Partners Selection and Performance Measurement in Supply Chain : A Survey of the Forestry, Manufacturing and Wholesale/Retail Industries in Sweden

Despite the existence of the concept of Supply Chain for decades, very little is known about how companies come together and which factors they take into consideration when selecting their business partners. Furthermore, when operating in the Supply Chain, companies focus more on efficiently utilizing company resources than effectively satisfying customers' needs. The aim of this research was to test and scrutinize the factors that suppliers, manufacturers and distributors/retailers consider most important in the decision processes of choosing partners in a Supply Chain. It investigated if Focal Companies in each of these categories (suppliers, manufacturers and retailers) take the same factors into consideration and identified metrics which companies focus on, in measuring the performance of a Supply Chain in terms of effectiveness and efficiency of Supply Chain processes. A webmail questionnaire was developed and administered to 525 companies within the forestry, manufacturing and retail industries in Sweden, of which 101 were answered giving a response rate of 19.2%. The empirical findings have been analyzed in comparison with existing theories and conclusions reached.