VENDOR-MANUFACTURER PARTNERSHIPS IN OLIGOPOLISTIC INDUSTRIES: INSIGHTS FROM AUSTRALASIAN PROCESS INDUSTRIES

摘要

The present research into supplier partnering was motivated by the predominate focus of the literature on partnerships in the automotive industries of Japan, Korea, the U.S., and elsewhere, which does not speak to process industries that dominate manufacturing in regions such as Australasia. Accordingly, we report the findings from case study research into partner-style relationships in process industries in Australasia. Our case data confirm the relative insignificance of EDI in process-industry vendor-manufacturer partnerships. Our cases also reveal that the process nature of manufacturing influences partnership dynamics primarily through the comparatively high degrees of industry concentration in process industries that arise from the capital intensity of process manufacturing in relation to discrete-part fabrication/assembly. Industry concentration is also exacerbated in the cases studied by us by the relatively small domestic/regional markets in Australasia.