Changes and Determinants of Suppliers’ Customer Scope in the Korean Automobile Industry after the Asian Financial Crisis

Abstract

This paper investigates changes in suppliers’ customer scope in the Korean automobile industry after the Asian financial crisis as well as causes for those changes. The paper found that the “customer scope” of suppliers, i.e. the number of assemblers that suppliers traded with, had increased compared with the past. This suggests that the closed and exclusive buyer–supplier relationship that existed in the Korean automobile industry before the crisis has somewhat loosened. Causes behind these changes can be attributed to the severe economic recession that occurred just after the Asian crisis and the changing competitiveness of suppliers in cost and quality. Foreign investments in Korean suppliers and the capability of suppliers in R&D did not have the expected influences in increasing customer scope. The results of this analysis can be used as a reference in analyzing the effect of current global financial crisis on the buyer–supplier relationship in the automobile industry.