L62 - Automobiles; Other Transportation Equipment; Related Parts and EquipmentReturn

In a world of intense competition, automotive manufacturers are continually increasing their outsourcing activities and, as a result, automotive companies have built extensive cost engineering departments within their organisations. Staff in these units provide Should Cost Calculations for externally manufactured components, which are utilized as supplier targets to support buyers in fact-based negotiations. This paper aims to explore potential differences in the direct and indirect cost categories in the context of Should Cost Calculations. Based on a sample survey among cost engineers, it was possible to determine differences in cost knowledge, risk of suppliers concealing unjustified costs, level of analytical detail, and suitability to conduct fact-based negotiations depending on the length of job experience, industry, and especially the type of costs. The evaluation is carried out through analysis of variance, and a contingency table homogeneity test, and the results are presented using correspondence maps. The results show significant differences between the direct and indirect cost categories, including a higher risk of cost hiding and a lower suitability for price negotiations for the indirect cost category.

The automotive industry has reached a very high level of international integration. It expanded in Russia at the end of the first decade of the century. The paper aims at describing the problems encountered in the first years of the process and how car manufacturers and their suppliers have evolved and adapted over a period of almost 10 years. Using a qualitative inductive methodology, based on interviews of Western European and Russian participants to the expansion, and using a case of failure as an extreme situation, the author identifies a certain number of influencing factors and describes how they have evolved trough the years. Finally, the paper concentrates on two phenomena that need more investigation, i.e. the reason for a small representation of Russian suppliers and the generic subculture of Russians working for foreign corporations. The results provide also a model of the implantation process on a new market that can be used for further research or to train and support managers involved in international projects.