This study tests a path analytic model of buyer-supplier relationships, linking the supplier's level of trust to three categories of inter-firm cooperative behaviors and these behaviors to the buyer's perception of the relationship's performance. Data was used from a survey of 164 dyads composed of a purchasing manager and a counterpart in a firm that they identified as their most cooperative suppliers. Higher levels of inter-organizational cooperative behaviors such as shared planning and flexibility in coordinating activities were found to be strongly linked to the supplier's trust in the buyer firm. However, not all of the types of cooperative behaviors, particularly joint responsibility for problem solving, had significant impacts on the buyer's perceptions of the relationship's performance.

Supplier alliances have been widely touted but there are probably a limited number of situations where they are applicable. This paper develops a model of important factors that define which suppliers offer the best choices for pursuing alliance‐like relationships. Some factors relate to the technology of the goods or services being sourced; others relate to the ability to develop mutual goodwill trust with the targeted supplier. The model was developed through a combination of extensive literature reviews and a series of interviews with managers in 15 manufacturing and service firms.

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While numerous articles have been written concerning various aspects of developing supplier partnerships, the empirical evidence of the causes for forming a partnership and the ensuing benefits from such relationships has been scant and primarily limited to the automotive industry. This article describes a model for supplier partnerships and reports on an empirical test of the model using a questionnaire distributed to a broad‐based sample of industries. The results indicate that the extent to which a supplier partnership is developed is dependent on top management commitment and on the philosophical view of purchasing. Further, as the degree of the partnership increases, the buying firm typically enjoys significantly increased short‐term productivity improvements and long‐term strategic advantages.

The role of supply-chain management as an integral element in corporate strategy has been discussed in prior research, mostly at a broad conceptual level with relatively little empirical validation. This paper uses data from a longitudinal study of buyer-supplier relationships to evaluate the impact from firms' recent initiatives in developing strategic supplier alliances on the role played by the supply management effort in the corporate hierarchy. Contrary to anticipated results, the use of an alliance approach did not lead to any appreciable improvement in status and respect for supply management's role in developing corporate strategy. While several suggestions are offered to explain these results, the major conceptual models of supply-chain strategy are reassessed and a more appropriate and grounded framework for study is proposed. Further research is called for to empirically verify the link between strategic consideration for supply issues and firm success.