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AbstractIndustrialMarketingManagement32(2003)365–374StrategiccostmanagementacrossboundariesoffirmsAnnaDubois*DepartmentofIndustrialMarketing,ChalmersUniversityofTechnology,GothenburgS-41296,SwedenInrecentyears,increasingattentionhasbeenplacedonhowpurchasingstrategiesmaycontributetotheefficiencyoffirms.Inthispaper,acasestudyillustrateshowonefirmimplementedasupplierbasereductiontoenableahighinvolvementstrategyinrelationtoappointedkeysuppliers.Theeffectsofthischangeinpurchasingstrategywereextensivecostrationalisations.Themainchangeinthisprocesswasaredefinitionoftheunitofanalysisfromindividualtransactionstobuyer–supplierrelationships.However,thecostsintherelationshiparedrivennotonlybyinternalfactorsonthetwosidesoftherelationshipbutalsobyhowthefocalrelationshiprelatestootherrelationships.Therefore,thewaysinwhichthecostsareaffectedbyotherparties,suchasthesupplier’ssupplier,thesupplier’sothercustomers,thecustomer’sothersuppliers,andthecustomer’scustomers,needtobeincludedintheanalysis.D2003ElsevierScienceInc.Allrightsreserved.Keywords:Purchasing;MRO;Totalcost1.IntroductionThesupplysideofcompanieshasbecomeincreasinglyimportantoverthelastfewdecades.Onereasonisthatthecostsofpurchasedgoodsandservicesrepresentthemajorityoftotalcostsformostcompanies.Thishighshareisattributabletotheambitionofcompaniestoconcentratemoreoftheireffortsonalimitedpartofthetotalactivitystructureofthebusinessnetworksinwhichtheyareinvolved.Byoutsourcingactivitiestosuppliers,firmsareabletospecialisetheirownoperations.Itisnotonlytheincreasingfinancialimpactthatmakesthesupplysidesignificant.Anothermoreimportantreasonisthechangingnatureofthecontentofbuyer–supplierexchange.Overtime,outsourcingofmanufacturingactiv-itieshasbeenfollowedbyoutsourcingofdesignanddevelopmentwork.Toanincreasingextent,suppliersarecontributingtothetechnicaldevelopmentofacompany.Thischangehasbeenaccentuatedbecauseofincreasesinthenumberofdifferenttechnologiesacompanynowneedsinordertobeabletooperateandbecauseofthehighercostofdevelopingeachsubsequentgenerationoftechnology.Com-paniestodayaredependentonknowledgedevelopedandsuppliedbyotherfirms.*Tel.:+46-31-772-1196;fax:+46-31-772-3783.E-mailaddress:anndub@mot.chalmers.se(A.Dubois).Athirdreasonforwhichthesupplysidehascomemoreintofocusistheenhancedsignificanceofinterfaceswithotherfirms(Araujo,Dubois,&Gadde,1999).Interfaceswithsuppliersarecrucialnotonlywhenitcomestotechnicaldevelopment,butmanagementconceptsandtechniquessuchasjust-in-time(JIT),totalqualitymanagement(TQM),and‘‘zero-defectprinciple’’alsohavesubstantialimpactsonthewayfirmsoperate.Applyingthesetechniquesrequirestheactiveinvolvementofsuppliersandaffectsthecostsandbenefitsofbothbuyerandsupplier.Theenhancedsignificanceofthesupplysidehasmadepurchasingastrategicfunction.Thecontributionsfrompurchasingtothestrategicdevelopmentofacompanymaybesummarisedintwostrategicroles:rationalisationanddevelopment(Axelsson&Ha˚kansson,1984).Thedevel-opmentroleconcernsthepurchasingfunction’scontributiontothetechnicaldevelopmentofthefirmthroughorganisingandmanagingrelationshipswithsuppliers.Asregardstherationalisationrole,GaddeandHa˚kansson(2001)distin-guishthreemaintypesofroles.Thefirstisrelatedtodiscoveringwhatneedstobepurchased.Thesecondisrelatedtorationalisationoflogisticsactivitiesandthethirdtorationalisationofadministrativeroutines.Toenablethepurchasingfunctiontocontributetotheseroles,purchasingstrategiesareneeded.AccordingtoGaddeandHa˚kansson(2001),threestrategicissuesneedtobeconsidered:(1)makeorbuydecisions,(2)supplybasestructure,and(3)natureofcustomer–supplierrelationships.0019-8501/03/$–seefrontmatterD2003ElsevierScienceInc.Allrightsreserved.doi:10.1016/S0019-8501(03)00010-5366A.Dubois/IndustrialMarketingManagement32(2003)365–374Inthispaper,weconcentrateontherationalisationroleandhowitaffectsandisaffectedbythesupplybasestructureandthenatureofbuyer–supplierrelationships.Theaimofthepaperisthustodiscusshowthepurchasingstrategymaycontributetotherationalisationroleofpur-chasing.Inparticular,itfocusesonhowchangestowardshigherlevelsofinvolvementinbuyer–supplierrelation-ships,inparalleltoeffortstoreducethenumberofsuppliers,mayimpactonthesuppliers’abilitytocontributetocostrationalisations.Thefirstpartofthepaperfocusesonpurchasingstrategiesandhowtheyareassumedtocontributetotheefficiencyofthefirm.Thereafter,costrationalisationthroughsupplierrelationshipsisdiscussedandMaintenanceRepairandOperations(MRO)suppliesareintroducedasaparticularlycomplicatedpurchasingareawheretherearetypicallylargerationalisationpotentials.AcasedealingwithMROpur-chasingispresentedinSection3andanalysedinSection4.Thereafter,theconcludingdiscussionfocusesonhowandwhystrategiesfocusedonhighinvolvementwithfewsupplierscanandshouldbesuccessfullypursued.Finally,somemanagerialimplicationsareaddressedfocusingonthe‘‘totalcostconcept’’andtheproblemsandpotentialsofitsapplication.2.PurchasingstrategiesTherearedifferentdimensionsinwhichpurchasingstrategiesaredescribed.Therearealsodifferentsuggestionsaswhentoapplydifferentstrategies,i.e.,howtodistinguishamongsituationswheretheycancontributetotheefficiencyofthefirm.Wefocusontwosuchdimensions:thedegreeofinvolvementinindividualsupplierrelationshipsandthenumberofsuppliers(Gadde&Ha˚kansson,2001;Gadde&Snehota,2000).GaddeandSnehotaproposeinvolvementasaconcepttodescribetheextentofintegrationinrelation-ships.Assuch,itisusefultodistinguishthreedimensionsofinvolvementthataffectoutcomesinsupplierrelationships:coordinationofactivities,adaptationsofresources,andinteractionamongindividuals.Recommendationsforapplyingastrategybasedonlowinvolvementwithsuppliersarebasedontheassumptionthatinternalorindirectpurchasingcostscanbekeptlowwhentherearelimitedcoordination,adaptation,andinteractionwithindividualsuppliers.Furthermore,theprice,orthedirectpurchasingcost,isassumedtobelowwhenseveralsuppliersareplayedoffagainstoneanother(Gadde&Ha˚kansson,2001).Strategiesbasedonhighinvolvement,ontheotherhand,areassumedtoresultin‘‘costbenefitsintermsofreducedcostsinproductionprocessesandmaterialflowsaswellasimprovedservicelevelsandflexibility.Furthermore,itispossibleforthecustomertotakeadvantageofsupplierskillsandcapabilitiestoimprovethequalityofitsownproductsandservices,which,inturn,hasrevenuebenefits’’(Gadde&Ha˚kansson,2001,p.139).Thesegains,however,cannotbeattainedwithoutsubstantialcoordination,adaptation,andin-teraction,entailingcosts.Hence,purchasingstrategiesbasedonlowandhighinvolvement,respectively,areassumedtocontributeindifferentwaystotheefficiencyofthebuyingfirm.Mostcurrentpurchasingmanagementliteraturesuggestsamixtureoflowandhighinvolvementstrategiesinrelationtosuppliers.Variouspurchasingportfoliomodels(e.g.,Ben-saou,1999;Kraljic,1983;Olsen&Ellram,1997)suggestdifferentiatedpurchasingbehaviourfordifferentcategoriesofproductsandpurchasingsituations.Lowinvolvement,orarm’s-lengthrelationships,issuggestedwhenthefirm’spowerorbargainingpositionpermitsthemtouseapricepressurestrategy,whilehighinvolvement,andthussomesortof‘‘partnership,’’issuggestedwheninterdependenceonindividualsupplierscannotbeavoided(Dubois&Pedersen,2002).Therearetypicallytwodimensionsthatdeterminethechoiceofstrategyforeachproductorpurchasingsituation:(1)‘‘theimportanceofpurchasing’’and(2)‘‘thecomplexityofthesupplymarket’’(Kraljic,1983).Ifthebuyercannotavoiddependenceonaparticularsupplier,theportfoliomodelstypicallyadvisepartnership,wherethebuyerandsupplierbecomemutuallydependent.Hence,highinvolvementrelationshipsor‘‘partnerships’’withsuppliersaresuggestedasmeansofdealingwithacomplexpurchasingsituation.However,asitentailsrecip-rocaldependencebetweenthebuyerandthesupplier,‘‘partnerships’’aremainlyseenasproblematicandthussituationsthatshouldbeavoidedifpossible.Thenumberofsuppliersisofimportanceinbothpurchasingstrategiesbutfordifferentreasonsandindiffer-entways.Highinvolvementiscommonlyassociatedwithasinglesourcingpolicyandlowinvolvementwithdualormultiplesourcing(Gadde&Snehota,2000).Whenpursuingastrategybasedonlowinvolvement,anumberofcompet-ingsuppliersisnecessaryinordertoachievethelowestpossiblepriceforeachpurchase.However,sincetherearecostsassociatedwith‘‘playingthemarket’’(Hahn,Kim,&Kim,1986),thenumberofsuppliersused,ortendersrequired,hastobebalancedagainstthepotentialgainsinobtainingalowprice.Whenahighinvolvementstrategyispursued,thenumberofsuppliersisofimportancesimplybecauseitisnotpossibleforafirmtocooperatecloselywithtoomanysuppliers.Therefore,singlesourcingisoftensuggestedasameansofreducingthesupplierbaseandtherebyofenablingclosercooperationwiththeremainingsuppliers(Gadde&Ha˚kans-son,2001).However,formostmanufacturingfirms,thevarietyintheirpurchasingneedsimpliesthatthetotalnumberofsupplierswouldremainlargeeveniftheycon-centratedononesupplierperproduct.Inthisrespect,itisnotalwaysobviousexactlywhatistobepurchased.Thisisparticularlyproblematicbecausemostexistingmodelsofpurchasingarebasedonspecifiedpurchasingneeds,whicharethusconsideredtobe‘‘givens’’.A.Dubois/IndustrialMarketingManagement32(2003)365–3743673.CostrationalisationthroughsupplierrelationshipsFormostcompanies,thecostsofpurchasedgoodsandserviceshavecometoaccountforthemajorityoftotalcosts.Theprimarydrivingforceofthisdevelopmentistheincreas-ingrelianceonoutsourcing,makingefficientpurchasingactivitiescrucialtothefinancialperformanceofcompanies.Therefore,MonczkaandMorgan(2000)arguethattheremustbean‘‘absolutelinkageofsourcing,purchasing,andthesupplychain—tothefinancialplan’’andthustothefinancialoutcomeoftheoperationsofthefirm.Theauthorsconcludethatincreasingattentiontocostmanagementisthemostimportantfactorforthefutureofpurchasingandsupplymanagement.Theyalsorefertonumerousexampleswherecompanieshavebeenabletoreducepurchasingcosts.Inmostcases,theseeffortshaveconcerneddirectpurchasingcosts,suchasprice,transportationcosts,etc.However,sometimes,theindirectcostsassociatedwithpurchasing(e.g.,costsofwarehousing,administrationofpaperwork,andsupplierhandlingcosts)representgreaterpotentialforrationalisation.Theproblemisthatthesecostsaremoredifficulttoaffectbecausemostofthemcanbetackledonlythroughjointeffortswithsuppliers.Consequently,thesecostsareoftenneglected,andMonczkaandMorgan(2000,p.55)conclude:[And]regardlessofalltalkaboutstrategiccostmanage-ment,mostcompaniesareonlyatthetipoftheicebergintermsofactualpractices—intermsoflookingatwherecostsreside,lookingatcostdrivers,buildingcross-enterprisestrategiesandsharetheresults.Allofthesepracticesaregoingtoneedtoberefined.Cross-enterprisecostis,andwillincreasinglybe,criticaltoafirm’ssuccess.IthasbeenarguedthatpurchasingofMROitemsisoneoftheareaswhereactionstoreducecostsacrossfirmbound-ariesaremostevident(see,forexample,Avery,1997;Bechtel&Patterson,1997;LeSueur&Dale,1998).Anumberofcompaniesreportconsiderableactivitiesinmak-ingtheirMROpurchasesmoreefficient(see,forexample,Purchasing,2001a,b,candd).OneexampleofwhatseemtobeacommontendencyisMROpurchasingatBoeing,whereit‘‘ismovingfromanonstrategic,adhoc,decentralisedpurchasingactivitytoamorestrategicandvirtuallycentral-isedpurchasingpractice’’(Purchasing,2001d).AccordingtoBechtelandPatterson(1997),purchasesofMROitemswerepreviouslybasedstrictlyonobtainingthebestprice.Hence,buyingfirmstriedtolowerpurchasingcostsbyfocusingondirectcostsforindividualtransactions.Whenitbecameclearthatsubstantialindirectcostsaccom-panythispurchasingorientation,firmsbegantomakeinternalrationalisationsofthesepurchases.Inparticular,thehugeamountofpaperworkgeneratedappearstohavebeenconsideredaproblem.Byintroducingblanketordersandsystemcontractingthepaperflowcouldbereducedconsiderably.Inthisway,thebuyingfirmsmadeitpossibletoreducethetimespentonthesepurchases(Bechtel&Patterson,1997).Afurtherimprovementofinternalpur-chasingroutineswasmadewhenpurchasingcardswereintroduced.Usingthesecardsmeantsignificantadministrat-iveprocessingsavings,sincepurchasingrequisitionsandpurchaseorderscouldbeeliminated.However,internaleffortstoreducecostwhilemaintainingalargenumberofsupplierscanonlytakethefirmtoacertainpointafterwhichtherearenoadditionalcostrationalisationstobeobtainedin-house.Therefore,companiesseemtobeabandoningthisphilosophy,favouringconsolidationtofewersuppliers(Gadde&Ha˚kansson,2001).Thereareseveralexamplesreportedwheresupplierbasereductionsandcentralisationofthepurchasingfunctionhavegonehandinhand.Forexample,before1997,eachofWhirlpool’smanufacturingdivisionspurchasedtheMROitemstheyused.Whiletherewascommonalitybothamongitemspurchasedbydifferentdivisionsandthesupplierstheywereusing,therewasnocentralfunctiontoleveragebuying.In1997,Whirlpoolcreatedacentralisedpurchasingorganisa-tionforMROandotherindirectmaterials.Followingthisreorganisation,Whirlpoolhasconsolidateditsspendingwithnationalandregionalsuppliers.Thenewpurchasingorgan-isationhasproventobeabletoputgoodeffectiveagree-mentsinplacewithsuppliers.Accordingtothepurchasingdirector,‘‘relationshipswiththerightsupplierscanhelpWhirlpoolminimiseitsrisk,becompetitive,andsetnewexpectationsforperformance’’(Purchasing,2002b).SonyElectronicsinPittsburghalsoreportssavingsfromMROpurchasingrationalisationprograms.ThemainactivitiesintheSonyprogramconcerncentralisationandconsolidationtofewersuppliers.Thebenefitsoftheprogramareconcernedwithleveragingofbuyingaswellaswithdevelopingcommonstandardsandservicerequirements(Purchasing,2002a).Furthermore,JohnDeerenowappliesaformalisedstrategicsourcingprocesstoitsMROpurchasing(Purchas-ing,2001a).Thefirststepinthisprocesswastoselectasupplierforeachcommoditygroup.ThesesupplierswerechosenonthebasisoftheirabilitytoprovidealloftheDeereplantsinNorthAmericawithfullservices.Tobeabletoattainsignificantimprovementsinserviceandtechnicalsupporttotheplants,Deererealisedtheyhadtoreducethesupplierbase.Furthermore,itwasnecessarytoassurethedifferentbusinessunitsservedthatthesuppliersselectedwouldbedeliveringtheequivalent,ifnotbetter,servicethanprevioussuppliershadbeenproviding.TheseexamplesillustratehowMROpurchasinghasbeenimprovedbyreducingthenumberofsuppliersandbydevelopinghighinvolvementrelationshipswithselectedsuppliers.Insummary,thereviewofMROpurchasingpracticeshowsthatreductionofthesupplierbaseisacommoningredientineffortstoreducecosts,sincethenumberofsuppliersisconsideredacostdriver.Reducingthesupplierbaseisthusapotentialtoolforimprovingperformance.Thecasepresentedinthenextsectionillustrateshow,byanalys-ingitspurchasingcosts,onefirmimplementedasupplierbasereductiontoenableahighinvolvementstrategyinrelationtoappointedkeysuppliers.3684.ThecasestudyA.Dubois/IndustrialMarketingManagement32(2003)365–374revealedthefollowingprimarycostdrivers:First,thenumberoffirmsinthecompany’ssupplierledgerwasThecasestudywasconductedincooperationwithasubsidiaryofalargemultinationalcompanyandspecificallyinvolvedalocalserviceunit(LSU).TheLSUprovidesfivebusinessunits(BU)locatedatthesameplantwithvariousservices(seeFig.1).TheLSUisresponsibleforMROpur-chasingforthebusinessunits.ItalsobuysMROitemsforfourworkshops(WS),carryingouttechnicalserviceactiv-itieswithintheLSU.Thepurchasingteamconsistsofaboutsevenbuyers,butotheremployeesarealsoinvolvedinpur-chasingactivitiesindifferentways.About80%ofthetimespentonpurchasingconcernstheneedsoftheLSUwork-shops,whiletheremainderisdirectedtothebusinessunits.In2000,theLSUinitiatedaprojectaimedatrationalisa-tionofindirectpurchasingcosts.ThedirectcostsofMROsuppliesamountedtoMSEK40andtheindirectcostswereestimatedtobeMSEK32.Theindirectcostswerethus80%ofdirectcost,whichwassubstantiallymorethanforothertypesofpurchasing.Forexample,forrawmaterials,thisproportionwasonly0.3%.Thereseemedthereforetobesubstantialpotentialforcostrationalisationwhentheprojectwasinitiated.4.1.CostsandcostdriversThefirstassignmentfortheprojectgroupwastoconductaprocessmappingstudyofpurchasingoperations.TypicalLSUpurchaseswerefrequentandcharacterisedbylowvaluepertransaction.Theactivitiesrelatingtopurchasingweredividedintofivemaintypeswiththefollowingcostdistri-bution(inMSEK):morethan10,000.Second,thetotalnumberofdeliveriesperyearwasabout33,000.Third,thenumberofinvoiceswasestimatedat40,000peryear.Fourth,therewerealargenumberofinternalcostcenters,ofwhichmorethan500werepermanentandabout1800weretemporary,projectbased.Fifth,theLSUoperatednolessthan37inventories,mostofwhichwereunmanned.Inaddition,nearly10,000differentproductswerefoundtobekeptinstock.Discussionsrevealedthatthesecostdriverswereinter-relatedandalsorelatedtootherconcernsofthecompanyinvariousways.Forinstance,althoughthelargenumberofinternalcostcentersobviouslyimpactednegativelyonadministrativecostsingeneral,theywereconsideredneces-saryforachievingafairdistributionofcostsamongthebusinessunitsserved.Intermsofindirectpurchasingcosts,themanycostcentershadseveraleffects.First,theyrequiredinternaltransactionsforproductskeptinstockandentailedseparateordersandinvoicesforotherproducts.Thetotalnumberoftransactionswasdifficulttoestimate,butaccord-ingtoaseparatestudy,thenumberofexternalandinternaltransactionsoflessthanSEK100amountedtoaround60,000peryear.Second,thecostdistributionprinciplesimpliedthatsomeonewasmaderesponsibleforeachpar-ticularcostcenter.This,inturn,madethesemanagersparticularlyconcernedwiththecostsforwhichtheywereresponsible.Therefore,theyputagreatdealofeffortintofindingthecheapestsourceforeachpurchase.Thisbuyingbehaviourwasfoundtobeoneofthemainexplanationsforthelargenumberofsuppliers.Obviously,italsoimpactedonthenumberofproducts,deliveries,andinvoices.Hence,theinternalcostdistributionprincipleswerefound.Supplierhandling.Ordersandcall-offs.Goodsreception.Payments.Inventory.Total84.5478.532toimpactonthecostdriversidentified.Theanalysisalsoindicatedthatthepurchasingactivitieswerenotalwaysconductedinthemostefficientpossibleway.Forinstance,about2%ofallinvoicescausedproblemsowingtoinsuf-ficientorincorrectinformation.Often,itwasunclearwhohadorderedtheproduct(s),whichinitiatedaprocessofThesecondtaskwastoidentifythedriversoftheseindirectcosts.Theanalysisofthecostsandcoststructuresfindingtherightperson.Theworkloadengenderedbytheseinvoiceswasestimatedtobeabout30%ofthetotaltimeFig.1.Thepurchasingfunctioninitsfirminternalcontext.A.Dubois/IndustrialMarketingManagement32(2003)365–374369spentoninvoices.Similarpatternswerefoundfortheotheractivities.Owingtotheinterdependencebetweenthedifferentcostdrivers,itwasdifficulttoattributeclear-cutcostdriversforthefivemainactivitiesidentifiedintheprocessmapping.However,afterdiscussions,theprojectgroupagreedonthefollowingmaincostdriversforthefiveactivities(Table1).Havingidentifiedthemaincostdriversforeachactivity,itwasconcludedthatthenumberofsupplierswastheoverallcostdriver.Obviously,ithadadirectimpactonsupplierhandlingcosts.However,mostimportantly,thenumberofsupplierswasfoundtohaveanindirecteffectonvirtuallyalltheothercostdrivers.Aslongasthenumberofsuppliersremainedthesame,itwouldbedifficult,orevenimpossible,todealwithothercostdriverssuchasthenumberofproducts,transactions,deliveries,andinvoices.Inaddition,educatingthesuppliersinordertoimprovetheadministrat-iveprocessestoreducethenumberofincompleteorincor-rectdocumentswouldnotbepossibleifthetotalnumberremainedatthecurrentlevel.Itwasthereforeconcludedthatalmostnothingcouldbedonetoreducecostunlessthenumberofsupplierswasdramaticallyreduced.Insummary,thesituationbeforechangingthepurchasingstrategywasmainlycharacterisedbylowinvolvementandalargenumberofsuppliers.Thiswasaresultofthefactthatmanymanagersfocusedonpricepressureforindividualtransactions.Theaggregateeffectwasthatindirectpurchas-ingcostswereextremelyhigh.4.2.ChangingthepurchasingstrategyWhenscrutinisingthecoststructure,itbecameapparentthatareductioninthenumberofsupplierswouldbene-cessaryinordertocometotermswiththeindirectpurchas-ingcosts.Directeffectswereexpectedintermsofsupplierhandlingcosts,forwhichthenumberofsupplierswasthemaincostdriver.Theothercostdriverscouldonlybereducedincollaborationwiththesuppliersandthis,inturn,wouldrequireahighinvolvementstrategy.Reducingthenumberofsuppliersturnedouttobequiteacomplicatedmattersincethevarietyofproductsandsuppli-erswassubstantial.Withoutdoingproperjusticetoalleffortsmade,themainstepsintheprocessaredescribedbelow.First,alimitednumberofcommoditygroupswithaswideassortmentsaspossiblewereidentified