems support a strong growing for global trade, including participation of small and medium enterprises. The central objective of this study is to map processes of supplier selection via marketplaces in China and the logistics management of imported materials to Brazil. This study qualifies and analyses processes and logistics costs on importations from China to Brazil, apply AHP Analytical Hierarchy Process to select suppliers, analyses negotiation and global logistics management processes. The main result is to offer a complete guide to attend small and medium enterprises to manage importations from China, considered the main industrial country in the world with low costs and good quality products. The final and important part of study presents a new tool (software) to select more economic transportation mode and Incoterms, considering characteristics of materials imported from China to Brazil, to support the tool are discussed the logistics costs related to global trade, oportunity cost capital (inventory) and total importation cost / Orientador: Fernando Augusto Silva Marins / Coorientador: Leo Tadeu Robles / Banca: Ubirajara Rocha Ferreira / Banca: Anderson Ribeiro Correia / Mestre

The thesis is inquiring into the theory of construction contract management process. The current contract procedure is demonstrated on real life example of the Joint-stock construction company Stavcent. The aim of the thesis is to explore the procedure implemented during contract management process followed by proposal of possible innovations in this area. The research is as usual divided into theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part introduces the selected topic. The practical part presents the Stavcent, JSC at first, followed by description of single phases of the construction contract; beginning with record keeping, preparation of the offer, budget, timetable, selection and evaluation of suppliers and subcontractors, inventory administration and finally invoicing. The conclusion of the practical part is devoted to possible future innovations in contract management.

The purpose of my thesis is to analyse issue of Consumer Contract Law in the Czech Republic in the context of European Law. The thesis is composed of six chapters, each of them dealing with different aspects of Consumer law. Chapter One is introductory and offers the general point of view on discussed topic, my personal motivation for choosing it. Chapter Two is divided into two parts. Part One sums up very short history of Consumer law, Part Two focuses on European consumer law and on direct influence on the Czech legislation. Chapter Three is the principal chapter in my thesis, because it defines basic terminology of Consumer Law: consumer contract, consumer and supplier. The chapter is subdivided into three parts- one part for one term. In Part One the question of creating the contract, e-shops and special contractual types according the Civil Code are also discussed. Subject is treated in the context of both Czech and European Law with relevant case law. Chapter Four is subdivided into two parts and provides an outline of relevant Czech law in the branch of Consumer protection. Part One illustrates the Consumer protection based on the Czech public law (mainly Administrative and Criminal Law). Part Two is more important for my thesis and looks at Consumer protection with respect of private law...

Submitted by Sandra Pereira (srpereira@ufrrj.br) on 2017-04-13T12:02:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2010 - Deyves Mendes Paraguassu.pdf: 596082 bytes, checksum: dd55b53bb62a481a21c0961845d58021 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-13T12:02:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2010 - Deyves Mendes Paraguassu.pdf: 596082 bytes, checksum: dd55b53bb62a481a21c0961845d58021 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-08-10 / With the increased access to information, technologies and markets; the supply options are magnified as well, forcing the selection of a supplier that best contributes to the organizational success. In this sense, selecting the right supplier can mean the difference between success and failure. Bio-Manguinhos is in the market for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease through vaccines, diagnostic reagents and biopharmaceuticals. Being a public institution, it shares with the rest of the system the difficulty in obtaining public funds for investment and the development of products may take more than 20 years. Given this scenario, the search for partners to minimize development time of a product and share the cost of investment becomes interesting. In this context, this work aims to develop a tool that helps Bio-Manguinhos in selecting suppliers which contribute to the development and manufacture of new products. So, there were two stages of interviews with the board of Bio-Manguinhos: the first with the Deputy Directors, where the relevant criteria for selecting suppliers for new products were identified; the second stage was conducted with the Director, where the criteria identified by the Deputy Directors were confirmed and a method of multicriteria analysis, AHP - Analytic Hierarchy Process was applied to assign weights to these criteria. Thus, we created a tool with the criteria considered relevant and their representativeness within a context that seeks to assist the organization to select suppliers for new products. The results show that the relevant criteria and their order are: level of product development, compatibility with the industrial park, compliance with regulatory requirements, product performance, strength of the company and cost. This shows that the criteria closest to organizational strategy have a greater representativeness. The criteria identified in this study, in their essence, are not new; they are well known and mentioned by other researchers. Nevertheless, as in all decision-making, especially the multicriteria, every organization seeks to identify the important variables for a given decision-making and that choice is not necessarily the best one for other organizations. / Com o aumento do acesso a informa??es, tecnologias e mercados, as op??es de fornecimento s?o ampliadas, tornando necess?ria a sele??o de um fornecedor que melhor contribua para o sucesso organizacional. Nesse sentido, selecionar o fornecedor certo pode significar a diferen?a entre o sucesso e o insucesso. Bio-Manguinhos atua no mercado de preven??o, diagn?stico e tratamento de doen?as, por meio de vacinas, reativos para diagn?stico e biof?rmacos. Por ser uma institui??o p?blica, compartilha com o restante da m?quina p?blica a dificuldade em obter recursos para investimento e o desenvolvimento de seus produtos pode levar mais de 20 anos. Diante desse cen?rio, a busca por parcerias para minimizar o tempo de desenvolvimento de um produto e compartilhar os custos de investimento se mostra interessante. Neste contexto, este trabalho tem por objetivo desenvolver uma ferramenta que auxilie Bio-Manguinhos a selecionar fornecedores que contribuir?o para o desenvolvimento e produ??o de novos produtos. Para tanto, foram realizadas duas etapas de entrevistas com a diretoria de Bio-Manguinhos: a primeira com os vice-diretores, onde foram identificados os crit?rios relevantes para a sele??o de fornecedores para novos produtos; a segunda etapa foi realizada com o diretor, onde foram confirmados os crit?rios identificados pelos vice-diretores e utilizado um m?todo de an?lise multicriterial, AHP ? Processo de An?lise Hier?rquica, para atribuir pesos a esses crit?rios. Dessa forma, foi criada uma ferramenta com os crit?rios considerados relevantes e suas respectivas representatividades dentro de um mesmo contexto, que busca auxiliar a organiza??o a selecionar seus fornecedores para novos produtos. Os resultados mostram que os crit?rios relevantes e sua ordem s?o os seguintes: n?vel de desenvolvimento do produto, compatibilidade com o parque industrial, cumprimento de exig?ncias regulat?rias, rendimento do produto, solidez da empresa e custo. Isso mostra que crit?rios mais pr?ximos a estrat?gia organizacional possuem uma representatividade maior. Os crit?rios identificados, em sua ess?ncia, n?o s?o crit?rios novos, s?o conhecidos e mencionados por outros pesquisadores. No entanto, como em toda tomada de decis?o, especialmente as multicriteriais, cada organiza??o busca identificar as vari?veis importantes para uma determinada tomada de decis?o e essa escolha n?o necessariamente ? a melhor para outras organiza??es.

This diploma thesis analyzes the current state of company´s purchasing strategy. In the introduction is described the company and its production program, followed by theoretical part of the thesis. The suggestion part deals with the application of the issue to the practical example as well as the calculation of savings as a result of the purchasing strategy change over.

Cultivating profitable, long-lasting customer-supplier partnerships is a significant task for today's companies. These relationships bring value-adding benefits, including cost and risk reductions, and bring joint business opportunities (Ravald & Grönroos, 1996; McDonald, et al. 1997). Key account management deals with developing customersupplier partnerships within the business-to-business context. Key account managers are responsible for delivering customised products/services, and defining possible business opportunities for both parties, after carefully selecting buying companies according to their strategic importance for the supplier. However, key account management may be complicated for suppliers to manage especially if the selling companies do not know how to implement a key account management programme appropriately. There have been a number of studies attempting to identify approaches to successful key account management programmes (Millman & Wilson, 1995, Napolitano, 1997, Homburg et al., 2002). Abratt & Kelly (2002) were the first to investigate both buyers' and sellers' perceptions of success factors of a key account management programme. They found that both buyers and sellers hold similar points of view on what a successful key account management programme should contain.This thesis is a replication of Abratt & Kelly (2002), which refined their scale to obtain better reliability assessments and generalisability. Only some of the findings of the original study could be replicated. Six factors were extracted while only three of them were reliable. Some of the items loaded onto the same dimension in the replication as Abratt & Kelly (2002), whereas others did not. The discussion section of the thesis suggests reasons for the difference in findings and suggests future research areas based on this discussion.

<p>Bakgrund</p><p>Under de senaste 30 åren har företag inom det privata näringslivet alltmer fokuserat på att skapa nära relationer till sina leverantörer. I motsats till utvecklingen inom det privata näringslivet, har utvecklingen inom offentliga verksamheter alltmer kommit att präglas av att inköpen skall konkurrensutsättas. Lagen om offentlig upphandling (LOU) reglerar i hög grad offentliga organisationers relationer till sina leverantörer. Emellanåt väcks frågan om inte offentliga organisationer skulle ha nytta av närmare leverantörsrelationer, liknande de som finns inom det privata näringslivet, där båda parter känner varandra och varandras behov väl.</p><p>Syfte</p><p>Syftet med undersökningen har varit att klarlägga huruvida den offentliga sektorn skulle kunna dra nytta av närmare leverantörsrelationer när det gäller inköp av vissa tjänster, samt att utreda i vilken utsträckning LOU tillåter ett nära samarbete mellan den offentliga sektorn och dess privata leverantörer.</p><p>Genomförande</p><p>Undersökningen har genomförts i form av en fallstudie, då vi har undersökt relationerna mellan Linköpings kommun och dess leverantörer. Fallstudien har genomförts dels genom en kvantitativ enkätundersökning bland Linköpings kommuns leverantörer, dels genom kvalitativa intervjuer med upphandlare och andra ämneskunniga personer.</p><p>Resultat</p><p>Undersökningen har visat att offentlig sektor skulle kunna dra nytta av närmare leverantörsrelationer för att tillfredsställa tre olika typer av behov. Dessa behov gäller utveckling och effektivisering av verksamheten, leverantörernas medverkan i utformningen av tjänsterna samt längre avtalstider inom vissa verksamheter. Undersökningen har även visat att offentliga organisationer idag har möjlighet att samarbeta med sina leverantörer under flera olika former. Dessa samarbetsformer tillfredsställer till viss del de behov av närmare leverantörsrelationer som idag finns inom offentlig sektor.</p> / <p>Background</p><p>During the past 30 years, companies within the trade and industry have more and more focused on creating closer relationships with thier suppliers. In contrast to the development in the trade and industry, purchases within the public sector is nowadays caracterized by keen competition. The relationship between public organisations and their suppliers is regulated to a great extent by The Law of Public Purchases (LOU). Occasionally, the question is raised whether public organisations would benefit from closer relationships with their suppliers, relationships similar to those that can be observed in the trade and industry, where both parties know each other and each others interests well.</p><p>Purpose</p><p>The aim of this paper is to find out whether the public sector would benefit from closer supplier relations when it comes to certain services, as well as to investigate to what extent LOU allows a closer collaboration between the public sector and ther private suppliers.</p><p>Implementation</p><p>The investigation has been implemented in the form of a case study, since we have studied the relations between the municipality of Linköping and its suppliers. The case study has been implemented partly though a quantitative survey among the suppliers of the municipality of Linköping, partly through qualitative interviews with purchasers and other people that have a lot of knowledge and experience of this matter.</p><p>Results</p><p>The investigation has shown that the public sector would benefit from closer relationships in order to satisfy three different types of needs. These needs concern development and effectivisation of the activity, the suppliers participation of the design of the services and longer time limits for contracts. The investigation has also shown that there are possibilities for public organisations to collaborate with their suppliers in different ways. These ways of collaboration partly satisfy the needs of closer supplier relations that we can find today within the public sector.</p>

<p>Vietnam is a developing country in South-East Asia with borders toward China, Laos and Cambodia. As other countries in the same area are far more developed, Vietnam can gain a lot from international trade. It is an important factor for a country to build prosperity and gain economic growth and thereby reach a higher standard of living. But for a company to succeed in the international market is a demanding task. Both internal and external factors that influence a company’s competence need to be taken into consideration. The awareness of Corporate Social Responsibility is increasing every day and it is becoming a more and more important factor for the end-customer as well as the buyers and suppliers. This Master Thesis deals with the relationship between Vietnamese suppliers and their international buyers and how Corporate Social Responsibility affects that relation.</p><p>The result of the study shows that there are advantages for both the Vietnamese supplier and the international buyer. Companies that work together and care for each other will end up with a strong and long-term relation. Both the quality and the productivity increased and that the staff turn-over decreased when introducing CSR. One also has to understand that the international customers are in command and that the suppliers are merely following the customer’s demands. Furthermore, quality, price and delivery time are the most important factors when choosing a supplier but by working with CSR these factors will also be affected positively.</p><p>It was also, apart from the main focus of this thesis, interesting to discover how corruption and cultural differences affected the supplier-buyer relation and also the discussion about whose responsibility it actually is to work with these issues; the buying rich customer or the relatively poor supplier?</p>