bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluating Suppliers’ Overhead Allocations
Authors: Landeros Robert , Reck Robert F. , Griggs Frank T.
Published: April 2006

The practice of relying solely on a supplier's direct labor as the basis for allocating indirect costs may be questionable in many cases, as suppliers continue to automate their production systems. In this article, regression analysis is presented as a technique for evaluating the appropriateness of the indirect cost allocation mechanism used by suppliers. Detailed information about a supplier's production activities is used to systematically evaluate the indirect cost drivers, allocation rates, and their appropriateness. This analytical tool can also be used to provide information for the construction of a new indirect cost allocation mechanism for counterproposals.
The Role of Purchasing and Materials Management in Total Quality Management and Customer Satisfaction
Authors: Carter Joseph R. , Narasimhan Ram
Published: April 2006

Total quality management (TQM) is both a philosophy and a set of guiding principles that represent the foundation for continuous organizational improvement. TQM is the application of not only quantitative methods but also human resource management principles to improve the materials and services supplied to an organization, all the processes within that organization, and the degree to which the needs of customers are met. The research discussed in this article integrates the concepts, ideas, and findings that have emerged from ongoing multi‐phase studies of purchasing's role in TQM. From this research, sponsored by the Center for Advanced Purchasing Studies (CAPS), the investigators have developed several ideas about what purchasing organizations should do to attain total quality management goals.
Logistics Issues in International Sourcing: An Exploratory Study
Authors: Murphy Paul R. , Daley James M.
Published: April 2006

Logistics problems have been identified as the biggest obstacle facing U.S. businesses in international sourcing. However, neither the purchasing nor the logistics literature contains much information on logistical considerations in global sourcing. This article presents the results of an exploratory study designed to learn about selected logistics issues in global sourcing. The article also identifies a number of opportunities for further research in the field.
The Cross‐Functional Imperative: The Case of Marketing and Purchasing
Authors: Williams Alvin J. , Giunipero Larry C. , Henthorne Tony L.
Published: April 2006

As purchasers increasingly seek ways to enhance performance in interfunctional work teams, it is essential to understand how and why various functions interact in a given manner. This article underscores how marketing and purchasing can learn from each other to heighten effectiveness and goal attainment. In particular, specific areas in which the two functions share commonalities are highlighted.
Partnering Pitfalls and Success Factors
Authors: Ellram Lisa M.
Published: April 2006

Over the past several years, there has been a significant shift in the way many organizations approach buyer‐seller relationships. Recent years have seen an increased interest and involvement in buyer‐supplier partnerships, which tend to be longer term, ongoing, and based on a sharing of the risks of relationship outcomes. Most of the research dealing with the partnering phenomenon has focused on buyers’ or suppliers’ perspectives of the relationship. Few research projects have looked at the perceptions of both buyers and suppliers simultaneously.

This article, based on a Center for Advanced Purchasing Studies (CAPS) focus study, looks simultaneously at the perceptions of both buyers and suppliers who mutually agree that they are involved in a partnership. It explores the impetus for entering the partnership, as well as the key success factors and factors contributing to failure in previous partnering relationships. It provides useful insights into the similarities and differences in buyers’ and suppliers’ perceptions, and compares the study's findings with those of previous research studies.
Maintaining Buyer‐Supplier Partnerships
Authors: Landeros Robert , Reck Robert , Plank Richard E.
Published: April 2006

Partnerships between industrial buyers and industrial sellers are becoming more common in the United States. However, evidence suggests that many of these relationships do not reach their full potential because of actions taken or not taken by the partners. While some partnerships are doomed to failure from the beginning, many fail because the partners do not have a process established to maintain the relationship.

This article offers a model for developing and maintaining buyer‐supplier partnerships. The development portion of the model consists of four stages: (1) buyer's expectations, (2) seller's perceptions, (3) mutual understanding and commitment, and (4) performance activity. However, certain problems in the performance activity stage can place the relationship in jeopardy and move the partnership to another stage: (5) corrective action. The model continues by illustrating three approaches to mitigate these performance problems and bring stability back to the relationship: (1) operational unilateral adjustment, (2) operational bilateral adjustment, and (3) managerial bilateral adjustment. The key to a stable, mutually beneficial buyer‐supplier partnership over time is understanding how problems may enter a relationship and how they can best be eliminated.
Measuring Relative Productivity and Staffing Levels in a Federal Procurement Office
Authors: Black Dennis E.
Published: April 2006

A number of attempts have been made to measure productivity and staffing needs within federal procurement offices. Previous attempts, however, have failed to adequately measure the relative (weighted) differences in both work tasks and staffing levels across offices examined.

This research presents an analytical model for measuring the productivity across federal procurement offices by computing a workload index that weights the differences in work assignments and staff resources within each office examined. Through the systematic assignment of weights, the model, called the Workload Index Model, measures an office's relative productivity, given its relative staff resources. If certain assumptions can be made that generally apply across all federal procurement offices, then with the application of systematic weights, the relative productivity of an organization can be measured. The model therefore avoids the validity and reliability errors inherent in generally used unweighted performance indicators.

The author tested the Workload Index Model by measuring the relative workload and staffing among ten decentralized research and development (R&D) contracting offices at the National Institutes of Health during the six‐year period of FY 1988‐1993. The results showed that, unlike previous attempts, the Workload Index Model produced systematic comparative analyses of relative productivity and staffing across the offices examined. Used with other performance indicators, the model represents a useful quantitative tool for federal, and perhaps private sector, procurement managers in developing productivity and staffing standards.
Fairness in the Resolution of International Business Disputes
Authors: Breitenbach Robert B.
Published: April 2006

Predrafted, international contracts presented on a “take it or leave it” basis can present a dilemma to a non drafting party who is under economic pressure to sign the contract, but who may lose certain legal rights by doing so. The law's evolving position on this dilemma is discussed, and recommendations for purchasing professionals are presented.