The Single Source Issue: U.S. and Japanese Sourcing Strategies

The relationship between buyer and seller has been undergoing dramatic changes in many U.S. firms. The Japanese practice of single sourcing—and the close relationship it forges between buyer and seller—has been used as a model by an increasing number of U.S. firms seeking to reduce and better manage their supplier bases. Some have expressed concern that U.S. firms are rushing into single sourcing without sufficient consideration of the differences between the Japanese and the U.S. industrial systems. Yet there is little research to support this view. The results of a survey presented in this article suggest that those concerns may be unfounded. The research also suggests that, despite the differences in systems, industrial purchasing practices in the two countries are more similar than many realize when it comes to dealing with suppliers.