Supplier Relationship Management: Create Sustainable Supplier Relationships

Can the purchasing function learn something from customer relationship management?

Summary of my research

Competition imposes growing expectations concerning the impact of the purchasing function and the suppliers on overall value creation of a firm. Purchasing is the gateway between the external suppliers and the internal functions creating and delivering value for customers. This shift has incredibly enhanced the importance of the supplier base. While the old arm length collaboration is perfectly suitable for some suppliers others should be treated as close partners. However, an overall framework of Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) integrating such different types of suppliers along the course of the relationship remains desirable. Our research aims to contribute by developing a framework for Supplier Relationship Management. For this purpose this research adapts and applies insights from Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as well as existing findings in supplier management literature in order to give managers guidance on how to manage their supplier relationships.

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