مقاله انگلیسی رایگان در مورد انتخاب تامین کننده و عملکرد شرکت – امرالد 2018

The dynamism of the business environment is putting firms under pressure to improve quality, delivery performance, and responsiveness while simultaneously reducing costs. In response, firms are increasingly exploring ways to leverage their supply chains, and in particular to systematically evaluate the role of suppliers in their activities (Kannan and Tan 2006). It is important for managers to realize the long-term impact of their sourcing strategies on the profits and the efficient functioning of the organization. At the operational level, buyers have the ability to benefit from developing close relationships with key suppliers in the form of improved quality, delivery, reduced cost, or some combination thereof. At a strategic level, a close relationship with key suppliers is expected to lead to sustainable improvements in product quality and innovation, enhanced competitiveness, and increased market share. It is however expected that all these relationships should, in turn, be reflected by improvements in financial performance (Kannan and Tan 2006). It is important to indicate that currently, the purchasing function is considered as a crucial activity that affects the performance of any firm (Kar and Pani, 2014). Currently, the choice of suppliers has become a strategic problem for firms (Li and Zabinsky, 2011). This means selecting the right suppliers do not only bring substantial benefits to companies but also increases customer satisfaction (Lin et al., 2011). The profitability of a business nowadays critically depends on their supplier’s ability to reduce costs, improve quality, and develop new processes, products, and services faster than their rivals’ vendors can. This dependence has made the supplier selection process one of the most important sections of any business (Liker et al, 2004). Jazemi et al, (2011), indicates that one of the most important processes in optimizing or enhancing the supply chain performance of the firm is by paying much attention to the supplier selection process. The supplier’s selection decisions are primarily based on material prices, the proposed delivery times, the location of the supplier and opinion on the market, taking into account the supply costs, the quality of materials and the condition of payment (Chai et al, 2013). Fu-jiang et al, 2006, demonstrated empirically that, there exist a positive significant relationship between customer satisfaction, business performance, and supplier selection. The industrial purchasing function especially plays a considerable role in ensuring the long-term viability of a firm with its impact on business competitiveness (Cheraghi et al., 2004; Tchokogue et al., 2016) Choosing the right suppliers, therefore, involves much more than scanning a series of price lists, choices, therefore, will depend on a wide range of issues (Ho et al., 2010). Such factors include the price offered by the supplier, lead time, quality of items, the capacity of the supplier to respond flexibly to the company’s requests and the supplier’s geographical location (Ekici, 2013). They also include warranties, production capability, technical capability, management capability, vendor reputation, financial position, labor relations and post-sales services (Kar and Pani, 2014a). According to Monczka et al. (2010), the objective of supplier selection is to choose the best supplier for a particular item, one which is reliable, with fair terms, low risks and has maximum value for the client.