Strategic vendor selection criteria discussed in relation to demand and supply perspectives

Abstract

Vendor selection (VS) is a decision-making problem involving strategic management. In the VS approach, criteria and importance weights must be carefully selected to meet supply chain competitive strategies. Most existing VS models use buying-firm’s perspectives for VS criteria formulation. This study examines the demand and supply views of 108 valid respondents regarding the importance weights of VS criteria under four operations strategies. The multinomial probability distribution analysis and variance weighting method are employed to categorize the individual relative importance weights. This study derives exploratory explanations by conducting in-depth interviews with 12 functional managers focusing on their divergent perspectives on importance weighting of VS criteria. This study also discusses the derived applications of Herzberg’s two-factor theory, supplier integration, and the operating philosophy of total quality management to mitigate the influences of the widely used explicit operational criteria in existing VS models. Finally, this study provides recommendations for future research on VS.

Keywords:

• supplier positioning and selection
• two-factor theory
• supplier integration
• total quality management
• variance weighting method

Additional information

Funding

Funding. The author would like to thank the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of China, Taiwan, for financially supporting this research [NSC 100-2410-H-231-006]. The service centers of Industrial Park Administration and in-depth interviewees are appreciated for their support on this study.