Supplier management and its relationship to buyers' quality management

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to focus on dyadic buyer‐supplier relationship as part of supply chain management (SCM) and to relate implementation of supplier management practices to intra‐firm implementation of quality management (QM) practices. The aim is to identify possible relationships between the two sets of management practices. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted in the Greek manufacturing industry, with the use of questionnaires, examining the relationship between supplier management in the SCM context and intra‐firm QM implementation. Findings – Research findings, which represent buyers' point‐of‐view, reveal a positive correlation between supplier management practices and QM practices, providing an empirical support to the basic research hypothesis. Research limitations/implications – There was only one respondent in each buyer company. Also, only a mail survey was used as a research technique and only buyers' perspective was reflected in the data. Future research can be based on both buyers' and suppliers' perspective, asking more than one person and using case studies and phone or face‐to‐face interviews. Practical implications – The study aims to encourage firms to adopt a QM philosophy and implement QM practices in their way to SCM implementation. Quality practices are widely accepted to result in intra‐firm coordination and integration. Given that internal integration is a prerequisite for thorough SCM implementation, QM can serve as a strong base for SCM implementation. Originality/value – The research verifies that intra‐firm adoption of the quality philosophy can lead firms to better supplier management in the SCM context. Managers should focus on QM in their way to SCM implementation.