International Sourcing

Globalization leads to increased fierce competition and companies which do not pursue successful global sourcing within the next five years are probably not able to survive. However, global sourcing projects are highly complex and two-thirds of all sourcing projects in Europe are considered to have failed. A tool of ten steps is elaborated to show how to evaluate the success of sourcing by considering the potentials and risks in an international context. Successful managing of international sourcing, however, does not only imply the primary goal to acquire parts cheaply abroad, but it can be seen as a kind of strategic weapon to create a strong market position and to keep the company successful on the long term.

The political and economic opening up of India, China, Turkey and the eastern European states have led to a change in competition on the world's markets. These countries are already considered attractive procurement markets, especially by European companies. However, global sourcing can mean hidden costs for those who are unaware of the international markets and their modes of operation. In this book, Gerd Kerkhoff proves that companies can still be successful in their global sourcing - despite the risks involved. He shows which goods and services are suited to global sourcing and introduces the key procurement markets and their strengths. Concrete examples illustrate how international buying can be successfully planned.

Theoretical and empirical perspectives on the fragmentation of production processes across borders, shedding light on global sourcing decisions and their economic effects. Recent decades have seen a fragmentation of production processes across borders, as firms find it increasingly profitable to organize production on a global scale. This fragmentation occurs across national borders as well as across firm boundaries; companies must decide not only the location of production but also how much control to exert over the different production stages. Economists have responded to this shift by developing new models of global sourcing, generating important insights into the driving forces and economic effects of this new form of globalization. Many questions, however, remain unanswered. This book tries to fill this gap. The contributors ask new questions or offer new modeling approaches to fragmentation of production, focusing in particular on time and uncertainty. They examine global sourcing in firms' multinationalization strategies, including offshoring, product scope, managerial incentives, supplier search, and contractual issues; and explore the interactions of global sourcing, exports, and economic development, investigating such topics as the complementarity of offshoring and exporting, product diversification, and the relationship between vertical linkages and development. Each chapter presents recent research that further develops existing models or documents new empirical patterns related to global sourcing. Contributors Pol Antràs, Sasan Bakhtiari, Sebastian Benz, Giuseppe Berlingieri, Johannes Boehm, Jeronimo Carballo, Huiya Chen, Alejandro Cuñat, Fabrice Defever, Swati Dhingra, Harald Fadinger, Ana P. Fernandes, Christian Fischer, Wilhelm Kohler, Bohdan Kukharskyy, Luca Marcolin, Antonio Minniti, John Morrow, Alireza Naghavi, Han (Steffan) Qi, Jens Suedekum, Deborah L. Swenson, Edwin L.-C. Lai, Anders Rosenstand Laugesen, Ngo Van Long, Heiwai Tang, Erdal Yalcin

On the basis of a pan-European survey conducted among senior purchasing managers of 200 large-sized multinationals, Martin Lockström identifies internal key success factors of companies sourcing in low-cost countries.

The latest best practice guidance on all aspects of global strategic sourcing-including environmental and international issues Strategic Global Sourcing Best Practices covers the latest trends and leading edge processes in global strategic sourcing, including supply management, t, sustainability, financial decisions, risk management, and international strategies. Offers the latest trends and guidance for sourcing and supply managers Features coverage of understanding sourcing, procurement and supply management, procurement and best business practices, best practices in sourcing management and global sourcing management, financial strategies for sourcing, responsible procurement,diversity procurement, managing risk, supplier selection, project management for procurement and supply managers, managing supplier relationships, international sourcing, managing supplier relationships supply management operations, With the rise of global supply chains, environmental/sustainability concerns, and constantly evolving technology, the time is right for understanding Strategic Global Sourcing Best Practices.

New post-9/11 government policies have affected the wayevery global importer must manage their supply chainprocesses. This book will help companies overcome theobstacles encountered when products cross internationalborders on their way to U.S. companies. It will aidprocurement and supply chain managers in establishingsuccessful ......

In today's times, more and more companies pursue global sourcing strategies in some form and to some extent. The most prominent reason for the increased interest in global sourcing is the idea to benefit from factor cost differences between sourcing regions. However, recent research indicates that cross-border sourcing is no panacea to generate cost savings. There are situations in which international sourcing does not lead to the intended price reductions or even causes expensive backsourcing activities. Accordingly, the ambiguous image of global sourcing is the point of departure for the dissertation at hand. Thus, the main purpose of this thesis is to explore how global sourcing can contribute to a firm’s purchasing performance. The results indicate that the accumulation of social capital between the buying organisation and its international suppliers can increase the sourcing success. However, given the limited amount of resources for those intimate buyer-supplier relationships, close partnerships cannot be maintained with all suppliers. Consequently, the research at hand points in the direction that global sourcing can be a means to increase the intensity of competition in supply markets, facilitating the pursuit of more adversarial relationships.

International business is undergoing continuous transformation as multinational firms and comparative management evolve in the changing global economy. To succeed in this challenging environment, firms need a well-developed capability for sound strategic decisions. This comprehensive work provides an applied and integrated strategic framework for developing capabilities that lead to global success. It is designed to help readers achieve three essential objectives. First, it provides intellectual and practical guidelines for readers to execute goals and strategies that lead to meaningful and productive results. The book is packed with frameworks, cases, anchoring exercises, techniques, and tools to help readers emerge with a completed business plan after the last chapter. Second, it focuses on strategy and how firms build competitive presence and advantages in a global context. A primary learning objective is to enable readers to understand and evaluate the major issues in strategy formulation and implementation in a global context. Third, it provides an accessible framework that will help guide readers in making strategic decisions that are sound and effective. It offers a unifying process that delineates the necessary steps in analyzing the readiness of a firm to do business abroad. In addition to core issues, each chapter presents frameworks, analytical tools, action-oriented items, and a real-world case - all designed to provide insights on the challenges imposed by globalization and technology on managers operating in a global context.