The objective of this paper is to shed light on obstacles to, and
opportunities for, increasing the effectiveness of construction firms
in managing buyer-supplier relationships. More specifically, the focus
is on assessing the maturity level of buyer-supplier relationship
management by construction firms. Following Rozemeijer et al.
(2003) and Schiele (2007), maturity is defined in this paper as
the level of professionalism. The next section contains a literature
review discussing conditions to improve the management of buyersupplier
relationships. Second, a methodological justification and
an empirical research design are provided. Third, the management
of buyer-supplier relationships in the construction industry is assessed
in 19 in-depth case studies of Dutch construction firms.
The results of the case studies are discussed in a subsequent section.
The paper ends with conclusions and managerial implications.