In order to compete effectively in the world market, a company must have a network of competent suppliers. A supplier development program is designed to create and maintain such a network—and to improve various supplier capabilities that are necessary for the buying organization to meet its increasing competitive challenges. This article details a conceptual model that describes the organizational decision process associated with a supplier development program. The proposed decision model can serve as a guideline for designing a supplier development program that can link purchasing strategy with a firm's overall corporate competitive strategy. Empirical evidence drawn from the experience of several companies actively involved with such a program is used to validate the model.

To compete effectively in the global marketplace, a firm must have a competent and strategically integrated purchasing organization. It is important that all functional area strategies and capabilities, including purchasing, be consistent with corporate competitive strategy. It is also critical that a company's suppliers have the capability to meet its strategic priorities. This article develops a conceptual framework to aid in linking purchasing to corporate competitive strategy and to other functional area strategies as well. The proposed model can be used to begin to integrate purchasing into overall corporate strategy.

The 15,338-bp long complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the Japanese oak silkmoth, Antheraea yamamai (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) was determined. This genome has a gene arrangement identical to those of all other sequenced lepidopteran insects, but differs from the most common type, as the result of the movement of tRNA(Met) to a position 5'-upstream of tRNA(Ile). No typical start codon of the A. yamamai COI gene is available. Instead, a tetranucleotide, TTAG, which is found at the beginning context of all sequenced lepidopteran insects was tentatively designated as the start codon for A. yamamai COI gene. Three of the 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) harbor the incomplete termination codon, T or TA. All tRNAs formed stable stem-and-loop structures, with the exception of tRNA(Ser)(AGN), the DHU arm of which formed a simple loop as has been observed in many other metazoan mt tRNA(Ser)(AGN). The 334-bp long A + T-rich region is noteworthy in that it harbors tRNA-like structures, as has also been seen in the A + T-rich regions of other insect mitogenomes. Phylogenetic analyses of the available species of Bombycoidea, Pyraloidea, and Tortricidea bolstered the current morphology-based hypothesis that Bombycoidea and Pyraloidea are monophyletic (Obtectomera). As has been previously suggested, Bombycidae (Bombyx mori and B. mandarina) and Saturniidae (A. yamamai and Caligula boisduvalii) formed a reciprocal monophyletic group.

As an extension of the export-led growth of national economy overseas, direct investment by Korean multinationals has been rapidly increasing. This article explores the development of the overseas manufacturing direct investment by Korean firms and the relationship between parent firms and overseas affiliates. Three main issues are discussed: the ownership-specific assets, location-specific factors, and government policies are the important sets of variables that help to explain the internationalization of the Korean firms in the manufacturing sector, the nature of technology transfer by Korean multinationals to their subsidiaries, and the benefits as a result of its overseas investment to Korea. The data for this study were gathered through structured interviews with the parent companies of 18 out of 21 manufacturing overseas subsidiaries and joint ventures formed by Korean firms. * The Republic of Korea (henceforth called Korea) is no longer only a recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI). It is also emerging, slowly but steadily, as a source. The country now occupies a prominent place among a small group of Third World nations (Argentina, Brazil, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Singapore, and Taiwan) whose firms have been establishing foreign direct investment, thereby earning the label of "multinational."1 The total number of overseas joint ventures and subsidiaries established by Korean multinationals was 298 by the middle of 1980, and their total volume of overseas investment was $246 million (U.S.).2 Korean multinationals have invested in trading, warehousing, transportation, mining, forestry, and construction. Manufacturing accounts for only 12 percent of the overseas projects and of the total volume of FDI by Korean multinationals. The authorized Korean FDI in manufacturing was $31,266,000 by June 1980.3 This volume of investment is not a large sum considering the size of overseas investments by firms from industrialized nations, but is also not an insignificant amount in the context of the size, resources, and state of economic development of Korea. The Korean government has authorized 24 overseas manufacturing investments in a wide range of industries including garment, cement, electric cables, motors and diesel engines, paper, plywood, artificial chemicals, and shoes. Three of the 24 have been abandoned for various reasons. The details of the existing projects (at the time of interview) are given in Table 1. The overwhelming majority of these projects are located in developing countries, particularly Asia and the Middle East. The main purpose of this paper is to discuss overseas manufacturing direct INTRODUCTION *Krishna Kumar received his M.A. and Ph.D. from Michigan State University. He has held many academic and administrative positions and has published extensively in professional journals. His University, Seoul, Korea. He holds a B.A. from Yonsei University; an M.B.A. and a Ph.D. from Washington University; and was at MIT and the East-West Center as a research fellow. His published books include Pr...

To compete effectively in the global marketplace, a firm must have a competent and strategically integrated purchasing organization. It is important that all functional area strategies and capabilities, including purchasing, be consistent with corporate competitive strategy. It is also critical that a company's suppliers have the capability to meet its strategic priorities. This article develops a conceptual framework to aid in linking purchasing to corporate competitive strategy and to other functional area strategies as well. The proposed model can be used to begin to integrate purchasing into overall corporate strategy.