Strategic supplier alliances in the natural stone industry: the case of Turkish companies

Abstract

The natural stone industry is one of the oldest industries in the world, and Turkish natural stone companies face with high competition from Italy, China and a few more countries in the world. In highly competitive business environment, strategic alliances and supply chain management are some of the important strategies for the natural stone industry as well. The main objective of this paper is to shift the focus of strategies from strategic alliances among companies or rivals towards strategic supplier alliances involving the owners of quarries, manufacturers, logistics service providers and distributors in the natural stone supply chain. The survey results conducted on 32 respondents showed that the managers or owners of the companies (I) found strategic supplier alliances mutually beneficial for all partners in a supply chain. and (2) were eager to improve their relationship, cooperation and collaboration with their suppliers and customers, (3) preferred informal agreements to mergers or full partnerships, and (4) were more enthusiastic to establish production?? based strategic supplier alliances with Italian and Spanish than Chinese companies and marketing-based strategic supplier alliances with many companies from all over the world.