Title: Analysing the effect of uncertain environmental factors on supplier-buyer strategic partnership (SBSP) by using structural equation model (SEM)
Authors: Rakesh D. Raut; Harsh V. Bhasin; Sachin S. Kamble
Addresses: National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), PGP Hostel 1 & 2, Room No. 114, Vihar Lake, Mumbai-400 087, India. ' National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), PGP Hostel 1 & 2, Room No. 114, Vihar Lake, Mumbai-400 087, India. ' National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), PGP Hostel 1 & 2, Room No. 114, Vihar Lake, Mumbai-400 087, India
Abstract: Supplier-buyer strategic partnerships (SBSP) are widely considered as an effective source of competitive advantage by firm's operating in turbulent business environments. The objective of this research is to empirically investigate whether different dimensions of environmental uncertainty have different impacts on the SBSP. The uncertain environmental factors, namely business cost, labour availability, competitive hostility, government laws and regulations, political environment, dynamism in the market (volatility and complexity) impact SBSP including specific investments. The study is based on the reposes of 270 purchasing managers from 54 manufacturing and process industries from India (Mumbai region). A structural equation modelling was used to analyse the SBSP. The results suggest a statistically significant relationship between the selected uncertain business environmental factors and the SBSP. The primary contribution of this research lies in its ability to offer practically relevant insights to aid managers in considering whether or not strategic partnership are likely to be influenced under their particular types of environmental uncertainty.
Keywords: strategic partnerships; competitive hostility; India; environmental uncertainty; market dynamism; buyer-supplier relationships; structural equation modelling; purchasing managers; procurement; manufacturing industry; process industry.
International Journal of Procurement Management, 2012 Vol.5 No.2, pp.202 - 228
Published online: 16 Aug 2014 *
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