Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain Management
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Supply Chain Management
Existing literature on supply chain management has mainly focused on the positive side of buyer-supplier relationships (BSRs). The social capital argument argues that scholars on SCM have studied how buyers gain access and leverage resources through the collaborative relationships. However, the article “the dark side of buyer-supplier relationship” shows risks associated with SCM and viable solution. In addition, the article “what does ISO mean to the supply chain” shows the importance of ISO to effective SCM. Despite the overall goal of such ISO as 9000, 14000 and 26000 being to improve SCM efficiency, they differ in several ways.
Risks and Solutions in SCM
In their pursuit of BSRs, businesses face various risks. Some of the common risks include relational inertia, losing their objectivity, as well as emergence of redundant knowledge which comes from too much collaboration (Villena et al., 2011). Collaborating with the suppliers without limits could easily lead to a decline in performance and eventually affect the overall performance of the business. This also shows the need for solutions to the risks to protect businesses from the negative side of BSRs.
Solutions to the Risks
The risks posed by BSRs can be solved through ensuring contractual explicitness, setting challenging goals, and expecting and pursuing continuity. Contracts play a crucial role in the facilitation of the functioning of inter-firm relations. It also affects the relationship between the buyer and the supplier (Villena et al., 2011). As such, the contract between the two parties should be explicit on the terms and condition s of the collaboration between the two. Buying firms should also state clearly their contingency plans and terms that act as mechanisms of coordination and control.
Challenging goals also helps in solving risks arising from BSRs. The buyer s should put its objectives of the purchase in place so as to act as stimulation for the buyer and the supplier in questioning, re-evaluating, as well as adjusting the bilateral routines between the parties (Villena et al., 2011). The objectives in this case would serve as jolting events by disrupting any form of complace...