Chinese purchasing managers' preferences and trade offs in supplier selection and performance evaluation

Purchasing managers need to periodically evaluate supplier performance in order to retain those suppliers who meet their requirements in terms of several performance criteria. Six attributes frequently used as performance criteria are identified and used in this study. These attributes are: on-time delivery, quality, price/cost targets, professionalism, responsiveness to customer needs, and long-term relationships with the purchasing company. Purchasing managers use all six attributes jointly in evaluating supplier performance. Further, in making their choices the purchasing managers must necessarily make trade-offs among different levels of these attributes. Conjoint analysis is the appropriate method for measuring preferences where several attributes are used jointly in an overall evaluation. This article reports the results of an exploratory study examining the trade-offs made by Chinese purchasing managers among the six attributes identified earlier. The priorities of Chinese managers as well as the trade-offs they make are finally discussed in terms of their implications for Western marketers.