ABSTRACT
The Structure of Suppliers This chapter presents the perspective of some 20 UK suppliers of Japanese affiliates on some of the issues touched upon in the previous chapter. Altogether, 30 were approached; of these, 21 were visited and/or completed a questionnaire.1 The names of the suppliers were provided by the purchasing managers or managing directors of 18 affiliates, they included both those from whom affiliates bought raw materials, components and semiprocessed goods in 1983, and those whom affiliates had not been able to persuade to meet their purchasing requirements.2
