Supplier Flexibility Scale

What it measures

Measures the degree to which a supplier is willing and able to accommodate a customer firm's changing needs, including adjusting inventories, relaxing policies, and granting exceptions to meet customer requests. Higher scores indicate greater supplier flexibility. Used as a predictor of customer acquisition and operations costs.

Representative items

• This supplier is flexible enough to handle unforeseen problems.
• This supplier can readily adjust its inventories to meet changes in our needs.

Citation

Cannon, J.P. & Homburg, C. (2001). Buyer–supplier relationships and customer firm costs. Journal of Marketing, 65(1), 29–43.