The results also provide practical guidance for supply
managers on the level of emphasis that they should place on scanning the supply market for information and integration
activities. Acquiring, disseminating and interpreting supply
market information can be time-consuming tasks that take
resources away from other supply management activities
(Handfield, 2006). Internal integration as well as supplier
integration will likely require meetings, changes in processes
as well as investment in information systems by the buyer and
the supplier. If only the buyer is benefiting, it may be difficult
to convince suppliers to make such investments. Thus, it is
important to examine whether these activities measurably
improve supplier performance.