SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Since each company can be considered only as a segment of the supply chain, cooperation among all the segments is inevitable. Through cooperation, supply chains can gain competitive advantage and achieve better performance. Competition has shifted to the level of the supply chain. Nowadays, buyers engage in specific types of processes at their suppliers in order to strengthen their cooperation and to improve their performance. It is especially noticeable in automotive industry. Extant literature on types of cooperation among companies within supply chain provides the foundation for the study. The data collection was conducted through questionnaire. Questionnaire was sent to manufacturing and business companies of all sizes (small, medium and large enterprises) with the representation in the Czech Republic within following sectors: automotive, food, clothing industry, electronics and pharmaceutical industry. The results show how the companies develop their cooperation with suppliers and what is significant in different sectors. Majority of the companies prefer close cooperation with suppliers, some of them participate on streamlining of the supplier's processes and effective sharing of information via information technology systems.