Abstract
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine how firms create and sustain competitive advantage in the inter-firm business relationships from a supplier's perspective. It also investigates what factors affect their competitiveness and relationship between buyers and suppliers. Design/methodology/approach - This is an exploratory study on keiretsu partnerships composed of four main phases: analysis of theoretical perspectives, construction of a conceptual framework, interview of a CEO, and finally, a survey questionnaire with Japanese automotive suppliers. Findings - As a result, this paper classified these 11 companies into four supplier groups (affiliated or independent Tier 1 suppliers; affiliated or independent Tier 2 suppliers) and analysed their competitiveness developing the research propositions further. The benefits of affiliation under a keiretsu partnership are discussed, showing that there may be little benefit in being an affiliated Tier 1 supplier. Even more critical, the results show that independent Tier 2 supplier may be more competitive than affiliated tier ones. Originality/value - These intriguing results reveal an urgent need of investigating Japanese automotive supply chains from the suppliers' perspectives in the future research. This paper extended the literatures on competitive advantage and business relationships at both theory and managerial practice.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 62-81 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Feb 2016 |
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Bibliographical note
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited 2016Published by Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Keywords
- automotive industry
- buyer-supplier collaboration
- competitive advantage
Cite this
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Is keiretsu really a source of competitive advantage for Japanese automotive suppliers? / Kato, Takaya; Nunes, Breno ; Dey, Prasanta K.
In: Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, Vol. 27, No. 1, 01.02.2016, p. 62-81.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Is keiretsu really a source of competitive advantage for Japanese automotive suppliers?
AU - Kato, Takaya
AU - Nunes, Breno
AU - Dey, Prasanta K
N1 - © Emerald Group Publishing Limited 2016 Published by Emerald Group Publishing Limited
PY - 2016/2/1
Y1 - 2016/2/1
N2 - Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine how firms create and sustain competitive advantage in the inter-firm business relationships from a supplier's perspective. It also investigates what factors affect their competitiveness and relationship between buyers and suppliers. Design/methodology/approach - This is an exploratory study on keiretsu partnerships composed of four main phases: analysis of theoretical perspectives, construction of a conceptual framework, interview of a CEO, and finally, a survey questionnaire with Japanese automotive suppliers. Findings - As a result, this paper classified these 11 companies into four supplier groups (affiliated or independent Tier 1 suppliers; affiliated or independent Tier 2 suppliers) and analysed their competitiveness developing the research propositions further. The benefits of affiliation under a keiretsu partnership are discussed, showing that there may be little benefit in being an affiliated Tier 1 supplier. Even more critical, the results show that independent Tier 2 supplier may be more competitive than affiliated tier ones. Originality/value - These intriguing results reveal an urgent need of investigating Japanese automotive supply chains from the suppliers' perspectives in the future research. This paper extended the literatures on competitive advantage and business relationships at both theory and managerial practice.
AB - Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine how firms create and sustain competitive advantage in the inter-firm business relationships from a supplier's perspective. It also investigates what factors affect their competitiveness and relationship between buyers and suppliers. Design/methodology/approach - This is an exploratory study on keiretsu partnerships composed of four main phases: analysis of theoretical perspectives, construction of a conceptual framework, interview of a CEO, and finally, a survey questionnaire with Japanese automotive suppliers. Findings - As a result, this paper classified these 11 companies into four supplier groups (affiliated or independent Tier 1 suppliers; affiliated or independent Tier 2 suppliers) and analysed their competitiveness developing the research propositions further. The benefits of affiliation under a keiretsu partnership are discussed, showing that there may be little benefit in being an affiliated Tier 1 supplier. Even more critical, the results show that independent Tier 2 supplier may be more competitive than affiliated tier ones. Originality/value - These intriguing results reveal an urgent need of investigating Japanese automotive supply chains from the suppliers' perspectives in the future research. This paper extended the literatures on competitive advantage and business relationships at both theory and managerial practice.
KW - automotive industry
KW - buyer-supplier collaboration
KW - competitive advantage
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84955457171&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/JMTM-06-2014-0077
U2 - 10.1108/JMTM-06-2014-0077
DO - 10.1108/JMTM-06-2014-0077
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84955457171
VL - 27
SP - 62
EP - 81
JO - Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management
JF - Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management
SN - 1741-038X
IS - 1
ER -