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Reports on an exploratory study (mail survey) of industrial supplier satisfaction with the purchasing partnership format and how these agreements can relate to current market conditions. The respondent sales managers had very positive attitudes toward, and expectations from, purchasing partnerships. For some, these partnerships appear to be the only way to compete in an unstable market. It appears that the responsibility for keeping the arrangement mutually profitable is that of the supplier. It also seems that top managers will have to be more involved with these accounts because of the large sales volumes generated by each. The suppliers reported a need for a better flow of information from buyers which can be facilitated by a purchasing partnership. The major partnership challenges for suppliers are to maintain fair profit margins for themselves and to build buyer loyalty so that competitors cannot interrupt the relationship.