Collaboration in customer-supplier relationships: strategy, operations and function of rhetoric.

PARTNERSHIPS -- A DEVELOPING AGENDA

The last ten years have seen a considerable interest by European and American companies in the concept of partnership sourcing, in contrast to the more traditional adversarial purchasing relationships.[1] Though this has been led by the automotive and electronics industries seeking an effect response to Japanese penetration of their home markets, its influence has permeated into other sectors as well.[2] Certainly the United Kingdom has taken to the idea with gusto, at least at the level of government departments, such as the Department of Trade Industry (DTI), and industry bodies, such as the Confederation of British Industry and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.[3]

Despite its popularity, there is no universally agreed definition of partnership sourcing or `partnering.' Partnership Sourcing Ltd., the U.K. body established by government and industry to promote the idea, defined partnership sourcing as:

.... where customer and supplier develop such a Close and long-term

relationship that the two work together as partners. It isn't philanthropy:

the aim is to secure the best possible commercial advantage.

The principle is that teamwork is better than combat. If the end-customer