ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with two examples of how a corporation considers and works with their suppliers in developmental matters. The first example describes a company, Ericsson Information Systems (EIS), dealing especially with the strategic action of a company which is in the field of advanced technology, namely office automation. The other example, Saab-Scania, deals with the way in which a company takes care of and creates development resources in the industrial environment. The main part of the chapter is devoted to a special steel study. The study discusses the manner in which the users have utilized suppliers for their own technological development. The importance of certain kinds of suppliers probably influences the focal company's activity pattern towards them. In order to attain better understanding of the dynamics of the activity patterns and the complex interplay between specific relationships and a company's total position the chapter presents two cases, Alfa-Laval and Volvo car, in relative detail.
