Negotiation strategies in Supply Chain Management

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42 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Purpose - This paper seeks to explore the impact of different negotiation strategies on then negotiation setting in different buyer-supplier relationships. So far, the extant supply chain management (SCM) literature has only briefly touched this subject, though such a study has been advocated on previous notes in the SCM literature.

Design/methodology/approach - A qualitative research methodology was chosen in order to investigate a focal firm's negotiations with five of its suppliers. A total of 25 hours of interviews and 15 hours of observations were carried out at the focal firm and with a number of the firms' tier one suppliers in order to investigate the subject at hand.

Findings - Explanation is given of when the use of different negotiation strategies can be considered expedient in different relational settings, pairing a distributive negotiation strategy with arm's length relationships, while integrative negotiation strategies remain a more ambiguous exercise. Valuable insight concerning the impact of different negotiation strategies on the negotiation setting are advanced, which, in turn, leads to a questioning of previous research conclusions regarding the application of distributive negotiation strategies in strategic partnerships. The reason for such questioning is due to a limited focal perspective applied in previous research on negotiations in SCM.

Research limitations/implications - Future research should statistically and analytically validate the research in order to reject or confirm the reached conclusions.

Originality/value - The paper is the first to specifically investigate the role of negotiation strategies in the academic discipline of SCM from a qualitative angle using participant observations and interviews.

Original languageEnglish
JournalInternational Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management
Volume38
Issue number10
Pages (from-to)764-781
Number of pages17
ISSN0960-0035
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2008
Externally publishedYes

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