Together we share? Competitive and collaborative supplier interests in product development

While supplier involvement in product development projects can contribute with valuable knowledge and expertise, such involvement also poses organizational and managerial challenges, particularly if several rival suppliers are involved. This paper explores these challenges in the wind turbine industry, based on two interrelated Danish case studies. The analysis results in three propositions regarding how supplier rivalry and technological specialization influences roles, coordination patterns and communication between actors in distributed product development projects.     

Bring your suppliers into your projects—Managing the design of work packages in product development

Early supplier involvement and integration is important in product development on strategic as well as on operational, project and team levels. Saab Aerospace intended to achieve early supplier involvement and high level of integration on all levels in the redesign of the aircraft JAS 39 Gripen. The research underlying this article shows that the intended strategy was only achieved on the strategic level and not on the operational project and team levels. One major reason for this was that the design of the work breakdown structure (WBS) and work packages (WP) in the product development followed the functional and departmental logic within each company resulting in incompatible structures and preventing communication and information exchange. This article intends to explore how prevailing functionally designed WBS and WP structures created barriers and to demonstrate how supplier integration can be improved by designing collaborative WBS and integrated WP. The Dependence Structure Matrix (DSM) is introduced in order to analyze, visualize and manage interdependencies and information exchange between Saab Aerospace and its supplier on different levels of the WBS and in different phases of the development process, following the logic of interdependencies and information flow, in order to support a strategy focusing on integration of suppliers on the project and team level.     

Exploring early purchasing involvement in discontinuous innovation: A dynamic capability perspective

This paper aims to address the gap concerning our knowledge about early purchasing's involvement (EPI) in new product development (NPD) projects in contexts characterized by discontinuous innovation. We adopt a dynamic capability perspective to explore how existing sourcing and supplier relationship management capabilities are adapted when purchasing agents become involved in discontinuous innovations projects. We use an embedded case-study approach to study four NPD projects in a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) company. The case studies are based on interviews with managers and staff from the research and development, purchasing, and marketing departments, as well as suppliers involved in the projects. Our empirical findings capture emerging purchasing practices including a “reversed” sourcing process, purchasing-marketing interaction, and the coordination of “a learning atmosphere” between the R&D department and suppliers through proactive innovation meetings and creativity workshops. We derive propositions to conduct further research into the role of the purchasing department in times of discontinuous innovation. We also provide a framework of sourcing and supplier-relationship practices that firms can use when embarking on discontinuous innovation.     

Supplier's involvement and success of radical new product development in new ventures

Supplier involvement is essential to a new venture seeking to develop a radical innovation. Despite this, prior literature has not adequately addressed supplier involvement in radical innovation, nor what the antecedents to increased supplier involvement are. We build and test a conceptual model of the antecedents and new product performance outcomes of supplier involvement in the development of radical innovation by new ventures. Antecedent variables (supplier's specific investments and the new venture's qualification of the supplier's abilities) are drawn from the transaction cost analysis literature. We include new venture's relative power and new venture's level of commitment to the supplier as contingency conditions. We develop a set of hypotheses relating supplier involvement to radical innovation performance, relating the antecedent variables to supplier involvement, and also testing the interaction effects of the two contingency conditions. We gather data from both new ventures and their major suppliers for 173 recent radical innovation projects, and use hierarchical regression analysis to test our hypotheses. We find that the contingency conditions moderate achieved levels of supplier involvement, and also find a direct relationship between achieved level of involvement and performance. We conclude with theoretical contributions and managerial implications.     

Integrating Suppliers into Green Product Innovation Development: an Empirical Case Study in the Semiconductor Industry

Green innovation has been recognized as one of the key factors to achieve environmental and economic success in markets. Understanding green product innovation development as a result of suppliers' involvement has become a strategic priority for academics and practitioners. This paper aims to explore and understand the role of suppliers in enhancing the manufacturer's ability to successfully carry out green innovation in product development. As a research methodology, a case study approach is employed. Primary data were collected through site visits and extensive interviews with corporate and plant management in Korea. Based on the Korean study, the paper presents following outcomes. First, there is a strong linkage between environmental compliance and green new product developments. Second, there is a strategically close relationship of environmental collaboration between suppliers and the buying company through technological integration. Finally, involving key suppliers in green new product development for environmentally demanding customers and markets can bring both environmental and commercial success. This research provides new insights on supplier involvement and green product innovation development in supply chain management. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Supplier Development Practices for Sustainability: A Multi‐Stakeholder Perspective

Supplier development for sustainability is a critical element of sustainable supply chain management and requires extensive multi‐stakeholder collaboration. This article establishes a conceptual four‐stage framework to analyse the collaborative mechanisms of supplier development practices, and presents an exploratory, qualitative analysis to identify the major contributors of sustainable supplier development practices, such as NGOs, industrial associations, consulting firms etc. Based on semi‐structured interviews about 63 organizations from different regions and industries, this article identifies three types of contributor: drivers, facilitators and inspectors. Instead of traditional stakeholder engagement processes, these contributors actively collaborate with buying firms and suppliers to design, implement and evaluate sustainable supplier development programs. The article then provides a matrix to describe the supply chain coverage and supplier performance of supplier development practices, given the absence or positive involvement of facilitators and inspectors. We conclude our study by suggesting future research directions as well as discussing managerial implications. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Preserving the link between R&D and manufacturing: Exploring challenges related to vertical integration and product/process newness

Adopting a contingency framework, this paper explores consequences of manufacturing outsourcing and product/process newness for R&D–manufacturing coordination. Based on case-study findings, the following coordination challenges are outlined: accessing manufacturing competence and understanding suppliers’ processes (outsourcing of manufacturing and high newness); receiving feedback from suppliers and motivating suppliers (outsourcing and low-medium newness); exploiting manufacturing competence and establishing close working relations (internalization of manufacturing and high newness); early involvement of manufacturing and suppliers, and reducing variability in supplier performance (internalization and low-medium newness). The paper further elaborates on how the role of purchasing may change in order to address these challenges.     

Supplier innovativeness, organizational learning styles and manufacturer performance: An empirical assessment

Suppliers have become an increasingly important source of product and process innovation. While case studies have documented how supplier innovation can benefit a manufacturer, this relationship has not been empirically validated, nor have contingencies been explored. Using organizational learning theory we posit that the link between supplier innovativeness and manufacturer performance is moderated by the “fit” between the learning styles of the manufacturer and supplier. We empirically test our hypotheses using hierarchical linear modeling of survey responses from 148 manufacturers concerning 592 suppliers. Results indicate that supplier innovativeness has positive impacts on multiple dimensions of manufacturer performance. Results show that when the outsourced activity involves low levels of design responsibility by the supplier, it is more beneficial for the two partners to have contrasting learning styles. However, when the outsourced activity is design-intensive, it is more beneficial to have a supplier with an explorative learning style.     

Evaluation of supplier capability and performance: A method for supply base reduction

Development of partnership with suppliers is widely recognised today as a potent tool for supply chain improvement. To develop an effective partnership, it is necessary to have a small supply base and an effort to reduce the supply base to a manageable level. Despite its overwhelming importance, models of supply base reduction are rare. Supplier sorting methods, used for pre-selection of suppliers and sometimes seen as methods for supply base reduction, have limitations ranging from (1) requirement of an exhaustive database of historical information (case-based reasoning), (2) inability to predefine the number of elements in a cluster (cluster analysis) and (3) inability to identify suppliers who are both highly capable as well as high performers (data envelopment analysis). In the present work, we develop a systematic framework for carrying out the supply base reduction process. The study assumes two important dimensions of suppliers—performance and capability. Performance of a supplier represents short-term effects on the achievement of supply chain objectives while supplier capability indicates long-term effects. Many of the performance and capability factors are imprecise in nature. In order to account for the imprecision involved in numerous subjective characteristics of suppliers, we use fuzzy set approach to measure the imprecision of these factors and rank a potential list of suppliers against their performance and capability. We then display their ranks in a ‘capability–performance matrix’ that helps a decision maker arrange the suppliers in decreasing order of preference. The desired numbers of suppliers are finally selected on the basis of this ordered list. The suggested framework will be of immense help to the practising managers in reducing the supply base—a prerequisite for building a strong supplier partnership and developing an effective supply chain.     

How to ensure supplier quality from your supplier management program

Companies are currently abandoning vertical integration in order to focus on their core competencies and capabilities. As a result, higher percentages of their products are being provided by suppliers. In today's global marketplace, customers can demand and receive products that possess excellent quality. In order to remain competitive, companies must be able to provide high-quality products at low prices. The quality of components purchased from suppliers influences product quality more than any other factor except design quality, and since purchased materiel make up such a large percentage of a company's product, ensuring supplier quality has become an economic imperative.     

Internal and external suppliers in manufacturing networks—An empirical analysis

The purpose of the paper is to explore the way manufacturing firms use internal and external suppliers in the design and management of manufacturing networks. The main area of interest is to explore the similarities and differences between internal and external suppliers, with respect to their roles and the reasons for choosing a certain type of supplier. We base our analysis on data from 104 Swedish manufacturing plants and their corresponding manufacturing networks of internal and external suppliers. The results of the study show that there are significant differences between the criteria that are influential in choosing a certain type of supplier. The choice of an internal supplier is largely based on a single corporate decision, while an external supplier has to perform well on a number of criteria (primarily quality, cost, and delivery dependability). When comparing the selection criteria with competitive priorities and plant performance, we find that the criteria for selecting external suppliers has a better match than those for selecting internal suppliers. The sample contained plants having only external suppliers as well as plants having both internal and external suppliers, but the selection criteria for external suppliers are the same for both groups and not dependent upon the presence or absence of internal suppliers.     

Supplier development and cost management in Southeast Asia—Results from a field study

This paper is about supplier development when international companies have production sites in Southeast Asia and look for opportunities to switch from international suppliers to local suppliers. We conducted a field study involving site visits to companies in Thailand and Vietnam, and interviews at corporate supply chain departments. Some key observations are: cost management was a dominant motive for taking local supplier development initiatives. Furthermore, local sourcing and local supplier development were important for international companies to improve access to local customer markets. Firms deliberately assessed whether a particular supplier would likely be able to improve sufficiently to warrant investing in supplier development, which typically involved a combination of initiatives, requiring the international firm to take considerable efforts. Local sourcing strategies and priorities for supplier development initiatives tended to focus on items with low supply risk and low volume. These findings are discussed based on transaction cost economics, and we suggest that firms use several ways to reduce the risk of transaction-specific investments in supplier development initiatives.     

Supplier involvement in new product development and innovation: Taking stock and looking to the future

This paper provides a comprehensive and critical review and synthesis of the current state of empirical research into supplier involvement in new product development (NPD). The paper begins by defining supplier involvement in NPD and evaluating the rationale for supplier involvement in NPD. This suggests that early and extensive supplier involvement in NPD projects has the potential to improve NPD effectiveness and efficiency, however, existing research remains fragmented and empirical findings to date show conflicting results. The paper takes stock of the research on supplier involvement in NPD, tracing the origins of the literature to the late 1980s, and evaluating the development of the field up to the present day. From this broad base of empirical research the analysis identifies a set of factors affecting the success of supplier involvement projects. The paper concludes with a discussion of two emerging themes: (1) supplier relationship development and adaptation; (2) supply network involvement in product innovation.     

制造业企业供应商选择评价指标体系设计

基于制造业企业供应商选择的现状,构建了一个有5个一级指标和15个二级指标组成的选择评价指标体系。对各个指标进行了详细的说明,并对定性和定量指标分别进行了量化研究。较为全面地反映了供应链环境下新型的供应商关系的特点,突出了供应商的合作能力和发展能力的评价。     

绿色采购中供应商激励机制的设计探析

应用博弈理论对绿色采购中的供应商激励机制进行了设计,指出采购者应当考虑实际情况,给予供应商适当奖励;并且采购者在考虑奖励机制时,必须让供应商分担部分风险,即建立起与供应商合作的同盟关系。     

Global supplier selection using fuzzy analytic hierarchy process and fuzzy goal programming

Global supplier selection is a multi-goal multi-criteria problem which needs to consider both qualitative and quantitative factors. Which suppliers are the best and how much should be purchased from the selected suppliers is an important purchasing issue for manufacturers. Traditionally, decision makers can determine the best supplier from evaluating few suppliers with qualitative supplier selection criteria by using fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP), but evaluate dozens of global suppliers simultaneously or determine the order quantity from them will be complex and difficult. Meanwhile, decision makers can determine the order quantity form the suitable suppliers by using fuzzy goal programming (FGP); however, it is not easy to decide weights for each goal of global supplier selection with different supply chain strategies. This study integrated the FAHP and FGP (FAHP-FGP) method to be a new approach for global supplier selection in considering the manufacturer’s supply chain strategies. With FAHP-FGP method, the manufacturer can consistently integrate multi-manager’ opinions in determining weights of each goal and obtain the order quantities for suitable suppliers based on manufacturer’s strategies. To demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed method, a real-world case of a digital consumer products manufacturer is presented.     

政府采购的可持续供应商评价准则研究

与供应商建立战略合作关系、提高可持续发展能力是加强政府采购绩效和稳定性的有效手段,应当建立客观、科学的供应商评价和监管机制。结合失效模式、后果分析模型与区间二元语义混合加权距离测度对可持续供应商的评价准则进行风险分析和排序,为评价政府采购的供应商可持续能力提供判断依据。同时指出,政府采购流程中应当动态管理专家库和供应商信息库,制定合适的专家筛选条件,严格把控供应商资格审查,并利用科学方法确定评价准则内容和供应商选择对象。     

A two-way relationship between multi-level technological change and organisational characteristics-cases involving the development of heavy hybrid buses

This paper analyses inter- and intra-organisational interaction in cases of product development, which involves significantly new technologies that affect core product sub-systems. The analysis shows that in such cases, there is a need to collaborate with suppliers to learn about the new technology. Moreover, provided that the firm's existing technology is still relevant, there is a need to integrate the new technology with existing technologies. Therefore, close supplier interaction has to be associated with close intra-organisational interaction. However, even a case where there is a limited need to integrate the new technology with existing technologies, there is a need to justify the new technology internally and negotiate the process of adopting it within the organisation. The paper thus demonstrates a two-way relationship between organisational characteristics and multi-level technological change. On the one hand, different types of technological changes demand different kinds of R&D organisations and supplier relationships. On the other hand, decisions to implement technological changes are influenced by existing organisational structures and product development philosophies.     

Purchasing involvement in technologically uncertain new product development projects: Challenges and implications

This paper explores an emerging field of research within purchasing that concerns the changing role of purchasing when companies embark on technologically uncertain NPD projects. Where existing research has examined the role of purchasing in facilitating early supplier involvement in new product development, little research has been done to date on how purchasing's role might change when facing technologically uncertain NPD that require new capabilities and new technology. Based on an in-depth case study of a technologically uncertain NPD project in the passenger ship rescue equipment industry, the paper sheds light on how supplier involvement in NPD projects with a high degree of technological uncertainty impacts on a company's sourcing strategies and the challenges this poses for purchasing.Based on the case study findings, we propose a) that early purchasing involvement in technologically uncertain NPD projects requires a mature purchasing organization that possesses competences to interact effectively with R&D and b) that involving a new supplier from a different industry in NPD projects characterized by technological uncertainty requires a leap of faith from both innovating firm and supplier. The paper contributes to research in early supplier involvement in new product development, in particular the thin branch within this body of literature that now focuses on early purchasing involvement.     

At the receiving end of supply network intervention: The view from an automotive first tier supplier

As companies are increasingly responsible for all ingredients that make up their products, the requirement to increase visibility and exert control over the entire supply network has been identified as key imperatives. However, little research to date has examined the consequences of supply network control on the suppliers that are at the receiving end of it. This paper reports on research into the dynamics of supply network intervention and the effects on the companies that are subject to attempts to control a supply network, particularly in the context of new product development. The paper discusses the case of an automotive component supplier and its role in a specific vehicle development project. The case study shows how the supplier was a victim of its customer's attempt to ‘supply chain manage’ the project, giving the supplier little control over key activities such as the choice of suppliers of key components and little influence on commercial and technical agreements. The perspectives of both vehicle manufacturer and supplier are debated to reveal the drivers for and problems associated with supply network intervention. The paper discusses the theoretical and managerial implications of the study and concludes by raising some serious questions about the negative effects of intervention strategies.