Citation:
Fred Lemke, Keith Goffin, Marek Szwejczewski, Investigating the meaning of supplier-manufacturer partnerships : An exploratory
study. International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, 2003, Vol 33, issue 1, pp12-35
Abstract:
Supplier partnerships can be the key in enhancing the performance of
manufacturing companies. Consequently, partnership has been strongly recommended
by academics and practitioners alike. Surprisingly, the concept of partnership
is only poorly understood. Many authors have identified the advantages that it
can bring but far less has been published on the attributes of partnership
itself. What is known is that partnerships are “close” relationships and thus,
the level of relationship closeness is an appropriate angle for exploring
supplier partnerships. Research was conducted using the repertory grid technique
with an exploratory sample of ten managers from four German engineering
companies. It revealed that supplier partnerships are very different from other
forms of relationship and identified five distinct attributes of partnerships.
These findings have a number of implications for both practitioners and research