An Examination of Collaborative Planning Effectiveness and Supply Chain Performance

Summary Many organizations are attempting to gain a competitive advantage by integrating their suppliers more thoroughly into key supply chain processes. This calls for greater strategic and operational cooperation between buyer and supplier firms, often involving some degree of collaborative planning. Advances in information technology are making it possible for firms to share planning information more quickly and easily. This study surveyed purchasing executives whose firms are involved in collaborative planning with suppliers to examine several factors that support effective planning and the impact that effective collaborative planning has on performance in the buying firm. The results show that effective collaborative planning is dependent on the level of trust and the quality of information shared between firms.