The possible advantages gained by outsourcing non-core competences and utilizing theglobalization of the market will be diminished if inter-firm relationships are notdesigned and managed properly. Hence, extended support for purchasing decisionsbased on market requirements in terms of order winners and delivery lead times isneeded. We provide a framework that combines the strategic implications from a wellknownpurchasing framework (Kraljic, 1983) with a decoupling based framework thatemphasizes the balance between efficiency and responsiveness, and the level ofcontrollability in the supply chain.