Frontpage  About  admin@impgroup.org
Paper info: Ending Relationships with Suppliers

Title


Ending Relationships with Suppliers

Authors


Hanna Komulainen
University of Oulu
Finland
Hanna Komulainen and Pauliina Ulkuniemi

Place of Publication


The paper was published at the 27th IMP-conference in Glasgow, Scotland in 2011.

Download


Download paper
(155.1 kb)

Abstract


Abstract
Managing supplier relationships and supply base has been acknowledged to represent a key
managerial task in companies in the current business environment characterised by high level
of specialization and focus on core competencies. In the research concentrated on supplier
relationship management, most of the attention has been given to the start-up or development
of the relationships. The ending of supplier relationships has been acknowledged as
important, e.g. in terms of research focusing on supply base reduction and supplier
evaluations (e.g. selection criteria vendor rating, supplier auditing). However, in industrial
purchasing and supplier relationship management, the issue of how supplier relationships are
ended has received very scant research attention. The purpose of our exploratory paper is to
answer to the following question: What needs to be considered in the ending of supplier
relationship so that future recovery can be facilitated? To answer this question, we will first
review the existing literature within industrial purchasing focusing on supply base
management and supply base reduction to find out, how the current research has
conceptualised and modelled the way supplier relationships are ended or developed towards
lower level of involvement. Secondly, we will use the body of knowledge on relationship
ending to develop a model for managing supplier relationship ending and development
towards lower level involvement. The present study is a conceptual one with an explorative
aim.
Keywords: industrial purchasing, supplier relationships, supply base reduction, relationship
ending