Abstract
The past few years have seen a definite trend for purchasing organizations to form “partnerships” or “strategic alliances” with a few preferred suppliers. The literature in the field has reinforced this concept by providing numerous examples and research findings investigating these emerging long‐term, cooperative buyer‐supplier relationships. However, the role of the transportation providers serving as the critical linkage between a firm and its suppliers has received little attention. Recent research efforts have shown that “logistics alliances” are gaining in popularity, producing similar potential benefits to those realized in buyer‐supplier partnerships.This article explores the transportation provider's role in buyer‐supplier partnerships and identifies the contributions that such firms have made in attaining the long‐term success of these alliances. The results of a recent CAPS (Center for Advanced Purchasing Studies) study are also presented to show the increased involvement that purchasing managers have in making inbound transportation decisions.
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