Learning to work with interdependencies effectively: the case of the HRM forum of the suppliers teams at Volvo Cars Gent

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to profile the way in which Volvo Cars Gent (VCG) Belgium and its suppliers succeed in managing their interdependencies on HRM issues through a shared HRM collaborative, called the Suppliers Team Volvo Cars HRM forum (STVC-HRM).Design methodology approach - A c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Supply chain management 2010-03, Vol.15 (2), p.95-100
Main Authors: Lambrechts, Frank, Taillieu, Tharsi, Sips, Koen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Automobile industry
Case studies
Collaboration
Competitive advantage
Employment
Human resource management
Logistics
Manufacturers
Meetings
OEM
Production planning
Success factors
Suppliers
Supply chain management
Supply chains
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Summary:Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to profile the way in which Volvo Cars Gent (VCG) Belgium and its suppliers succeed in managing their interdependencies on HRM issues through a shared HRM collaborative, called the Suppliers Team Volvo Cars HRM forum (STVC-HRM).Design methodology approach - A case study approach is used to develop understanding of the critical factors that contribute to the forum's success.Findings - It was found that the critical success factors concern the way STVC-HRM members enacted trust, common ground, leadership, shared responsibility, and representative-constituency dynamics.Research limitations implications - To understand the Toyota system of successful collaboration and learning with suppliers, it is necessary to look into the actual assembler-supplier relationships and practices developed.Practical implications - Building lasting manufacturer-supplier relationships is considered to be one of the elements that contribute to Toyota's competitive advantage in supply chain management. However, other organisations struggle to improve manufacturer-supplier relationships despite applying seemingly similar principles. The paper helps in recognising and managing the main collaboration issues at hand.Originality value - The work suggests how to build and maintain deep mutually beneficial manufacturer-supplier relationships through the VCG-suppliers case. Other organisations that want to develop those much-needed relationships may learn from the successful VCG-suppliers way of doing things.
ISSN:1359-8546
1758-6852
DOI:10.1108/13598541011028705