Attitudes toward supplier integration: the USA vs China
The positive impact of supplier integration on firms’ performances has been shown in supply chain
management literature (Koufteros et al., 2005; Gimenez et al., 2012; Cagliano et al., 2006). Yet, recent
research has found that negative attitudes toward collaboration can emerge from various organizational
contexts and, therefore, make it difficult to synchronize buyer and supplier resources for unique competitive
advantage (Fawcett et al., 2012; Giannoccaro, 2013; Forslund and Jonsson, 2009).
For example, personal communication between the authors and a large electronic manufacturer highlights
the impact of managerial attitudes in relation to supplier integration. Initially, the top management of the
manufacturer had realized the importance of their suppliers in achieving performance. Initiatives were
started to integrate planning and coordinate production with their key suppliers. However, insufficient
progress was being made. To help, top management instituted a renaming, changing how managers
referred to their key suppliers – from “vendors” to “partners.” This intentional effort to change how
managers viewed suppliers was a direct attempt at changing attitudes and was seen as crucial to revising
how supply management was done. In addition, research conducted with eight large multi-national firms
with ongoing initiatives to change their supplier relations found that “embedded cultural attitudes that limit
collaboration, communication, trust, and effective cross-enterprise relationship can destroy supplier
relationship management efforts” (Monczka et al., 2011, p. 9). As such, it is important to understand how
attitudes toward supplier integration form for supply chain research.
Supplier integration is defined as a collaborative process where a focal buying firm and its supplier(s)
synchronize firm-to-firm supply processes for mutually acceptable outcomes (Pagell, 2004; Das et al.,
2006).
The impact of innovation strategies on the relationship between supplier integration and
operational performance
Also, product innovation drove Google and Luxottica to integrate their experience, knowledge and SC to
create innovative, iconic wearable devices (Greenwald, 2014).