CASE STUDY

Researching buyer–supplier relationships

Ella is a third year undergraduate student who is undertaking her final-year research project.
She wants to understand more about why organisations make certain supplier selection decisions.
She chose the topic because it interests her, and plans to do basic research to expand her
knowledge of the supplier selection process. Having read Barratt et al. (2011: 329), who believe
that qualitative case study approaches have made ‘meaningful and significant contribu- tions to
the field of operations manage- ment’, Ella is keen to use this approach.

When trying to gain access for a case study approach in a real business, Ella finds that she is
having difficulty getting anyone to speak with her about their supplier selection process.
Managers are busy and she is strug- gling to answer the ‘what’s in it for us’ question that they
always ask her. Although Ella had planned for her research to contribute to a general
understanding of why purchasers make certain supplier selection decisions, she begins to realise
that organisations require something more practical and of use to them. She realises that she
needs to be clear about the benefits of her research to participating organisations if she is to gain
access, so changes the focus to be more specific.

During further searching of the literature, Ella finds an article by Cheraghi et al. (2011),
which argues that while quality, cost and delivery have been the key criteria for choosing sup-
pliers, the opportunity for long-term collaborative relationships is becoming an increasingly im-
portant criterion. She notices that the process of selecting suppliers is growing in complexity.
These authors highlighted that ‘as the pace of market globalisation quickens, the number of
potential suppliers and the number of factors to consider when selecting suppliers increases’ (p.
91). The traditional aspects of performance are still considered important, but there are a number
of evolving features, such as communication, flexibility and the potential for long-term
relationships, that warrant more attention in the supplier selection decision. Ella wants to con-
duct research to find out how these buyer–supplier relationships can be successfully facilitated,
hoping to contribute to the solution of the problem by providing new insights.

Ella has already ensured her literature review incorporates a range of academic literature. She
now looks at practitioner literature such as Jusko (2011) who offers recommendations on
building partnerships. In an article in Industry Week, Jusko explains that ‘partnering with sup-
pliers to develop deep, mutually beneficial relationships over the long-term is frequently cited as
a means by which to lessen that risk and develop true supply chain excellence’ but that
organisations find it difficult to do. Jusko suggests this is because suppliers can feel that larger
purchasing organisations have too much power in a partnership, when in actual fact, in many
cases the buyers see the supplier as an extension of the company so that both parties can achieve
mutually beneficial goals.

Ella discusses her new focus with other people. She talks to her project tutor in terms of
the research approach and how she plans to meet the university’s assessment criteria as her
research plan has been adapted to make it more applied. She also has a discussion with a
manager in a business in terms of what they could gain by taking part. As the findings are
practically relevant, the manager seems happy to work with her. Ella makes entries in her re-
flective diary and documents how the research is changing in focus. As she is learning so much
and is still at such an early stage of the project, she starts to note down what has gone well and
what has not gone so well, and any actions she has performed as a result of this. She uses this
process to help her work out a more systematic way to find out things she wishes to incor- porate
in her research.

References

Barratt, M., Choi, T.Y. and Li, M. (2011) ‘Qualitative case studies in operations
management: Trends, research outcomes, and future research implications’, Journal of
Operations Management, Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 329–42.

Cheraghi, S.H., Dadashzadeh, M. and Subramanian, M. (2011) ‘Critical success factors for
supplier selection: an update’, Journal of Applied Business Research, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 91–108.

Jusko, J. (2011) ‘How to build a better supplier partnership’, Industry Week, available at
http://www.industryweek.com/articles/how_to_build_a_better_supplier_partnership_24607.aspx
[accessed 31 March 2014].
 Questions

1) How has Ella developed her research to make it more applied?

2) What learning points do you think Ella added in her reflective diary after she had spent
some time developing her ideas?

3) Now that Ella has formulated and clarified her topic with her project tutor and the
business and reviewed the literature, what should she do next? Try to answer the question by
outlin- ing the stages she will follow to show a systematic approach.