The author investigate the effect which the delivery performance of a company's suppliers have upon the company's own delivery assurance and reputation. Alternative methods of evaluating supplier delivery performance are studied. An analysis is made of the extent to which the suppliers' poor...

The majority of make or buy decisions are invoked in the name of “cost”, but the two case studies outlined in this paper demonstrate that cost is only one of a multitude of criteria which managers need to evaluate in this strategic decision. Also highlighted are the difficulties in...