Supplier–customer relationships: A case study of power dynamics

Autor: Rhona Johnsen, Sylvie Lacoste
Rok vydání: 2015
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management. 21:229-240
ISSN: 1478-4092
DOI: 10.1016/j.pursup.2014.12.006
Popis: Against the backdrop of earlier research on power in supplier–customer relationships, our study focuses on the power dynamics, which lead low-power suppliers to re-balance their power relationship with strategic customers. An in-depth qualitative study is used to examine the case of a network made of several dyads (FMCG strategic customers/corrugated packaging suppliers). Our findings are slightly counter-intuitive: a new stream of literature tends to show that supplier performance is relationship-driven. We find here that the supplier performance is process-driven: to reach the targeted level of performance and to move out from a low-power position, the suppliers develop a two-step process. First, suppliers shift their focus from a product centric approach to a customer business process one, supplying “Process Support Services”. Second, suppliers initiate “Performance Process Services” to position themselves to outsource the customer’s business processes, hence creating interdependency and a countervailing power with the strategic customer.
Databáze: OpenAIRE