The Relative Importance of Supplier Selection Criteria: A Review and Update

Purchasing professionals and researchers alike acknowledge the fact that the changing atmosphere in buyer‐supplier relationships is due largely to the globalization of the marketplace. Partnering strategies, which necessitate closer ties between buyers and suppliers, are becoming increasingly common for U.S. firms. Such strategies, in turn, allow buyers and suppliers in the United States to compete more effectively with international firms abroad. How has this changing business climate affected buyers’ choice decisions in supplier selection? That question is the focus of this study. The relative importance of supplier selection criteria is examined longitudinally by reviewing the findings of studies published during the past two decades. Those results are then compared with the findings of this study to gain insight about the relative importances of decision criteria used by purchasing professionals in selecting suppliers.