| Abstract: | This paper expands and updates a major survey conducted in 1970 by Scientific American, Inc. Both surveys were designed to measure the influence of key corporate groups or departments on the purchasing decision. Despite major differences in the two samples, there was very good agreement between the two surveys. All the Kendall's rank correlation coefficients were significant at the 0.05 level. The purchasing department continues to play a key role in the purchase of materials, component parts, and equipment, especially when it comes to taking advantage of new price differentials, surveying available makes, and choosing suppliers. The applications of the results are explored in two short cases. |
