Inter-firm collaboration and the efficiency of supply chain

Inter-firm collaboration has a strong influence on the efficiency of a supply chain as firms can achieve competitive advantage by working together with their suppliers. Inter-firm collaboration includes many aspects such as information sharing, technical cooperation, just-in-time production and delivery, etc. Some factors have more influence on the inter-firm collaboration while others might not be as important for maintaining it. The effect of each factor needs to be studied and understood for effective supply chain management. Automobile manufacturing industry consists of several layers of parts suppliers and buyer firms, and they interact with one another in a network of complex relationships. It is a very ideal industry to study the effect of inter-firm collaboration on the efficiency of supply chain. This paper examines the effect of inter-firm collaboration on the efficiency of supply chain in the context of auto parts manufacturing industry. We use the data collected from Korean auto parts manufacturers through survey questionnaires distributed among over a thousand firms. This study will be able to provide useful insights about how the buyer-supplier relationship should be managed to achieve a better supply chain.