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Impact of supplier relationship management practices on buying firm performance: comparison of the United States and China

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Abstract

In 2007, Krause, Handfield, and Tyler examined the relationship between various aspects of social capital and buyer performance in the buyer-supplier dyad by surveying buying firms within the United States. This study extends the (Krause et al. in J Oper Manag 25:528–545, 2007) study by replicating it in two different contexts (industry and China). The original study was conducted in the automotive and electronic industries in the United States, while the current study was conducted in both manufacturing and service industries in the United States and China. We found that the difference of information sharing between the two United States populations is the only difference attributed to industry differences. Overall, study results indicate that buyer commitment positively impacted buying firm performance in China; while buyer commitment and shared values impacted buying firm performance in the United States. These findings suggest that certain aspects of social capital are important in China, but differences do exist between the two countries that may be attributed to culture. Therefore, researchers should consider the impact of country culture when conducting studies in China.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Daniel Krause for his insightful comments on our research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Business and Technology, University of Texas at Tyler, 3900 University Boulevard, Tyler, TX, 75799, USA

    Sherry L. Avery

  2. School of Business, High Point University, 833 Montlieu Avenue, High Point, NC, 27262, USA

    Patricia Swafford

  3. Department of Information Systems and Operations Management, University of Texas at Arlington, 701S Nedderman Drive, Arlington, TX, 76019, USA

    Edmund L. Prater

Authors
  1. Sherry L. Avery
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  2. Patricia Swafford
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  3. Edmund L. Prater
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sherry L. Avery.

Appendix

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Table 7 Definition of latent variable and construct items
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Avery, S.L., Swafford, P. & Prater, E.L. Impact of supplier relationship management practices on buying firm performance: comparison of the United States and China. Oper Manag Res 7, 36–48 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12063-014-0087-8

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