Managing buyer-supplier relationships in the maritime engineer-to-order industry

Abstract

Norway’s shipyards have combined with a large network of maritime suppliers to become world-leading builders of offshore vessels for the oil and gas industry. This study analyzes a Norwegian shipyard and two of its suppliers in order to explore how such relationships are and should be managed. The paper presents an exploratory case study that mainly used qualitative data. The findings indicate that, by following the principles of the inter-organizational theories, the companies will reduce risks and create incentives for better performance. Imple- menting a real-time information sharing system between the buyer and supplier would improve both operational and managerial performance. The study also suggests that increasing value creation by leveraging the capabilities of the supply network and early involvement of suppliers will have the potential to increase this. Based on the discussion in this study, a performance measurement system for buyer-supplier relationships was developed.