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MARCH 2007
FOCUS ON RESEARCH is a continuation of the 2002 print series through which we are sharing the business related issues being researched by our faculty. Annually they participate in a variety of communications avenues ranging from expert editorial support in various media to lecturing and consulting. As a Carnegie Doctoral/Research-Extensive University, publishing research in referred academic journals is a critical part of our mission. A Dean’s Seminar also has been established where the faculty has an opportunity to do additional research and share it monthly with colleagues. Items from all of these sources may be included in this website’s contributions and stories, as they become available. |
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Presented at Dean’s Seminar March 30, 2007
Collaborative Supplier Development: Synergistic or Directive?
Weiyong Zhang, assistant Professor, Department of Management,
VCU School of Business
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Weiyong Zhang, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor
Departmment of Management
Virginia Commonwealth University
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ABSTRACT: It is well-established in the literature that collaborative supplier development leads to supplier performance improvement. The main stream of the literature also indicates that an important motive for collaboration is the synergy effect, i.e., parties receive magnified return due to collaboration. However, empirical data collected from 53 plants did not support the existence of the synergy effect, operationalized as a moderation model. Instead, the empirical results strongly support the alternative directive perspective, operationalized as a mediation model. Buyer's supplier development effort, in the form of process improvement activities, directs suppliers to better select their process improvement projects, which
leads to better supplier performance. This study provides insights for
theory development and aids decision making in practice. More importantly, this study challenges business scholar to explore why the anticipated synergy effect is missing so that companies can remove the obstacles for better performance.
Keywords: Supplier development; supplier process improvement; empirical
research
A copy of the paper is available upon request from the author at wzhang@vcu.edu
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