Multiple case study of the supplier selection decision process

Abstract

The complex and important problem of the supplier selection has been modelled with the involvement and integration of different multiple criteria decision techniques. Nevertheless, there is little empirical evidence of the relevance of such approaches to the procurement practice. In order to overcome the relevance gap it is imperative to analyze the practical decision process in the procurement function. With this aim an exploratory multiple case study was undertaken, based on semi-structured interviews with senior procurement managers of eight Portuguese enterprises, and triangulation with previous research. The results suggest that supplier selection decisions tend to be based on the non-compensatory decision strategy (conjunctive decision rule) in the pre-selection stage, followed by the price bidding and qualitative analysis in the stage of final choice.