Abstract
Technology transfer has been an important area in supplier development as suppliers are expected to develop their capabilities with their technical partners. The literature has focused on supplier development programmes implemented by automakers for their suppliers. However, less focus has been on the suppliers who received them, particularly the dependent suppliers: suppliers whose major buyers account for 20% or more of their sales. Thus, the aim of this paper is to examine the experiences of the dependent suppliers with their technical partners, which was part of the supplier development program that was implemented by their major buyers. This study was based on interviews with seven supplier organisations in the Malaysian automotive industry. Findings suggest that both positive and less positive experiences were received by the dependent suppliers, and possible explanations were discussed. Keywords: Supplier development, technical assistance, technology transfer, automotive industry, qualitative study, multiple-case study.
Highlights
For developing and emerging countries like Malaysia to improve its competitiveness, there is a need to focus on research and innovation which can be achieved through collaboration (Bhatt, 2011)
The aim of this paper is to examine the experiences of dependent suppliers (suppliers with major buyers who account for 20% or more of their sales (Carr, Kaynak, & Hartley, 2008) with their Technical Assistance (TA) partners as they participated in their buyers’ supplier development programme
This research paper has presented the findings of a study with the aim of examining the experiences of dependents suppliers with their Technical Access partners (TA) as they participated in a supplier development programme implemented by their buyers
Summary
For developing and emerging countries like Malaysia to improve its competitiveness, there is a need to focus on research and innovation which can be achieved through collaboration (Bhatt, 2011). There is a need for domestic automakers as well as foreign automakers in countries such as Malaysia to build up the local suppliers’ expertise as well as research on how they are doing this (Abdul Kadir, Tam, & Hassan, 2011). One such programme is the supplier development programme implemented by both local and foreign automakers. One activity in the programme is partnering the local suppliers with foreign technical assistance (TA) partners in the hope of establishing technology transfer between the two organisations. This paper will look into ‘how’ the experiences from the dependent suppliers’ point of view were and ‘why’?
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