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PurposeAims to prove that a firm's perception of the strategic nature of supply depends on how it defines its competitive advantage within the marketplace.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a random stratified cross‐sectional design from 142 large manufacturing firms in the UK. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed to test the hypothesised model.FindingsFirms defining their competitive advantage as being cost‐focused will generally consider supply as playing merely a cost‐reduction role, i.e. passive and supportive, whereas firms viewing their competitive advantage as being differentiated will see supply as strategic, i.e. as a distinctive capability.Research limitations/implicationsThis study's single country setting could limit the generalizability of the findings. Replication of the model would require contrasting empirical contexts. Longitudinal as opposed to cross‐sectional data are needed for studying causations. Also future studies should take a multiple‐source as opposed to a single‐source data collection approach. Finally, more empirical research is needed, specifically grounded in the established strategy literature.Practical implicationsThe model presented allows managers to understand what strategies to follow and which relationship modes to adopt. This study has a number of implications for strategy makers at the level of the firm and within supply.Originality/valueSupply management has so far focused on the wrong question. Instead of "why isn't purchasing strategic?", it should be "what are the firm's strategic goals and priorities?" This refocusing allows exploration of the linkage between the firm's competitive positioning and priorities and that of supply.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the different patterns of purchasing function configuration, and the relationship between such patterns and organisational performance.Design/methodology/approachDespite considerable attention, there is little evidence showing the current situation toward the development of purchasing functions within organisations. Through quantitative data collected from 151 UK purchasing executives, cluster analysis is used to uncover and characterize four purchasing function configurations.FindingsFour configurations, termed strategic, capable, celebrity, and undeveloped, were identified according to the characteristics they possess. Significant differences in supplier‐ and organisational‐related performance outcomes were found across these four purchasing function configurations. Purchasing skills were also shown to be a precondition for purchasing to exert influence within the organisation.Research limitations/implicationsA cross‐sectional survey provides limited longitudinal insight into the evolution of purchasing functions. Future research could examine how firms move between purchasing configurations. This study does, however, improve understanding of the different types of purchasing functions, their performance outcomes, and makes recommendations for potential strategies to be adopted for purchasing function improvement.Practical implicationsThe findings are useful for practitioners seeking to improve the performance and standing of the purchasing function through identification of the characteristics and potential limitations faced at each phase.Originality/valueThis paper is one of few studies to provide an empirical test of purchasing function configuration, and the implications for organisational performance.

Latin lives of Thomas More / Germain Marc'hadour -- Modern biographies of Sir Thomas More / Michael Ackland -- More's letters and "The comfort of the truth" / Alison V. Scott -- Humanism, female education, and myth : Erasmus, Vives, and More's To Candidus / A.D. Cousins -- Virtue, transformation, and exemplarity in The Lyfe of Johan Picus / L.E. Semmler -- Inhabiting time : Sir Thomas More's Historia Richardi Tertii / Arthur F. Kinney -- The epigrams of More and Erasmus : a literary diptych / Clarence H. Miller -- Erasmus and More : exploring vocations / Bruce Mansfield -- "Civitas philosophica" : ideas and community in Thomas More / Dominic Baker-Smith -- Utopia / Damian Grace -- The reluctant champion : More's Responsio ad Lutherum and Letter to Bugenhagen / Alistair Fox -- "The field is won" : an introduction to the Tower works / Seymour Baker House

Attempts to answer the question: why are Japanese firms better at managing long‐term supplier relationships? Discusses the results from a three‐year research project that focuses on the way in which Japanese transplants and UK non‐Japanese‐owned vehicle manufacturers manage their relationships. The research attempts to define the concept of trust, by using existing academic models. Using the existing literature examines how Japanese and non‐Japanese‐owned (UK) manufacturers work with their first tier suppliers. The research is primarily qualitative due to the small sample size of non‐Japanese‐owned and Japanese vehicle manufacturers; however, the research does examine five vehicle manufacturers and 19 relationships. Concludes with the development of a conceptual model for mutually advantageous business relationships, which is an attempt to produce a workable inventory of trust for use by both customers and suppliers.

The concept of purchasing partnerships is designed to eradicate the
adversarial nature of the purchasing process with its resulting costs
and inefficiencies, and to replace it with a process that is based on a
relationship where short‐term advantage gives way to long‐term
objectives, in a manner that provides maximum long‐term benefits to both
organizations. In the past the main focus in terms of the players
involved in purchasing partnerships has been, not unnaturally, on the
purchasing/sales and production/ manufacturing relationships within a
manufacturing context. Looks at how the partnering philosophy within
manufacturing can be strengthened through the involvement of other
departments and how technology can lead to partnering advantage.

This paper seeks to examine the link between the academic debates on obligation contracting and its successful implementation as a mode of governance. The literature reports that firms are increasingly entering into long‐term, high dependency exchanges as a result of: increased demand for quality goods, demand for variability of goods, demand for constant innovation, severe price competition and increasing technology costs. These changes are forcing firms to enter into complex relationships with other firms in order to remain competitive. Examples of such relationships are: relational contracting, network organisations, strategic alliances and horizontal co‐operation. The increase in number and complexity of these exchanges in an environment characterised by uncertainty has led to the increased interest in the use of obligation contracting. Furthermore, this interest has been reinforced by the changing nature of products being exchanged. More knowledge‐based products and information‐based modes of production necessitate the sharing of strategically sensitive data. Hence the rise of importance of obligation contracting is not only due to the increased number of complex exchanges in uncertain environments, but also the very nature of the goods being exchanged.

PurposeClose links between buyers and suppliers are increasingly cited as a critical differentiator of high and low performers in global supply chains. While the application of performance measures to manage supplier relationships has been well‐identified and encouraged in the literature, comparatively little research exists on the inter‐organizational socialization mechanisms that underlie the flow of learning and information within supply chains. The authors aim to develop a model positing that socialization mechanisms play an important role in mediating the relationship between supplier performance measures and performance outcomes.Design/methodology/approachA structural equation model, using a sample of 142 manufacturing and service firms based in the UK, tests this hypothesised model.FindingsThe theoretical framework was supported, with results indicating that socialization mechanisms fully mediate the effects of supplier performance measures (communication and operational‐based) on firm performance.Practical implicationsThis study provides additional insights for purchasing managers seeking to improve the management of their strategic supplier relationships. The authors find that monitoring supplier performance is not of itself sufficient, rather, it is the process of socializing the buyer and supplier that is critical to success.Originality/valueAs far as the authors are aware, no previous supply chain research has examined how supplier performance measurement systems, socialization mechanisms, and firm performance are related. The paper makes a significant contribution to this literature embedding an established theoretical construct (socialization) into the supply chain literature.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between supplier capabilities, supply chain collaboration and buyer responsiveness.Design/methodology/approachThe sample is drawn from UK manufacturing firms across eight industry sectors. Data are analysed using a three‐step hierarchical regression model to investigate main, interaction and quadratic effects.FindingsThe results indicate that suppliers' capabilities (flexibility, responsiveness and modularity) directly impact buyer responsiveness but that the level of buyer‐supplier collaboration moderates this relationship. Furthermore, the results show a curvilinear relationship directly between collaboration and buyer responsiveness, whereby there is an optimal point beyond which returns on the relationship decline.Research limitations/implicationsThe method adopted is a cross‐sectional design and therefore cannot imply causality. Nonetheless, the findings suggest a number of implications. The paper identifies empirical evidence for the extended resource‐based view (ERBV) of the firm and therefore has implications for the unit of analysis of future studies investigating competitive advantage. Contrary to popular wisdom, the findings also suggest a curvilinear relationship between supply chain collaboration and performance.Originality/valueThe paper provides novel insights into the impact of supplier capabilities on buyer responsiveness. Furthermore, the paper provides empirical evidence for the rationale of the ERBV within the context of operations management.

This article proposes a conceptualisation for supply strategy – an explanation for how organisations arrange and conduct themselves within modern economic environments, in order to satisfy markets in the long and short terms. After an explanation of the emerging global environment within which organisations must compete, the previous approaches to explaining this area of business are explored and found to be insufficient for the new context. There follows a conceptualisation and an account of new, supporting research – a Delphi survey, conducted to test, extend and validate some of the features of the concept. Finally, some suggestions are made for the further development of supply strategy as a useful subject area for managers and researchers.

PurposeSustainable supply chain management has become an increasingly important driver of business performance. Understanding the contingent nature of how performance is improved in this context is therefore a critical task for management. The purpose of this paper is to explore the moderating effects of two practices unique to sustainable supply chain – ecocentricity and supply chain traceability – on a firm's environmental and operating cost performance.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected from 248 UK manufacturing firms and analyzed using moderated hierarchical regression.FindingsThe results suggest that green supply chain management (GSCM) practices are associated with improvements in both environmental and cost-based performance. Further, higher levels of ecocentricity and supply chain traceability are associated with stronger relationships between GSCM practices and cost performance. Contrary to expectations, high levels of supply chain traceability were found to negatively moderate the relationship between GSCM practices and environmental performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe research design was survey-based and cross-sectional. Future studies would benefit from longitudinal research designs that capture the effects of GSCM practices on performance over an extended period. The survey data is also perceptual; using secondary data to capture environmental performance outcomes, for example, would be another opportunity for future research.Practical implicationsThe authors provide additional support to findings that GSCM practices benefit both environmental and cost performance dimensions. In this context, the authors show that investments by firms in working with a broader set of eco-system partners (ecocentricity) and building supply chain traceability and leads to improved environmental sustainability outcomes. The authors encourage managers to carefully consider how they conceptualize and monitor their supply chains.Originality/valueThis paper offers several contributions to the research in this area. First, the authors develop and validate a measurement scale for ecocentricity and supply chain traceability. Second, the authors show how these two variables – unique to sustainable supply chains – can positively influence firm and environmental performance.

PurposeIn the last decade there have been dramatic impacts on, and changes within, the field of purchasing/supply management. Given supply management's new strategic role, this research seeks to examine the key skills and knowledge necessary for firms to improve in order to maximize the purchasing function's contribution to the organization. The research also aims to identifies the major shifts in supply management that have occurred in the last decade.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative study was conducted with a series of focus group meetings with 54 executives across the USA in order to construct theoretical relationships with which to develop a grounded theory of supply management skills evolution in a changing business environment.FindingsThe implications from this research indicate that supply management professionals will assume a more strategic role in the future. The data indicate that there are strong trends underlying this movement. These include the need for building strategic relationships, focusing on total cost and strategic cost reduction, yet collaborating and integrating with suppliers. While in the past these efforts may have appeared to be contradictory, with proper strategic planning they can be complementary.Originality/valueSupply managers of the future need to acquire strategic skills that add value and enable effective alignment with key business functions at a senior decision‐making level. Additional research is needed in the area to determine how best to recruit and train managers in these skills to move forward.