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Introduction
In recent years, supply chain management (SCM) has emerged as a powerful tool in the business process management arsenal. Application of the many facets of this methodology has transformed the way in which suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers operate. The most significant aspect of these relationships is not their emergence, but rather their radical departure from what may be called the conventional philosophy of relationship management that assumes the existence of an inherently adversarial interaction between firms. Contrary to the conventional and adversarial form of relationships, effective supply chain management in the new competition suggests seeking close, long-term working relationships with one or two partners (both suppliers and customers) who depend on one another for much of their business, who develop interactive relationships with partners who share information freely, who work together to solve common problems during the design of new products, who jointly plan for the future, and who make their success interdependent. However, similar aspects regarding supplier management relationships have already been implemented by TQM, a philosophy that is widely adopted by many companies worldwide. Supplier management issues, like information sharing establishment of long-term and trusting relationships with suppliers, mutual dependence and commitment are also advocated by the TQM philosophy. Also, internal integration, a prerequisite for SCM implementation is a key point in the TQM philosophy.

Supplier policy
Supplier policy deployment in SCM follows a different approach than the traditional one. The companies, in order to respond to the new market dynamics, reduce the number of suppliers that collaborate with, and especially those who provide the company with components that have a significant impact on the quality of their final product. In that way they can more effectively manage the relationships with their strategic suppliers

Information sharing/communication
The new patterns of buyer- supplier interaction found in SCM, represent a general trend toward closer and more cooperative relationships .In this kind of relationships, communication effort between supplier and buyer involves many inter-firm contacts and exchange of information takes place frequently and informally and not only according to a pre-specified agreement. The information sharing is often supported by an electronic data interchange between the partners. Part of the open communication between buyers and their supplies is that buyers should provide suppliers with feedback about the results of their evaluation and the mistakes they may have done. As Monczka et al. mention, it is difficult to receive higher levels of quality when a supplier is unaware
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of a buyers current perception of supplier performance. In order to achieve higher quality, suppliers should know the specifications of the products they supply and their exact use for the buyers final product. Moreover, in order to avoid sudden fluctuations in demand, planning and communication of the supply program must take place in a timely manner. Finally, as it is critical for a buyer to select and maintain only those suppliers capable of providing highest quality products and services, many buyers are requiring suppliers to pass a formal certification process to provide evidence that they have quality control and improvement systems in place.

Joint action of supplier/buyer

Closer long-term relationships with suppliers imply the use of joint quality planning (e.g. forming of quality requirements and product specifications, use of quality control, etc.) and joint production planning (e.g. use of JIT system) between buyer and supplier. Suppliers are increasingly viewed as partners. They become more deeply involved in co-operative problem solving, in new product development and in workgroups with buyers representatives in order to identify areas of improvement.

Relationship-handling
In these kind of close relationships, the use of a formal contract with supplier regarding quality, quantity, price, delivery and payment terms, is quite often. Buyer and supplier responsibilities are delegated with clarity and according to joint agreement. Buyer pursuits a close, regular contact with suppliers so that he can be kept well informed about suppliers problems and plans. Buyer handles the feedback received from day to day contacts with suppliers including complaints, in order to identify improvement areas. For the same purpose, buyer must be willing to accept and implement improvement suggestions made by the supplier.

Supplier support
The main purpose of close, long-term relationships with suppliers is the achievement of high quality products and services that satisfy customer needs. Often, suppliers lack the abilities and competencies required to deal with the high quality standards required by their buyers. Therefore, supplier development is necessary. Supplier development activities vary widely and they may include raising performance expectations, education and training on quality requirements and knowhow for supplier personnel, recognition of suppliers achievements and performance in the form of rewards, placement of engineering and other buyer personnel at the suppliers premises and direct capital investment by the buying firm in the supplier.

Relationship quality
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The relationship with the supplier is considered to be a partnership and is valuable to the firm (buyer) as it can be a source of competitive advantage. Research shows that the ultimate success or failure of a supply chain alliance is determined by the level of commitment, trust and cooperation of its member. Thus, each part must be aware of other parts needs and should align its expectations and goals with its partners expectations and goals.

Theoretical framework
The framework is based upon the following two premises. The first premise is that since complete and thorough SCM implementation is quite difficult to be achieved, it should be implemented gradually. Intra-firm process integration may constitute the first step towards this direction. The internal supply chain integrates business functions involved in the flow of materials and information from inbound to outbound ends of the business. Coordination of activities within the firm, key business processes identification and management with the use of cross-functional teams are important elements of this step. When firms achieve internal integration, they pursue the extension of integrated management beyond their boundaries, to the interfaces with other members of the supply chain. Management of complex interorganization relations both upstream (suppliers) and downstream (customers) in the total supply network becomes firms main aim. However, it expresses the ultimate goal of SCM implementation and results in higher benefits for the firm. Thus, a prerequisite for inter-organization integration is, as it has already been mentioned, the former intra-organization integration. The second premise is that TQM consists a widely accepted philosophy that contributes to intra-firm integration. The integrative nature of TQM by stressing that TQM is the mutual co-operation of everyone in an organization. Also, many authors view TQM as a mechanism to coordinate activities within the boundaries of the firm and propose TQM as a holistic approach to managing operations. TQM can help businesses to design operations using seamless boundaries in internal processes and external transactions, and its adoption as a template for change is not solely focused within the firm but can also impact positively on supplier relationships. Given the above two premises, one would expect that a firm which implements quality practices will have a higher performance on SCM. Since the firm has already achieved a satisfactory level of internal integration, it will be easier to expand its boundaries and form close relationships with its suppliers. Therefore, quality management practices in the theoretical model (Figure 1) are categorized in five categories in accordance with the enablers of the EFQM excellence model. A relationship between the various categories of supplier management and the categories of quality management is expected. For example, a strong focus on leadership, as part of quality management, can foster intra firm coordination and, in that way, is expected to relate significantly with supplier management issues. Moreover, if firms policy and strategy, as part of quality management, is aligned with partners policy and strategy then goal congruence and mutual trust between the firm and its partners (issues which refer to supplier management) can be achieved. Proper handling of
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partnerships and resources issues in the framework of quality management, such as the identification of key partners and strategic partnership opportunities that are in line with firm policy and strategy and the assurance of cultural compatibility with partner organizations, is highly expected to relate to the many aspects of supplier management. Also, better human resources management, for example in terms of employee training and intra-firm sharing of best practice and knowledge, can help organizations to achieve an internal infrastructure for information sharing that can be extended to its suppliers. Finally, a thorough process management system provides an intra-firm infrastructure that can be useful to supplier management regarding, for example, the communication process between the firm and its suppliers and the clear specification and documentation of relationship handling issues.
Figure 1 Theoretical model

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