Supplier relations and management: A survey of Japanese, Japanese‐transplant, and U.S. auto plants
基于1990年对美日汽车制造商的问卷调查，发现日本供应商在质量和价格上表现更优，日本移植工厂采用了日本做法并取得高绩效，表明日本做法可转移且美国供应商有改进空间。
Abstract This article presents the results of a questionnaire survey sent to a sample of automobile manufacturers in the United States and Japan (including Japanese‐managed plants in the United States) during the spring of 1990. The data support observations that Japanese and U.S. practices tend to differ in key areas and Japanese suppliers perform better in dimensions such as quality (defects) and prices (meeting targets, reducing prices over time); and that Japanese‐managed auto plants established in the United States have, in general, adopted Japanese practices and receive extremely high levels of quality from Japanese as well as U.S. suppliers. These findings provide evidence that Japanese practices and performance levels are transferable outside Japan and suggest that considerable improvements are possible for U.S. suppliers supplying U.S. auto plants. In addition, the survey indicates that U.S. firms have adopted at least some practices traditionally associated with Japanese firms, apparently reflecting some convergence toward Japanese practices and higher performance levels in supplier management.