This diploma thesis addresses a project of evaluating the selection of a supplier for purchase of a chosen commodity. The theoretical part describes general methodologies of supplier evaluation and selection. It also includes information on the production process and commodity purchase. The analytical part focuses on evaluation and selection of a supplier based on a point rating, where the output is a recommendation of the best supplier, which receives the highest number of points.

Background: Business relationships between buyers and suppliers are of great importance to maintain a profitable and beneficial business environment. Every organization’s relationship characteristics vary and are influenced by various factors, including environmental conditions and competitors in the market. Also, Brexit is an event that brings uncertainty to these relationships. It is unknown how Brexit will affect the business environment and it is, therefore, necessary to investigate Brexit’s effect on buyer-supplier relationships. The research of Brexit could contribute with valuable insightsfor both companies and policymakers since it will demonstrate the way Brexit has influenced buyer-supplier relationships and companies' responses to the event.  Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between buyers and suppliers in the EU and the British market under the effect of Brexit. The supplier-buyer relationship will be focused on EU buyers and British suppliers, which will illustrate the adaptations and changes companies in the EU are facing regarding their relationships. Further on, the relevance of this paper will be highlighted through the long-debated case of Brexit. Method: The research is a qualitative study that follows a case study frame of logic. Data has been collected through semi-structured interviews with a sample of three individuals with a purchasing background. The empirical findings were analysed through a logic of thematic analysis using the Bensaou (1999) buyer-supplier relationships portfolio model as an analysis tool. Conclusion:  The analyses have found that there is no change experienced in the current buyer-supplier relationship characteristics due to Brexit. The participants expect to have some influence on their cost in the future which then may affect their product category. Otherwise, the EU buyers have not changed their outlook on their UK suppliers because of Brexit and for the time being continue their business as usual.

In recent years, the concept of sustainability has increased of importance and customers today are more aware of the implications of not being sustainable. As of the increased awareness, customers are demanding more sustainable practices from retailers, which leads to them communicating this further down the supply chain. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis has been to examine and understand how retailers together with their suppliers in the furniture and interior retail industry co-create a more sustainable supply chain through the Corporate Social Responsibility framework, and to identify what kind of facilitators and barriers that appear in co-creation of CSR between buyers and suppliers. The empirical findings were obtained using a qualitative multiple case study of seven furniture and interior retailers originated from Sweden through semi-structured interviews. The findings were then analyzed and discussed with the presented literature to identify how they were similar or different. The conclusion of this thesis shows that buyers somewhat are engaged in co-creation with their suppliers, although there is no unified answer for how, as the level of involvement, why involved and in which function they are involved are highly different among the cases. A common theme throughout the findings indicated that the more responsible the company is, the more developed they are in their buyer-supplier relationships. Although, the co-creation level of a relationship was found to be ambiguous due to its unexplored nature of the B2B market. Furthermore, the thesis identified both some general and more specific facilitators and barriers that could be used as a guide for future co-creating activities for the implemewntation of CSR in the retail supply chain.

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Thesis (M.Tech - Marketing, Faculty of Management Sciences)--Vaal University of Technology, 2010 / This study provides a framework for customer-supplier relationships and service quality measurement in a precast concrete manufacturing firm with the use of the universally accepted SERVQUAL model. Within an increasingly competitive precast concrete market, customer satisfaction is a critical goal for manufacturers of all types. Customer-supplier relationships and service quality were therefore investigated in this study. A quantitative research approach was used in the study to analyse the data. This approach enabled the researcher to obtain an accurate measure of all constructs that relate to service quality improvement for the particular concrete manufacturing firm amongst contractors, civil consultants, government institutions and end users. A sample size of 246 respondents from Gauteng Province was used. Descriptive statistics were used to explain the characteristics of sample data. In addition, factor analysis was used to condense the variables into five factors in order to capture the essence of service quality within a cementitious products organisation. Five dimensions, responsiveness, problem- solving, physical aspects, service personnel and physical appearance were extracted to measure service quality. Results showed that satisfied customers tend to re-patronise suppliers who enhance their service outputs provided to the customers. Thus it is imperative to enhance customer satisfaction and ultimately customer loyalty. These results suggest that improved service qualities can be useful for building customer loyalty and long- lasting relationships. The reliability analysis produced a Cronbach alpha which ranged from 0.700 to 0.815 which were deemed acceptable. The Pearson correlation analysis showed that service quality is associated with customers' future buying behaviour in terms of their decisions to purchase and recommend the supplier to others. Customers felt that service personnel were friendly, courteous and possessed the knowledge to answer customer questions. They exhibited a favourable image of the company and its services. This service dimension was ranked first in terms of importance by the customers therefore, the precast concrete manufacturer ought not be complacent but rather seek innovative ways in maintaining the service personnel dimension of service quality. The overall mean score of expectation of service quality by customers was 4.71. This indicates that the service provided by this company is satisfactory. It therefore suggests that, it is necessary for managerial intervention to prioritise in all these areas to develop a strategy of service quality improvement. Training of personnel is an essential component of service quality enhancement especially with complaints and the complaints-handling procedures. The management team of the organisation needs to play an active role in ensuring that all personnel are adequately trained and highly motivated to understand the user‟s specific problems and in the process to provide competent solutions to problems. Based on literature and results emanating from the empirical survey, these findings may assist the organisation in the enhancement of its service-quality levels. Hence, service-quality levels should be monitored carefully on a continuous basis.

Procurement of sawlogs to purchasing sawmills represents a basic strategic business process. The properties of inbound sawlogs are decisive for the output of sawn products and the cost of raw material contributes substantially to the cost of the final product. Increasing customer orientation and new demands from powerful customers in the building and retail sectors entail new or accentuated demands on management of procurement. Managing raw material procurement and communicating needs to suppliers and logging machine operators are vital issues for sawmills in order to be competitive. The purpose of the thesis is to explore how purchasing sawmills manage procurement of sawlogs. The results are based on 46 in-depth interviews with people involved in the procurement process at seven softwood sawmills in Denmark, Finland and Sweden. The thesis identifies various types of supply uncertainties as well as process improvement and buffer activities that reduce uncertainties. However, the major obstacle in the procurement process is the power/dependence balance in the relationships with suppliers. Beyond doubt, it restricts the manageability of procurement and particularly bucking. The results suggest that there are a number of ways to improve management of procurement, which are currently not fully employed. The thesis provides four key strategic dimensions of the procurement process and suggests a general conceptual model of wood procurement to purchasing sawmills. Further research within the subject can usefully explore the link between procurement management and procurement strategy as well as the relation to other functions' strategies and the corporate strategy. The importance of the identified strategic dimensions of the procurement process needs to be quantified in order to provide normative suggestions.

Problem: Modeindustrin har varit omtalad under senare tid och eftersom konkurrensen på denna marknad är hög har det lett till en ökad medvetenhet bland konsumenter och speciellt bland manliga konsumenterna. En förundersökning utfärdad av författarna visade att skapandet av kundrelationer möjliggör för modeföretag att bibehålla en konkurrenskraftig position på marknaden. Undersökningen visade även att eftersom män har en tendens att förbli lojala kunder och tvivlar oftast på att köpa kläder från nya butiker är det viktigt för modeföretag att utveckla och bibehålla relationer med dessa kunder. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att avgöra vad en relation mellan konsumenter och återförsäljare är i ett modeföretag för män och när den existerar för att kunna identifiera de viktigaste aspekterna för att utveckla och bibehålla dessa relationer. Metod: En hermeneutik och en abduktiv ansats har använts genom hela uppsatsen medan en fallstudie har tillämpats. För att kunna uppfylla uppsatsens syfte har författarna gjort fem semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Författarna intervjuade olika chefer med olika hierarkiska positioner och butikspersonal från det valda fallföretaget. Teorier: De teoretiska områden som har använts i denna uppsats består av teorier angående Customer Relationship Management, Fashion management, relationer mellan konsumenter och återförsäljare, konsumentbeteende, kundtillfredställelse, kommunikation i mode m.m. Slutsatser: Författarna har fastställt att de befintliga definitionerna på relationer inte definierar vad en relation mellan konsumenter och återförsäljare är, inom det studerade sammanhanget. Därför fann författarna det lämpligt att introducera en ny definition för relationer mellan konsumenter och återförsäljare i modeföretag för män, nämligen semi-intima relationer. Dessa är långvariga relationer som karaktäriseras av ständiga personliga interaktioner, utbyte av personlig information, ett gemensamt tankesätt, tvåsidig åtagande och ömsesidiga värderingar. Författarna drog även slutsatsen att en semi-intim relation existerar när kunden är inkluderad i företaget och interaktioner är på interpersonella nivåer. En semi-intim relation existerar inte genom en handlig utan utvecklas snarare från en rad handlingar. Författarna har även fastställt att en kundfokuserad kultur, förtroende, åtagande och lojalitet, de anställdas tillfredställelse, kund tillfredställelse, värde ökande förmåner och kommunicering av varumärket till de manliga kunderna är de viktigaste aspekterna för att utveckla och bibehålla semi-intima relationer med manliga kunder. Slutligen ansåg författarna att koncepten för relationsskapande verktyg är missledande i modeföretags sammanhang och introducerade därför nya implikationer för dessa verktyg. Butikspersonalen identifierades som det viktigaste relationsskapande verktyget i modeföretag som strävar efter att utveckla och bibehålla kundrelationer. / Problem: The Fashion industry is a highly discussed issue today, and as it is very competitive, the awareness among consumers, especially male consumers, has increased. Through a preliminary research conducted by the authors, it was evident that creating customer relationships enables Fashion companies to maintain a competitive position in the market. Also, it was believed that since men tend to stay loyal and are hesitant to purchase apparel from new stores, developing and maintaining relationships with them is crucial. Purpose: The aim of this thesis is to determine what a customer-supplier relationship in Fashion companies for men’s wear is and when it exists, in order to identify the most important aspects when developing and maintaining this relationship. Method: A hermeneutic and an abductive approach have been used throughout this thesis, while a case study was performed. In order to fulfill the purpose of this thesis, five semistructured interviews were conducted with managers, at different hierarchical levels, and salesclerks of the chosen case company. Theories: The theoretical areas that were used in this thesis consisted of theories regarding Customer Relationship Management, Fashion management, Customer-supplier relationships, Consumer behavior, Customer satisfaction, Communication in Fashion etc. Conclusions: The authors came to the conclusion that the existing definitions of relationships do not identify a customer-supplier relationship in Fashion retailing. Therefore, the authors found it necessary to introduce a new definition for a customer-supplier relationship in Fashion companies for men’s wear, namely semi- intimate relationships. These relationships are long-term relationships that are characterized by frequent personal interactions, personal information exchange, a shared mode of thinking, two-way commitment and mutual values beyond monetary terms. Moreover, the authors concluded that a semiintimate relationship exists when the customers are included in the company and interactions are on interpersonal levels. Furthermore, a semi-intimate relationship does not exist through one action; it is rather developed through a series of actions. The authors also determined that a customer focused culture, trust, commitment and loyalty, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, adding value through benefits and communicating the brand to the male customer are the most important aspects when developing and maintaining semi-intimate relationships. Finally, the authors found the concept of relational tools misleading in the context of this thesis and therefore, new implications for relational tools were introduced, with the sales force being the most important one, when developing and maintaining semi-intimate relationships.

<p>Problem: Modeindustrin har varit omtalad under senare tid och eftersom konkurrensen på denna marknad är hög har det lett till en ökad medvetenhet bland konsumenter och speciellt bland manliga konsumenterna. En förundersökning utfärdad av författarna visade att skapandet av kundrelationer möjliggör för modeföretag att bibehålla en konkurrenskraftig position på marknaden. Undersökningen visade även att eftersom män har en tendens att förbli lojala kunder och tvivlar oftast på att köpa kläder från nya butiker är det viktigt för modeföretag att utveckla och bibehålla relationer med dessa kunder.</p><p>Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att avgöra vad en relation mellan konsumenter och återförsäljare är i ett modeföretag för män och när den existerar för att kunna identifiera de viktigaste aspekterna för att utveckla och bibehålla dessa relationer.</p><p>Metod: En hermeneutik och en abduktiv ansats har använts genom hela uppsatsen medan en fallstudie har tillämpats. För att kunna uppfylla uppsatsens syfte har författarna gjort fem semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Författarna intervjuade olika chefer med olika hierarkiska positioner och butikspersonal från det valda fallföretaget.</p><p>Teorier: De teoretiska områden som har använts i denna uppsats består av teorier angående Customer Relationship Management, Fashion management, relationer mellan konsumenter och återförsäljare, konsumentbeteende, kundtillfredställelse, kommunikation i mode m.m.</p><p>Slutsatser: Författarna har fastställt att de befintliga definitionerna på relationer inte definierar vad en relation mellan konsumenter och återförsäljare är, inom det studerade sammanhanget. Därför fann författarna det lämpligt att introducera en ny definition för relationer mellan konsumenter och återförsäljare i modeföretag för män, nämligen semi-intima relationer. Dessa är långvariga relationer som karaktäriseras av ständiga personliga interaktioner, utbyte av personlig information, ett gemensamt tankesätt, tvåsidig åtagande och ömsesidiga värderingar. Författarna drog även slutsatsen att en semi-intim relation existerar när kunden är inkluderad i företaget och interaktioner är på interpersonella nivåer. En semi-intim relation existerar inte genom en handlig utan utvecklas snarare från en rad handlingar. Författarna har även fastställt att en kundfokuserad kultur, förtroende, åtagande och lojalitet, de anställdas tillfredställelse, kund tillfredställelse, värde ökande förmåner och kommunicering av varumärket till de manliga kunderna är de viktigaste aspekterna för att utveckla och bibehålla semi-intima relationer med manliga kunder. Slutligen ansåg författarna att koncepten för relationsskapande verktyg är missledande i modeföretags sammanhang och introducerade därför nya implikationer för dessa verktyg. Butikspersonalen identifierades som det viktigaste relationsskapande verktyget i modeföretag som strävar efter att utveckla och bibehålla kundrelationer.</p> / <p>Problem: The Fashion industry is a highly discussed issue today, and as it is very competitive, the awareness among consumers, especially male consumers, has increased. Through a preliminary research conducted by the authors, it was evident that creating customer relationships enables Fashion companies to maintain a competitive position in the market. Also, it was believed that since men tend to stay loyal and are hesitant to purchase apparel from new stores, developing and maintaining relationships with them is crucial. Purpose: The aim of this thesis is to determine what a customer-supplier relationship in Fashion companies for men’s wear is and when it exists, in order to identify the most important aspects when developing and maintaining this relationship.</p><p>Method: A hermeneutic and an abductive approach have been used throughout this thesis, while a case study was performed. In order to fulfill the purpose of this thesis, five semistructured interviews were conducted with managers, at different hierarchical levels, and salesclerks of the chosen case company.</p><p>Theories: The theoretical areas that were used in this thesis consisted of theories regarding Customer Relationship Management, Fashion management, Customer-supplier relationships, Consumer behavior, Customer satisfaction, Communication in Fashion etc.</p><p>Conclusions: The authors came to the conclusion that the existing definitions of relationships do not identify a customer-supplier relationship in Fashion retailing. Therefore, the authors found it necessary to introduce a new definition for a customer-supplier relationship in Fashion companies for men’s wear, namely semi- intimate relationships. These relationships are long-term relationships that are characterized by frequent personal interactions, personal information exchange, a shared mode of thinking, two-way commitment and mutual values beyond monetary terms. Moreover, the authors concluded that a semiintimate relationship exists when the customers are included in the company and interactions are on interpersonal levels. Furthermore, a semi-intimate relationship does not exist through one action; it is rather developed through a series of actions. The authors also determined that a customer focused culture, trust, commitment and loyalty, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, adding value through benefits and communicating the brand to the male customer are the most important aspects when developing and maintaining semi-intimate relationships. Finally, the authors found the concept of relational tools misleading in the context of this thesis and therefore, new implications for relational tools were introduced, with the sales force being the most important one, when developing and maintaining semi-intimate relationships.</p>

The goal of this dissertation was to contribute to our understanding of the relationship between supply chain structure and the pursuit of a sustainability-driven corporate strategy. The literature indicates that in order to pursue a sustainability-focused strategy, an increased level of integration across the supply chain is required. However, there are also industry-level dynamics that impact observed levels of vertical integration. That is, some industries are naturally more integrated than others based on the maturity level of the industry. Thus, some firms may experience opposing forces regarding their sourcing strategies once they choose to pursue a sustainability-focused strategy. To explore this potential tension, it is first necessary to objectively measure vertical integration. Several methods for measuring vertical integration exist; however, all of these methods rely exclusively on economic data. These measures might overlook other forms of integration that might be enacted, such as the development of stronger social ties. Thus, this research will seek to utilize a novel method that makes use of social network analysis to assess integration among firms in a supply chain along social dimensions. This dissertation 1) determined the correlation between having a vertically-integrated organizational structure and pursuing a sustainable supply chain strategy by identifying if sustainability-focused companies (SFCs) have a more vertically-integrated organizational structure than their counterparts that are not pursuing such strategies, 2) examined the evolution of supply chain structure as a company becomes more environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable over time, and 3) defined the social ties between SFCs and their first- and second-tier suppliers to understand if they develop stronger social ties as a potential substitute for pure vertical integration. This dissertation is comprised of four main parts. In the first part of the dissertation, I compared three recently developed vertical integration indices based on consistency and ease of measurement. The three vertical integration indices studied were empirically tested on companies in the U.S. Medical Devices Industry and the limitations of each are discussed. Our analysis suggested adoption of the Fan and Lang's method. In the second part, I examined the vertical integration level of environmentally sustainable and non-sustainable companies. I empirically examined the vertical integration level of 144 sustainability-focused companies in 9 different industries. The results demonstrate that sustainability-focused companies in the Medical Devices Industry and the Industrials Industry tend to have more vertically integrated organizational structures than their industry competitors that are not pursuing such a strategy since these two industries are production oriented and they have closer relationships with their suppliers. In the third part, the objective was to understand how the organizational structure of sustainability-focused companies changes over time as the companies become more environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable. I applied trend analysis to the sustainability and vertical integration level of the companies. Our sample consisted of 10 sustainability-focused companies from the industrials industry. I used the content analysis of annual reports to calculate sustainability development scores, and applied the Fan and Lang's method to determine the vertical integration level of the companies. The study results demonstrated an increasing trend in both vertical integration and sustainability development of industrial industry companies over a 15-year of period. Furthermore, the companies became more vertically integrated as their environmental, economical, and social sustainability increased. Finally, in the fourth part, I developed and empirically tested a theoretical model that examines the supplier relationships of sustainability-focused companies (SFCs) to understand if these relationships are substitute to a vertically integrated organizational structure. Furthermore, I tested if SFCs are more socially connected to their suppliers compared to non-sustainable companies (non-SFCs). An online survey instrument was utilized for data collection. The empirical findings of path analysis demonstrated that SFCs establish long term relationships, collaborate, transfer know-how and experience, and create strong-ties with their first and second-tier suppliers to have an organizational structure that is substitute to a pure vertical integration. Findings further revealed that SFCs are connected to their first and second tier suppliers with stronger social ties compared to non-SFCs. Results support the natural transaction cost economics and natural resource based perspectives. Our study results should be useful to researchers and managers who are interested in corporate sustainability behavior.

Modeföretagen i Sverige 2015 befinner sig i en mycket konsumentstyrd bransch där trender uppstår och passerar snabbt, vilket ger en bransch som ständigt förser marknaden med nya varor. Mode är samtidigt råvaruintensiv och lämnar ett avtryck i miljön som påverkar alla. Konsumenterna ställer nu allt högre krav på att varor är producerade mer hållbart och under socialt ansvarstagande, CSR, i alla led. Modeföretagen ansvarar för en produktion av varor som främst sker i länder med lägre kostnad för arbetskraft, vilket medför svårigheter i form av kontroll då avstånden är långa. Vilken relation företaget har till sina leverantörer har således kommit att spela en allt mer avgörande roll. Syftet med uppsatsen är att genom en fallstudie undersöka och analysera de överväganden som producerande aktörer på den svenska modemarknaden gör vid val av leverantörer, för att på så sätt belysa de svårigheter de anser finns och vad som är viktigt för deras framgång. Metoden som använts är semistrukturerade intervjuer inom fallstudiens ramar. Sekundärdata har samlats in från press, företagens hemsidor och från mailkorrespondens med branschorganisationer. Fallstudien visar att relationen företagen har till sina leverantörer är väldigt viktig för dess framgång. Ett bra leverantörssamarbete ökar företagens chanser till både hållbar produktion och ger en ökad möjlighet till finansiering genom handelskredit. En bra leverantörsrelation ökar även företagens möjligheter till flexibilitet från leverantörens sida med snabbare leveranser som bättre kan möta kundens efterfrågan och minska risken för felbedömningar. Långa avstånd anses som ett problem för modeföretagen och de söker därför närmare produktion inom EU som ger kortare ledtider, en möjlighet till bättre leverantörsrelationer samt ett underlättande av likvärdiga kemikalielagar.