Roger Moser

The efforts among automotive companies in China to find suitable domestic suppliers have to be seen as a response to local content requirements promulgated by the Chinese central government but also as part of the global sourcing strategy among the producers. Therefore, automotive companies, both original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and their Western suppliers, are currently trying to integrate more domestic suppliers in their supply chains in China (Holweg et al., 2005). The automotive industry is suitable for further research of complex buyer-supplier interactions because it can also be considered a networked industry implying that it is virtually impossible for any firm alone to possess all the technical expertise and capabilities needed to develop and produce a complex product (Binder et al., 2007; Holweg and Pil, 2007).

The growing number of disasters increases the requirements for transportation in humanitarian logistics above all in the last mile. As a result, fleet management of NGOs is recognized as very important for both quick response and long-term local development. Currently global fleet managers of NGOs have to choose mainly between high local availability and optimal capacity utilization to provide quick response. However, NGOs are also increasingly required to contribute to the long-term economic development according to the sustainable livelihood approach fostering social and economic growth especially in rural communities. This paper proposes an alternative humanitarian logistics model based on service-dominant logic. The model aims at both improving the response times of the fleets of NGOs and the long-term logistics connectivity in rural areas combining humanitarian logistics and local commercial mobility through a truck-sharing solution.

Grounded theory is used to develop a list of factors that facilitate and inhibit supplier relationships in China, in "Supplier Integration in the Chinese Automotive Industry." Although this is an industry which has been characterized by its rapid growth and many success stories, it is also known for its limited collaborative and process management capabilities. In fact, key automotive components are still primarily designed outside of China. Interviews were conducted with 30 managers in the Chinese automotive industry and transcribed into 650 pages of textual material. Key themes were developed using qualitative data analysis tools, including within-case analysis, hierarchical axial coding and line-by-line analysis of the transcripts. This resulted in seven analytical categories and six causal relationships. Proposals were developed related to collaborative supplier capabilities, supplier collaboration readiness, buyer leadership, continuous supplier development, leadership inhibitors and cultural distance. The authors suggested development of an organizational interface with the Chinese supplier market, to help address the tradeoff between local adaptation and global integration of sourcing processes.

Two major developments in the global automotive industry are the increasing importance and integration of suppliers into the value creation process and the rise of emerging markets such as India or China. The growing importance of suppliers for OEMs and the increasing interdependence between the key players in the automotive industry are a result of the shift in the value creation process, with suppliers accounting for projected 77 % of total value creation in 2015. New requirements are set by customers characterised through higher quality expectations and a wide array of individual customer wishes. With model life cycles having been reduced from ten years in the past to six years today, the innovative ability of organisations remains a key success factor. However, rather the increasing pressure on costs and efficiency is still driving the OEMs and suppliers within the automotive industry. To reach the requirements for innovations, the reduction of costs, and the provision of quality, OEMs are focusing on differentiating and strengthening their brands and capabilities.