| This research involved the investigation into international supply chain management/coalition relationships. The research had three objectives: to identify and develop an understanding of recent international coalition formation, to explore coalition formation involving purchasing activity, and to investigate the implications of international coalition involvement on the purchasing function.; This research employed a two stage methodology. Stage one was modeled after the 1986 study of international coalition activity from 1970-1982 performed by Ghemawat, Porter and Rawlinson as reported in Competition in Global Industries. This study updated Ghemawat's study, forming a database including all international coalitions reported in The Wall Street Journal between 1983 and 1988.; Stage two of this research used an exploratory case study. In depth personal interviews were conducted with individuals involved in international purchasing coalitions at six organizations.; The stage one database identified 729 international coalitions formed from 1983-1988, including 91 purchasing coalitions. Hypothesis testing revealed insufficient evidence to support a linear trend in coalition formation from 1970-1988 or 1983-1988. Additional tests supported that most international coalitions were formed for a single purpose (477), with 51% of the single purpose coalitions formed in the operation category, 29% in technology, 8% in purchasing, and 6% in both logistics and marketing. International coalition formation involved predominantly industrialized countries, and was highly concentrated by industry. The joint venture legal form dominated the total database, whereas contracts dominated in purchasing coalitions.; Case study findings support that purchasing function's with international coalition involvement had a broad range of function-spanning duties and required a high level of communication and teamwork skill. In addition, those studied had relatively high status within the firm, and had input into the firm's strategic planning. Further, purchasing played an important role throughout the life of the international coalitional relationship. Thus, international purchasing coalitions appear to represent an opportunity for purchasing to expand it's contribution to the firm's strategy.; Finally, this research developed a normative model for implementation of international purchasing coalitions. This model represents a guideline to aid firms considering entering international purchasing coalitions. |
