Publications

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September 1996 (Revised March 1999)
Background Note

Sustaining Superior Profits: Customer and Supplier Relationships

Explains relationships between asset specificity, holdup, and vertical integration. In particular, it emphasizes solutions to the holdup problem through vertical integration and contracting. View Details

Keywords: Competition; Vertical Integration

2011
Module Note

Suppliers to Dealers: Stakeholders' Management at TVS Motor Company Ltd.

By: Shashank Shah, Shashank Shah and A. Sudir Bhaskar

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Supplier Relationships; Dealer Network; Auto Industry; India

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October 1994 (Revised July 1995)
Case

RCI Master Distributor: Evolution of Supplier Relationships

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Traces the evolution of RCI as a master distributor from the time it was founded in 1946 until 1994. The second-generation owner of the distribution company faces several challenges unique to the 1990s environment that his father did not face. As Danny Schwartz... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Situation or Environment; Corporate Strategy; Distribution Industry

24 Sep 2021
News

How to Build a Transparent Relationship with Your Suppliers

08 Oct 2020
News

An Innovative Way to Prevent Adversarial Supplier Relationships

May 1998
Teaching Note

RCI Master Distributor: Evolution of Supplier Relationships TN

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Teaching Note for (9-595-001). View Details

Keywords: Distribution Industry

November 15, 2022
Article

What Really Makes Toyota’s Production System Resilient

By: Willy C. Shih

Toyota has fared better than many of its competitors in riding out the supply chain disruptions of recent years. But focusing on how Toyota had stockpiled semiconductors and the problems of other manufacturers, some observers jumped to the conclusion that the era of... View Details

Keywords: Supplier Relationships; Manufacturing; Supply Chain; Production; Auto Industry; United States; Japan

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November–December 2020
Article

Dancing with Giants: How Small Women-and Minority- Owned Firms Use Soft Power to Manage Asymmetric Relationships with Larger Partners

By: Kisha Lashley and Timothy G. Pollock

We explore how minority- and women-owned suppliers lacking hard power manage asymmetric relationships with larger, more powerful buyers in the context of supplier diversity relationships. We examine how these suppliers create and use soft power to manage the... View Details

Keywords: Women-owned Businesses; Minority-owned Businesses; Soft Power; Buyer-supplier Relationshships; Cognitive Centrality; Hard Power; Influencers; Supplier Diversity; Small Business; Relationships; Sales

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12 Sep 2016
Research & Ideas

What Brands Can Do to Monitor Factory Conditions of Suppliers

not, multinational brands have taken up the mantle of responsibility, establishing codes of conduct that their suppliers are—theoretically at least—obligated to adhere to. Often, the brands also monitor their suppliers’ performance with... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Fast Answer

Supply chain relationships

Bloomberg, Capital IQ and FactSet report current and recent supply chain relationships (customers, suppliers, and strategic partners). Bloomberg - To display the suppliers and customers of a... View Details

28 Apr 2011
Op-Ed

While Waiting for Japan’s Recovery, Let’s Enhance Supplier Competitiveness at Home

distribution chains. Big companies also tap promising ideas for innovation through their relationships with entrepreneurial growth companies, whether as suppliers or as investment targets for corporate... View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Fall 2016
Article

The Impact of Supplier Inventory Service Level on Retailer Demand

By: Nathan Craig, Nicole DeHoratius and Ananth Raman

To set inventory service levels, suppliers must understand how changes in inventory service level affect demand. We build on prior research, which uses analytical models and laboratory experiments to study the impact of a supplier’s service level on demand from... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Service Delivery; Supply Chain; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Retail Industry

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2016
Working Paper

The Impact of Supplier Inventory Service Level on Retailer Demand

By: Nathan Craig, Nicole DeHoratius and Ananth Raman

To set inventory service levels, suppliers must understand how changes in inventory service level affect demand. We build on prior research, which uses analytical models and laboratory experiments to study the impact of a supplier's service level on demand from... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Forecasting and Prediction; Learning; Consumer Behavior; Service Delivery; Performance Expectations; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Service Industry

SSRN

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October 2009
Case

Don Soderquist: Negotiating the Wal-Mart-P&G Relationship (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Ellen Knebel

This case describes the negotiations and strategic choices of Don Soderquist, who as Chief Operating Officer of Wal-Mart, helped to forge a major partnership with P&G in the 1980s and 1990s. The case chronicles the challenging barriers to success along with several of... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Style; Partners and Partnerships; Leadership; Value Creation; Problems and Challenges; Management Teams; Retail Industry

October 2009
Supplement

Don Soderquist: Negotiating the Wal-Mart-P&G Relationship (B)

By: James K. Sebenius and Ellen Knebel

This case follows the A case and describes the negotiations and strategic choices of Don Soderquist, who as Chief Operating Officer of Wal-Mart, helped to forge a major partnership with P&G in the 1980s and 1990s. The case chronicles the challenging barriers to success... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Style; Partners and Partnerships; Leadership; Value Creation; Problems and Challenges; Distribution Channels; Distribution Industry

23 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Building a Better Buyer-Seller Relationship

Buyers and sellers in mature industrial markets can turn single transactions into long-term beneficial relationships by a deeper understanding of the complex connection between the two, says Harvard Business School professor Narakesari... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

November 2012 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Konys, Inc.

By: Deishin Lee and Tunay I. Tunca

This case describes the sourcing policy for a consumer electronics company. The company must decide how to structure contracts with their supplier—using a purchase contract, an option contract, or combination of the two. The company can also buy from the spot market.... View Details

Keywords: Option Contract; Uncertainty; Sourcing; Supplier Relationship; Risk and Uncertainty; Contracts; Supply Chain; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry

April 2013
Teaching Note

Konys, Inc. (TN)

By: Deishin Lee and Tunay Tunca

This case describes the sourcing policy for a consumer electronics company. The company must decide how to structure contracts with their supplier—using a purchase contract, an option contract, or combination of the two. The company can also buy from the spot market.... View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Option Contract; Uncertainty; Sourcing; Supplier Relationship; Supply Chain

2019
Working Paper

Improving Working Conditions in Global Supply Chains: The Role of Institutional Environments and Monitoring Program Design

By: Jodi L. Short, Michael W. Toffel and Andrea R. Hugill

Activism seeking to improve labor conditions in global supply chains has led transnational corporations to adopt codes of conduct and monitor suppliers for compliance, but it is unclear whether these formal organizational structures raise labor standards. Drawing on... View Details