The classification of supplier selection criteria with respect to lean or agile manufacturing strategies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how manufacturing strategies could affect the supplier selection criteria used by business firms. Design/methodology/approach Survey strategy was used to empirically understand the research argument. First, principal component factor analysis was employed to validate the underlying structure of the supplier selection criteria. Then, simple regression analysis was employed to test the research hypotheses. Findings Organizations pursuing lean strategies will emphasize factors that improve their efficiency when selecting their suppliers, while organizations pursuing agile strategies will assert factors that improve their ability to respond to customer unique requirements when selecting their suppliers. Research limitations/implications This study provides new insight for researchers to understand the effect of manufacturing strategies on the classification of supplier selection criteria. However, the small sample size might limit the ability to generalize research findings. Further research is required to confirm the findings using a wider sample. Practical implications This research provides practitioners with useful insights into how to select their suppliers based on their manufacturing strategies. Originality/value This paper classifies supplier selection criteria into three distinct groups: lean, agile, and common capabilities. Lean capability refers to the list of criteria that are highly relevant in selecting suppliers for lean implementers. Agile capability refers to the list of criteria that are highly relevant in selecting suppliers for agile implementers. Finally, common capability refers to the list of criteria that have comparable relevance in selecting suppliers for both lean and agile implementers.