Forming partnerships with suppliers is a means to obtain best performance from the
supply chain (Barratt, 2004; Ireland & Bruce, 2000; Wong, 1999). Wong advocates
the forming of a clear vision for the goals of the supply chain, describing cooperative
goals as the glue in the relationship between supply partners. Collaboration has as
a benefit sisable cost reductions in total supply chain costs but it must be limited
to a few trading partners, it is not possible to collaborate with all suppliers as they
form partnerships with other trading partners (Barratt, 2004; Walker, 1994). Barratt
(2004) adds limiting the number of collaborative partnerships to a few strategically
important relationships is important due to the resource intensive nature of
the relationships. In true collaboration the supply chain acts as a single unit, with
decisions being made for the good of the supply chain (Fisher, 1997; Simatupang
& Sridharan, 2004).
For collaboration to succeed it is necessary for the relationships to be built on a
basis of trust and commitment (Fisher, 1997; Spekman, Kamauff, & Myhr, 1998).
Pages:
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734