This paper examines the factors that may influence buyer-supplier relationships, particularly as they relate to the procurement operation of an American automotive subsidiary of a Japanese firm. The paper discusses how the Japanese parent company, which had a long history of keiretsu supplier relationships, translated them into American firm operations. The American automotive subsidiary is undergoing an organizational restructuring, which will have a future impact on supplier relationships. Several factors are proposed for future research, which include how the parent firm's keiretsu supplier relationships impact the American firm's supply base and how successful the firm will be in determining the particular aspects of different supplier relationship models that will benefit in establishing a supplier-partnering management program.
The
development of buyer-supplier partnerships has made the
firms to compete more effectively in global markets. Businesses
have begun to realize the competitive advantages of cooperative
partnerships with suppliers (Langfield-Smith and Greenwood,
1998). The US automotive industry in particular has embraced
the concept of buyer-supplier partnerships to remain competitive
with the Japanese firms. The US automotive firms have realized
that part of the reason for the success of Japanese automotive
companies is their close supplier relationships (Dyer et
al., 1998).
Since
the last decade, the US automotive industry has begun to
get rid of the traditional arms-length supplier arrangements
they have had in the past, seeking the same type of relationships
with their own suppliers that have contributed to the success
of Japanese firms (Langfield-Smith and Greenwood, 1998).
Daimler Chrysler, a US automotive firm has concentrated
on developing cooperative arrangements with their suppliers
(Putnam and Chan, 1998).This
paper considers the factors that may influence buyer-supplier
relationships, and examines the buyer-supplier relationship
of an American subsidiary of a Japanese automotive manufacturer
conducting procurement operations in the US. The American
operation is referred to as the Kaisha, which is
a Japanese word for "large Japanese company" (Yoshimura
and Anderson, 1997). The Japanese parent company is referred
to as the "Mother Kaisha".
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