Back to the future with Fiat: A return to adversarial buyer‐supplier relationships? Available to Purchase

Japanese sourcing strategies have long been viewed as the benchmark for the automotive industry. However, despite attempts to translate Japanese ideas into globally applicable principles, a large body of literature casts doubt on the transferability of industrial practices beyond their country of origin. Recent research into Fiat’s new NPD outsourcing strategy suggests that hybrid strategies combining Japanese best practice with adversarial approaches may be the coming trend.