Collaborative buyer-supplier relations and the formation of centralised networks

Much of Western European and North American industry has been restructuring its supplier relations, introducing innovations such as JIT delivery, increased outsourcing and collaborative buyer-supplier relations. There is now a growing literature on the extent and general spatial implications of changing buyer-supplier relations in the U.K. There is less evidence of the extent and form of collaborative inter-firm relations in the U.K. This paper provides some initial findings of the extent and form of collaborative buyer-supplier relations on processes of technology transfer. It draws on the results of surveys of electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and firms in their main supply industries in two contrasting study areas. The research findings suggest that there is, as yet, an absence of real depth in collaborative buyer-supplier relations. Furthermore, there are signs that the collaboration which is taking place appears to be concentrated between OEMs and suppliers with superior functional capabilities. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd