l Changes are under ways in U.S. automakers. -before changes began, the dealings with suppliers had been characterized by short-term contracts, and many suppliers per part. -competition among suppliers for the automakers continued patronage contrasted sharply with the comfortable position of the inside suppliers. -however, little communication between internal components divisions and either the engineering groups produced by the divisions or thee assembly plants they supplied. l The automakers have been moving toward a very different supplier relations system. -Only a few suppliers provide each type of part, information is interchanged. -contracts with outside suppliers are increasing in length , and the automakers are reducing their commitment to their own components divisions l These changes seem surprising on several counts. -First, the willingness to give up monopsony power appears to defy economic logic. -Second, a reduction in vertical integration at a time seems to contradict the prediction -Finally, the new supplier relations cannot be attributed to the discovery of organizational form. -the recent changes move to the U.S. auto industry back to a supplier relations system seen earlier l Argue that a buyer firm with power in its final-product market can use power to change the market -in choosing supplier relations strategy, the buyer faces a trade-off between promoting technical progress and maintaining buyer bargaining power
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