Paul D. Cousins

Developing the concept of supply strategy

This article proposes a conceptualisation for supply strategy – an explanation for how organisations arrange and conduct themselves within modern economic environments, in order to satisfy markets in the long and short terms. After an explanation of the emerging global environment within which organisations must compete, the previous approaches to explaining this area of business are explored and found to be insufficient for the new context. There follows a conceptualisation and an account of new, supporting research – a Delphi survey, conducted to test, extend and validate some of the features of the concept. Finally, some suggestions are made for the further development of supply strategy as a useful subject area for managers and researchers.

Horses for Courses: Explaining the Gap Between the Theory and Practice of Green Supply

Researchers and policy-makers have become increasingly enthusiastic about greening purchasing and supply management activities. In theory, greening supply should both limit environmental damage from industrial activities, and deliver bottom line benefits to implementing firms. However, compared with other environmental initiatives, few firms have implemented extensive green supply programmes.

A conceptual model for managing long-term inter-organisational relationships

Abstract This paper will discuss the concept of relationship development. It will argue that whilst existing literature focuses on an economic power relationship this is incorrect. The focus should be based on a concentration on the trade off between the level of dependency that a firm is prepared to accept, compared to the level of certainty that they perceive to be realistic. The paper will explore the literature on relationship management and will take several established frameworks and argue that whilst they have substantial merit their focus is not helpful to relationship implementation and management. A conceptual model is presented which provides a different way of viewing relationships using the theoretical concept of ‘game theory’. This paper suggests that relationships are processes and not entities. As such the unit of analysis should be at the product, service or commodity level and not at the firm level. The approach suggested whilst conceptual, has been developed from several years of research with a variety of firms across a range of industries; some case studies will be used to illustrate the applicability of the framework.

The alignment of appropriate firm and supply strategies for competitive advantage

Purpose – Aims to prove that a firms perception of the strategic nature of supply depends on how it defines its competitive advantage within the marketplace.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected using a random stratified cross‐sectional design from 142 large manufacturing firms in the UK. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed to test the hypothesised model.Findings – Firms defining their competitive advantage as being cost‐focused will generally consider supply as playing merely a cost‐reduction role, i.e. passive and supportive, whereas firms viewing their competitive advantage as being differentiated will see supply as strategic, i.e. as a distinctive capability.Research limitations/implications – This studys single country setting could limit the generalizability of the findings. Replication of the model would require contrasting empirical contexts. Longitudinal as opposed to cross‐sectional data are needed for studying causations. Also future studies should take a multiple‐sou...

An empirical taxonomy of purchasing functions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the different patterns of purchasing function configuration, and the relationship between such patterns and organisational performance.Design/methodology/approach – Despite considerable attention, there is little evidence showing the current situation toward the development of purchasing functions within organisations. Through quantitative data collected from 151 UK purchasing executives, cluster analysis is used to uncover and characterize four purchasing function configurations.Findings – Four configurations, termed strategic, capable, celebrity, and undeveloped, were identified according to the characteristics they possess. Significant differences in supplier‐ and organisational‐related performance outcomes were found across these four purchasing function configurations. Purchasing skills were also shown to be a precondition for purchasing to exert influence within the organisation.Research limitations/implications – A cross‐sectional survey provide...

Performance Measurement in Strategic Buyer-Supplier Relationships: The Mediating Role of Socialization Mechanisms

Purpose – Close links between buyers and suppliers are increasingly cited as a critical differentiator of high and low performers in global supply chains. While the application of performance measures to manage supplier relationships has been well‐identified and encouraged in the literature, comparatively little research exists on the inter‐organizational socialization mechanisms that underlie the flow of learning and information within supply chains. The authors aim to develop a model positing that socialization mechanisms play an important role in mediating the relationship between supplier performance measures and performance outcomes.Design/methodology/approach – A structural equation model, using a sample of 142 manufacturing and service firms based in the UK, tests this hypothesised model.Findings – The theoretical framework was supported, with results indicating that socialization mechanisms fully mediate the effects of supplier performance measures (communication and operational‐based) on firm per...

The role of risk in environment‐related supplier initiatives

This paper extends previous literature on the greening of supply chains by giving explicit consideration to two main areas – the role of risk, and the motives for undertaking different sorts of environment‐related supplier initiatives. A model is presented which describes the extent and type of environment‐related supplier initiatives that may be undertaken by firms as a result of the interaction of the perceived losses to the firm associated with inaction, and the actual level of strategic purchasing in the firm.

Cooperation and Knowledge Transfer within Buyer–Supplier Relationships: The Moderating Properties of Trust, Relationship Duration and Supplier Performance

This paper examines the effect of relational factors on knowledge transfer within strategic buyer–supplier exchange. Prior research examining inter-firm knowledge transfer has focused almost exclusively on horizontal forms of governance such as strategic alliances and joint ventures, whilst research on vertical forms, such as buyer–supplier relationships, is limited. We test the effect of four important relational properties: cooperation, trust, relationship duration and supplier performance. Quantitative data, gathered from 104 UK manufacturing firms in eight industry sectors, are used to analyse the hypothesized relationships through a moderated hierarchical regression model. Our study provides support for the importance of considering relational factors in the transfer of knowledge at the inter-organizational level. In particular, the results indicate that knowledge transfer is positively influenced by the extent of cooperation, but that this relationship is moderated by the level of trust and the performance of the supplier firm. Managerial implications for these findings and future directions for research are then offered.

Supply chain management: theory and practice – the emergence of an academic discipline?

Purpose – To introduce the special issue focusing on the question: is supply chain management (SCM) an emerging academic discipline?Design/methodology/approach – A brief discussion of the papers in the special issue.Findings – Outlines how the papers stimulate debate on the nature and development of SCM and indicates that there is an intense research effort being conducted around the world in this field.Originality/value – Provides a summary of the perspectives considered within the issue.

Beyond vendor assessment: Relationship assessment programmes☆

Abstract As the limitations of ‘traditional’ buyer-supplier relations are becoming more recognised, the vendor assessment techniques associated with them are proving incapable of supporting the new relationship-focused paradigm of supply. This has led to a search for ways of establishing, or simulating, equity at the interface between customer and supplier. The theory of relationship assessment has been proposed as a replacement for vendor assessment within one of the leading paradigms, lean supply relationships. The principle of relationship assessment is based upon the perceived need for both parties within a supply contract to assess the relationship jointly, in order to work together to improve its performance and value adding/waste reduction potential. Relationship assessment programmes (RAP) may be seen to be both a development of vendor assessment schemes (ie a quantified analysis process coupled with a corrective action agenda) and a radical departure from traditional methods (the assessor is the joint customer-supplier team; the subject of the assessment is the relationship , in which both share, but for which neither can take sole responsibility). In order to understand RAP it is necessary to study both the development of vendor assessment and the principles of lean supply. This paper will present an account of recent UK research, which led to the development of a conceptual model for relationship assessment programmes. The model itself is presented, in the context of established literature, followed by a discussion of the steps that are currently being taken to operationalize the model and produce a relationship assessment management tool. The research is based upon case studies and postal questionnaires. The conceptual model has been constructed by the research team from Bath, in conjunction with several industrial collaborators: ICL Ltd, British Airways plc, Shell Downstream Procurement Ltd, and Partnership Sourcing Ltd. The paper concludes with a discussion of the practical barriers that must be overcome in the implementation of such a tool, and the potential benefits expected.