3.2.1. The sample
Both surveys were sent to the purchasing organizations of 1300 domestic US firms in the spring of 1997. This sample consists of members of the NAPM, participants in previous CAPS purchasing performance benchmarking studies, and participants in the 1997 CAPS-sponsored Executive Purchasing Roundtable. Respondents in the buying firms were asked to focus most of their responses to the survey questions on their relationship with a particular international supplier, and were also asked to forward the second, near-mirror-image questionnaire to the chosen international supplier. Like the buyer survey, this second supplier questionnaire was returned directly to CAPS. The supplier was asked to specifically consider the buyer’s firm when answering the survey questions.