مدل ارزیابی روابط خریدار تامین کننده در صنایع با فناوری پیشرفته - مورد یک تولید کننده قطعات الکترونیکی در تایوان

With globalize market, fast-changing technology and shortening product life cycle, businesses are becoming extremely competitive, and a cooperative buyer–supplier relationship is essential for a manufacturer, especially in technology-related industry, to survive and to acquire reasonable profit. Even though the research on various types of collaborations between firms is abundant, the research that provides a mathematical model for the selection of the most appropriate relationship form is very limited. The main objective in this study is to base on an electronic components manufacturer in Taiwan to propose an analytical approach to evaluate the forms of buyer–supplier relationship between the manufacturer and its supplier. A model, which applies the analytic network process (ANP) and the benefits, opportunities, costs and risks (BOCR) concept, is constructed to consider various aspects of buyer–supplier relationships. Multiple factors that affect the success of the relationship are analyzed by incorporating experts’ opinions on their priority of importance, and a performance ranking of the buyer–supplier forms is obtained. The results shall provide guidance to select the most appropriate form of relationship between the manufacturer and its supplier. The proposed model is systematic, and it is easy to be understood and applied by the management. The model can be tailored and applied by firms in various industries that are making decisions on buyer–supplier relationship.

In Taiwan’s economic development, manufacturing has been the most representative industry, which comprises five major categories: metal products industry, machinery industry, transportation industry, precision equipment industry and electronic components industry. Even though these industries once had created Taiwan’s economic miracle, they are facing the most difficult situation nowadays. In recent years, under the environment of global competition and fast-changing technology, companies have entered a slim profit-margin era. In order to lower costs, raise profit and attain core technology and competitiveness in the supply chain, companies often switch from arm’s length purchasing transactions into some kind of buyer–supplier partnership, such as technological cooperation, contractual purchase, cooperative relationship and strategic alliance. The underlying reasons for the relation building are to obtain sufficient material supply, reduce cost, shorten delivery time, reduce investment, acquire core technology, and reduce purchasing operation time, repetitive processes and negotiation cost, etc. A critical reason nowadays is to facilitate the process of advanced-technology product development and introduction in order to enhance a firm’s competitive advantage from change. This research focuses on the electronic component manufacturing industry in Taiwan and studies a famous hard disk component company, which is considering building a relationship with its core-technology component supplier. An interview with experts of vertical integration in the company is carried out to find the critical factors for integration. Saaty’s analytical network process (ANP) with BOCR is adopted to analyze the results of questionnaire, calculate the relative importance of these critical factors, and rank the possible vertical integration forms. The result of the study can be a reference for the industry when forming a strategic relationship with the supplier with core technology. The proposed model is not only applicable to the domestic hard disk component manufacturer in assessing the most appropriate relationship with its suppliers, but also can be tailored for other manufacturers in various industries. With better allocation of resources, reduction in cost, increase in profit and concentration in core technology, the competitiveness of firms in a supply chain can be enhanced. The rest of this paper is organized as follows. The next section reviews strategic alliances and buyer–supplier relationships, supplier selection models, and the ANP methodology. A model based on the ANP with benefits, opportunities, costs and risks (BOCR) to evaluate the forms of buyer–supplier relationship is developed in the following section. In the subsequent section, the model is applied on an electronics components manufacturer in Taiwan in evaluating the efficiency under different types of buyer–supplier relationships between the manufacturer and its supplier. Some concluding remarks are made in the last section.

In this paper, a model, which adopts the ANP, is constructed to evaluate the forms of buyer–supplier relationship for a firm under a fast technology-changing and global competitive environment. Although there is abundant literature on buyer–supplier relationships, in author’s knowledge, there are very limited mathematical models that can help a firm evaluate the various types of buyer–supplier relationship. The proposed model not only considers the benefits that can be obtained by the buyers, but also takes into account the opportunities, costs and risks that need to be faced by the buyers if they choose a specific form of buyer–supplier relationship. In addition, the interdependence in the evaluation network can be considered using the ANP. The results of this case study were fed back to the experts in the firm, and most of the experts were satisfied with the results. For example, ability to control cost and control of competitors’ material supply were evaluated to be two important sub-criteria. The experts in the procurement department confirmed that these sub-criteria were essential factors for acquiring material. The experts in the corporate development department also confirmed that, in addition to the previously-mentioned two sub-criteria, repetitive equipment and resources, lack of trust and lack of compatibility of organizational cultures and decision making were also their concerns when forming relationships with the firm’s suppliers. However, the experts in the procurement department believed that the importance of quality management was under-estimated since a firm can produce good quality products with higher profit margins only if a good quality management is present. This leads to our future research direction of proposing a better group decision-making process. For example, the experts from different departments should have meetings together to discuss about the decision-making problem comprehensively so that they can have a more clear idea on the opinions of other experts before filling out the questionnaires. In addition, Delphi method can also be applied to facilitate a group consensus on the decision making. With the recent financial tsunami and economic downturn, many experts pointed out that sometimes a simpler buyer–supplier relationship such as arm’s length purchasing transactions or contractual purchases might not be a bad option since a larger firm sometimes cannot react quickly to the changes of the business environment. Therefore, more alternatives can be added to the evaluation model in the future. In addition, the model can be tailored to include economic risk and the needs of the firm in different situations. By applying the proposed model, the experts can have a more thorough thinking and decision-making process. Instead of a straightforward thinking, instinct, some qualitative analysis or brainstorming, experts can have an extensive examination of the buyer–supplier relationship problem and can consider various benefits, costs, opportunities and risks aspects of different relationships. The experts can base on the results to examine the expected performance of each relationship form on various criteria and sub-criteria, and can select the most appropriate form of relationship with the supplier. The results of the model also provide the experts with solid reasons for entering into a selected relationship. A sensitivity analysis can be carried out to examine the robustness of the ranking. The importance of merits, criteria and sub-criteria give the management detailed information on what the firm should be considered the most in making the decision. The model can be modified as required by any firm in any industry to help the firm select the best form of buyer–supplier relationship.