International buyer-supplier relationships

Businesses and their supply chains are becoming more global each day. Many factors have combined to make sourcing outside the home country more financially lucrative for the firm. However, this trend has occasionally been frustrated by failures of undertakings and relationships with firms based in other countries. In many cases the realization of benefits from such relationships is dependent on the acknowledgement of differences between the cultures of the home countries of the firms involved. In fact, such differences may also influence the inception of the relationship itself. Here the author addresses the following questions: Which non-financial performance measures are important in buyer-supplier relationships? Is there a model for relationship-building applicable across various industries? How are such relationships affected by differences in national culture with regard to suppliers from a variety of countries? How important is cultural “similarity” in global sourcing? This book is addressed to researchers in supply chain management, purchasing, and organizational behaviour, as well as professionals in supply chain management.