Strategic Purchasing, Supply Management, and Performance of National Iranian South Oil Company and Associated Companies

Subject Areas :

Belghis Bavarsad ¹ , Abdolhadi Darzianazizi ² , Sahar Baratizadeh ³

1 - Assistant Professor
2 - Assistant Professor
3 - M A student

Received: 2015-09-24 Accepted : 2015-09-24 Published : 2014-09-23

Keywords: strategic purchasing, supply management, customer
responsiveness,

Abstract :

Purchasing has increasingly assumed a pivotal strategic role in supply chain
management. Yet, claims of the strategic role of purchasing have not been fully
subjected to rigorous theoretical and empirical scrutiny. Extant research has
remained largely anecdotal and theoretically under-developed. In this paper, the researchers have examined the links among strategic purchasing, supply management and firm
performance. They argue that strategic purchasing can engender sustainable
competitive advantage by enabling firms to: (a) foster close working
relationships with a limited number of suppliers (b) promote open communication
among supply chain partners and (c) develop long-term strategic relationship
orientation to achieve mutual gains using structural equation modeling, the researchers have
empirically tested a number of hypotheses based on a sample of 10 companies including
National Iranian South Oil Company. The results provide a robust support for the
links between strategic purchasing, supply management, customer
responsiveness, and financial performance of the buying firm. Implications for
future research and managerial practice in supply-chain management are also
offered.