The Effects of Buyer-Supplier Collaboration on Supply Chain Performance: A Study in the Brazilian Electronics Sector

Supply chain collaboration is still a challenge in emerging economies due to the predominant low level of maturity in most sectors. The specific literature that could enlighten the context factors as well as provide empirical data is still not conclusive, leading to a relevant gap to explore. Specifically in Brazil, previous literature shows the struggles of most companies to establish a solid and sustainable collaboration in their supply chains, therefore emphasizing successful cases as the outliers to be studied. Therefore, this study aims to analyze how the buyer-supplier collaboration between manufacturer and retailer affects the performance of the supply chain based on a case in the Brazilian electronics sector. As specific objectives, this research analyze the perception of retail and industry managers about the benefits of collaborative sales planning (i), the influence of this phenomenon on inventory management (ii) as well as identify the formative aspects of collaborative behavior based on an adaptation of Spekman and Carraway's framework [31]. Results evidence that sales planning in collaboration is strongly influenced by the macroeconomic factors, among other variables outside of the supply chain more than the strategic orientation of the involved companies. Trust appears as a key factor, as well as volume of inventory, in order to provide the perception of collaboration as beneficial. Aspects such as power of negotiation, intent to enhance control and perception of 'fairness' can interfere with both the sustainability of the collaborative model and its performance results.