| Corporate downsizing, global competition and increasing input prices have induced firms to view their suppliers as potential contributors to the buying firm's competitive edge. Yet a recent survey of purchasing professionals indicated that suppliers were generally weak in the areas of quality, delivery, cost reduction, adoption of new technologies, financial health and handling design changes. This result points to a need for buying firms to obtain higher levels of performance from suppliers, either by locating new sources of supply or working with present suppliers. For this study, supplier development was defined as any effort of a buying firm with a supplier to increase the performance and/or capabilities of the supplier and to meet the buying firm's short and/or long term supply needs.; To develop a better of understanding of the importance of, and interrelationships among, factors influencing supplier development, an empirical study was performed. Significant factors of supplier development were identified and modeled. Data were collected from 527 high level purchasing executives, who were members of the National Association of Purchasing Management, through a self-administered survey questionnaire. The 527 responses represented a 35.04 percent response rate.; The study found statistically significant support for the following factors as antecedents to supplier development: support of top management for the purchasing function, a cross-functional effort within the buying firm, effective communication by the buying firm with the supplier, buying firm proaction regarding supply base performance, supplier's top management support for the relationship and supplier commitment. The results of this research indicate that buying firms participating in supplier development perceive some level of commitment on the supplier's part, before spending time and resources to participate in supplier development activities. The data also suggest that the buying firm may be able to influence the level of supplier commitment through its communication effort with the supplier. |
