Cooperative Buyer-Supplier Relationships: The Missing Link

Abstract

This study examines organizational culture as a strategic determinant of cooperative buyer–supplier relationships. While historically, organizations sought lowest-bid solutions by having suppliers compete against one another, this short-term strategy has given way to one of enhancing relationships with suppliers in order to achieve competent and loyal supply chains. As a result, many organizations today are aggressively reducing their total number of suppliers, increasing their reliance on the suppliers that remain, and involving suppliers in new product developments. This study uses data from 195 organizations that are involved in developing new products to investigate the cultural determinants of this shift toward cooperative supply-chain management and suggests that organizations that have achieved more cooperative and integrative buyer–supplier relationships have specific cultural dimensions. The study relies on the cultural dimensions suggested by Hofstede when studying the relationship between organizational culture and buyer-supplier relationships.