Essays on supplier responsiveness and buyer firm value - Nyenrode ...

(responsiveness), relational idiosyncratic risk, buyer satisfaction, supplier brand value, and
buyer’s firm value. We discuss the motivating factors behind the dissertation, present our
research questions, explain the research methodology, and, finally, provide a review of the
dissertation.
In Chapter 2, we present our first study, an empirical investigation into whether the
strategy of responsive strategic suppliers pays off for the buyer and the seller. This study also
compares two mediating variables: the first is the relational indicator of buyer satisfaction, and
the second is the objective indicator of buyer idiosyncratic relational risk. The theoretical
underpinnings of this study are derived from the market orientation literature, financial theories,
and the market-based assets theory. These theories are used to provide the rationale for the five
hypotheses. The findings of this study are that strategic supplier responsiveness mitigates risk
and leads to positive outcomes for both the supplier and the buyer. The data used in this study
were collected from 164 purchasing managers in publically listed and unlisted firms from the
U.S. The firms included in the study operated in consumer markets, business markets, or a
combination of both.
In Chapter 3, we examine the model generated in Chapter 2 across national borders. This
study compares how strategic supplier responsiveness importance varies across cultural and
national borders. The Netherlands, a more feminine culture, holds both relational indicators and
objective indicators in equal importance, whereas, in the United States, only objective indicators
matter. The implications of this finding are important for firms looking to form transatlantic
alliances. We include, in addition to the data from the U.S., data from The Netherlands. The
sample from The Netherlands included both publically listed and unlisted firms. The total sample
size from The Netherlands was 92. The firms included in the study, like those in the prior study,
operated in consumer markets, business markets, or a combination of both.
In Chapter 4, we compare objective and subjective performance measures of strategic
supplier responsiveness. For objective measures, we use the net income for firms from Google
financials that uses input data from the Reuters database. For subjective measures, we use
managerial indicators from our surveys. We find that, although the models fit in both cases,
when accounting are data used our hypotheses linking supplier responsiveness with buyer firm
value and supplier brand value are insignificant. This holds important implications for managers
as to whether they should trust mental heuristics when judging their organizational performance.
Finally, in Chapter 5, we conclude the dissertation and discuss our findings.
1.3 Research Questions
Over the course of the last two decades, a global trend has involved collaborating with and
growing closer to suppliers. One example of the importance of key supplier relationships is the
Malcolm Balridge award competition, in which participants are assessed on their key supplier
relationships. Moreover, as illustrated in Figure 1.1, in the future, stable and reliable supplier
relationships will become more valuable because 68 percent of the respondents in a McKinsey
survey expected the supply risk to increase over the next five years (McKinsey, 2010).
Furthermore, global supply markets, in general, are increasingly becoming more competitive and
riskier. As a consequence, to reduce uncertainty about the firm’s future market position, firms
need adaptable suppliers, as exemplified by Toyota’s supply pyramid (Reeves & Deimler, 2011).
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