ijmvsc

THE INFLUENCE OF COLLABORATION IN PROCUREMENT RELATIONSHIPS  Wesley S. Boyce 1 , Haim Mano 2 and John L. Kent 3   1 Department of Management Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 2 Marketing Department, University of Missouri – St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 3 Department of Supply Chain Management, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas ABSTRACT Supply Chain Management often requires independent organizations to work together to achieve shared objectives. This collaboration is necessary when coordinated actions benefit the group more than the uncoordinated efforts of individual firms. Despite the commonly reported benefits that can be gained in close relationships, recent research has indicated that collaboration attempts between purchasing firms and their suppliers have not been as widespread as anticipated. Using a survey of procurement professionals, this research investigates how the purchasing function utilizes collaboration in its sup...