Supply chains are comprised of individual suppliers and supplier performance varies. Buying firms’ representatives have reported the need for supplier improvements in the areas of quality, delivery, cost reduction and product design capability. Cert...
Supply chains are comprised of individual suppliers and supplier performance varies. Buying firms’ representatives have reported the need for supplier improvements in the areas of quality, delivery, cost reduction and product design capability. Certainly not all suppliers exhibit these shortcomings. However buying firms that do experience supplier performance and/or capability deficiencies are potentially hampered in their ability to compete in their respective markets. Supplier development is any effort by a buying firm with a supplier to improve the supplier’s performance and/or capabilities and to meet the buying firm’s short and long term supply needs.
We investigate a mediation role of knowledge transfer activities to supplier performance improvement after identifying its antecedents such as supplier knowledge characteristics. To analyze the validity of the research model and the hypotheses, the data are collected from 238 manufacturing firms through the administration of structured questionnaires. The results indicate that supplier knowledge characteristics have indirect impacts on knowledge transfer performance through buyer’s knowledge transfer activities whereas the characteristics have direct impacts on knowledge transfer activities. Therefore buyer knowledge transfer activities have mediation effect between supplier knowledge characteristics and knowledge transfer performance. Reasons for and implications of these observed relationships are discussed.