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Paper info: Format decisions and sourcing strategies in clothing retailing: howproduct/process innovation affects the buyer-seller relationship

Title


Format decisions and sourcing strategies in clothing retailing: howproduct/process innovation affects the buyer-seller relationship

Authors


Andrea Runfola
Università degli Studi di Perugia
Italy
Andrea Runfola and
Simone Guercini
Università degli Studi di Firenze
Italy
Simone Guercini

Place of Publication


The paper was published at the 21st IMP-conference in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 2005.

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Abstract


The main aim of the paper is to analyse the implications emerging from the relationship betweenretailers and their suppliers (textile manufacturers and clothing manufacturers) operating at differentlevels in the clothing-textile pipeline, in a situation influenced by a number of factors of change. Theanalysis starts by highlighting the strong relation between different production management modelsand the distributor’s capacity for retail format innovation. In this context, the paper supports evidenceon the changing status of interaction between the buyer (clothing retailer) and the seller (textile and/orclothing manufacturers). The paper provides a theoretical background on negotiation, drawing adistinction between “styles” and “strategies” in manufacturer-retailer interaction. It introduces evidenceconcerning the nature of negotiation processes in relation to the new sourcing strategies of theclothing retailer, seeking to identify which orientation, whether “transactional” or “relational”, prevails inthe interaction. The paper concludes with some research hypotheses and final remarks.Keywords: negotiation, buyer-seller relationship, clothing, retailing