Buyer-supplier relationships: A case study of a Japanese and Western alliance

Abstract

With the increasing liberalisation of markets, new oppurtunities are emerging for smaller firms with unique products and services to establish strategic supply relationships with larger component buyers, sometimes across normal cultural divides. For many Western SMEs, developing a long-term relationship with a Japanese buyer has been critical for success in the market. However this involves the challenge of adapting to Japanese style buyer-supplier relations, especially in the monitoring area. This article reports the observations made in a field study of such a culturally sensitive relationship between a Japanese buyer and a Western supplier, especially in areas such as differing perceptions of product features and quality, business procedures, and rewards. Difficulties and solutions that arose in the relationship are logged, and the advantages of training at all staff levels, the potentially critical role of 'link-pin' and the value of formalised linking processes are examined as ways of achieving congruence between the expectations of the two sides. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.