The global supply chain is more stressed than it’s ever been, and with fears of a looming recession looming large, it’s likely to get worse. To weather it and mitigate further damage, buyers and suppliers need to abandon their old ways of operating, and build more collaborative relationships that are rooted in trust. 

The buyer-supplier foundation is shaky and needs to be rebuilt. For decades, contracting models have been adversarial and power based, with the balance shifting toward buyers. Rather than seeing suppliers as partners to help drive innovation, competitive advantage and business growth, buyers have typically viewed them as a source of cost savings.

This model needs to change. The key to securing supply in one of tightest markets the world has ever seen isn’t squeezing suppliers for discounts. As revealed in 3 Ways to Build Trust with Your Suppliers, a study conducted by the Haslem School of Business at the University of Tennessee and sponsored by SAP, it involves building and increasing trust. 

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