A RESEARCH PROPOSAL OF COLLABORATIVE BUYER - SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIPS AND JUST IN TIME (JIT STRATEGY) STRATEGY A CASE STUDY OF CROWN BEVERAGES LIMITED UGANDA

BY SATURDAY BONAVENTURE 09/U/8578/PLE/PE

A RESEARCH PROPOSAL SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP OF THE IN AWARD PARTIAL OF A FULFILMENT BACHELORS OF DEGREE THE IN

REQUIREMENT

PROCUREMENT AND LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT

Collaborative buyer - supplier relationships and JIT strategy

09/U/8578/PLE/PE

CHAPTER ONE 1.0 Introduction

This chapter introduces the background of the study, problem statement, objectives of the study i.e. the main objective and the specific objectives, research questions, scope of the study and the significance of the study. 1.1 Background to the study

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to buyer-supplier relationships and just in time strategy in general. Views of buyer-supplier relationships have evolved from the old school of the 1980s, where buyers and suppliers were viewed as part of a zero-sum game, to the more collaborationist outlook of the 1990s, which claimed that buyers and suppliers could cooperate to the benefit of both, to the more network-oriented view of the 2000s, where buyers and suppliers are parts of organic business ecosystems. Today these relationships have become “strategic” and the process of relationships development is accelerated as firms strive to create relationships to achieve their goals. In this stressful environment of relationships acceleration, there is less time for the participants not only to carefully explore the range of long-term relationships development (Ford, David. 2000). According to Benton and Prahinski (2004), inter-firm collaborative buyer supplier relationships increase cooperation, shared problem solving, commitment actions, loyalty and relationships continuity. The expectation of continuity is a