مدیریت پایه عرضه جهانی از طریق مدیریت پرتفولیوی خرید

‘How to source globally’ has become a critical strategic decision for companies competing on a global basis. Despite an increased focus on global sourcing and supply chain management, little is known about the challenges and solutions surrounding such sourcing practices. Extant literature points at the critical importance of developing and sharing knowledge in multinational companies (MNCs). However, little work has been undertaken to examine the organizational mechanisms used by MNC headquarters for knowledge leveraging across subsidiaries, especially in the area of purchasing and supply management. Based on an in-depth case study, focusing on a chemical company, the actual buying systems for managing the global supply base are explored. Kraljic's purchasing portfolio approach appears useful, both for developing effective purchasing strategies as well as for managing a global supply base.

Global sourcing was identified as a field of interest for practitioners and as a separate research topic in the late 1980s (Kotabe and Omura, 1989). The catalyst for global sourcing has been the worldwide competitive pressure forcing firms to reduce costs and to improve quality and responsiveness (Birou and Fawcett, 1993). According to many authors (e.g. Womack and Jones, 1996) the ability to move production and sourcing around the globe is a key source of competitive advantage. However, it should be noted that for instance Mol (2002) could not find empirical evidence for a direct relation between global sourcing and economic performance. Nevertheless, many firms are striving for higher levels of global sourcing, although different researchers (e.g. Mol, 2002; Trent and Monczka, 2003) argue that the actual degree of real global sourcing is relatively low. Real global sourcing refers to the integration and coordination of procurement requirements across worldwide business units (Monczka and Trent, 1991; Rozemeijer, 2000; Faes et al., 2000) and with other functional groups, particularly R&D, manufacturing and marketing, within business units (Kotabe, 1992; Trent and Monczka, 2003). We will refer to these coordination issues as external and internal interfaces, respectively. Especially the larger, multinational firms are engaged in global sourcing (e.g. Bozarth et al, 1998). These firms are more likely to have worldwide production facilities, design centres, and marketing and sales activities (Trent and Monczka, 2003). However, the integration and coordination of procurement requirements across business units (external interfaces) is challenging and difficult to master (e.g. Rozemeijer et al., 2003). The same can be said about the internal interfaces within individual business units. Close cooperation inside the firm between purchasing and other departments is needed to facilitate foreign outsourcing (Mol et al., 2004; Quintens et al., 2006). To achieve maximum procurement benefit, firms often have to challenge entrenched systems and behaviours that work against collaborative efforts between and within business units ( Ohmae, 1989; Kotabe, 1992). This context raises a variety of questions concerning the nature, the organization and the impact of global sourcing. How to source globally and how to manage a global supply base (i.e. how to develop effective business relationships with suppliers who are located worldwide) have become critical competences (cf. Kotabe and Murray, 2004). Managing suppliers form a wide range of countries implies operational complexity ( Mol et al., 2004) and relatively high learning cost on how to manage intercultural relationships ( Andersen and Buvik, 2001). The critical importance of developing and sharing knowledge in multinational companies (MNCs) has been acknowledged by many researchers (e.g. Adenfelt and Lagerström, 2006; Buckley and Carter, 2004). A related topic is the selection and impact of different control mechanisms on knowledge development and sharing in MNC subsidiaries (e.g. Ghoshal and Bartlett, 1988). We agree with Adenfelt and Lagerström (2006) that little attention has been devoted to examining the organizational mechanisms used by MNC headquarters for knowledge leveraging across subsidiaries. Foss and Pedersen (2004, p. 341) stressed as well, that little work has been undertaken on “how MNC managers could orchestrate knowledge processes by means of designing and implementing mechanisms of organizational control”. Research findings indicate that successful supply chain management requires the effective and efficient management of a portfolio of relationships (e.g. Bensaou, 1999; Frohlich and Westbrook, 2001). Portfolio models are widely used for management problems in various fields and disciplines, including the management of buyer–supplier relationships. The basic idea is the simplification of a complex problem. A portfolio model is “a tool that combines two or more dimensions into a set of heterogeneous categories for which different (strategic) recommendations are provided” ( Gelderman and Van Weele, 2003). Evidence from practice (e.g. Gelderman and Van Weele, 2005) supports the use of portfolio models in international settings, while its coverage in the literature is still limited. Research on the development and sharing of knowledge in the area of purchasing and supply management has been limited. Our study explores the case of an MNC where headquarters share knowledge and expertise using a purchasing portfolio approach for the development of differentiated purchasing and supplier strategies. The organization of the paper is as follows. First, we will discuss the issues, concerned with organizing for global sourcing and knowledge development and sharing in MNCs, and give a brief overview of the Kraljic portfolio approach (Section 2). In Section 3, we will present the case study design and the case company. The results of the case study are presented in Section 4. Section 5 relates the findings to the literature, while 6 and 7 provide the implications, limitations and suggestions for further research, respectively.

The success of multinational corporations (MNCs) is considered to be contingent upon the ease and speed by which knowledge is disseminated throughout the organization (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1989). The dominant conceptualization of the MNC in current research is based on knowledge-based theories of the firm (Tallman, 2003), which considers the MNC as a knowledge sharing network (Foss and Pedersen, 2004). Narasimhan and Carter (1990) suggest that more information is passed through and more knowledge creation will take place in companies where the purchasing department is well integrated with other parts of the firm. Mol et al. (2004) found that the extent of integration between purchasing and other departments is positively associated with the degree and the scope of international outsourcing. Akzo Nobel Decorative Coatings is an example of a multinational business unit in which the portfolio technique is integrated into the daily practice of purchasing and supply management. The technique appears to provide a ready communication tool for headquarters to infuse the organization with learning and leadership (Hult et al., 2000). Directed by headquarters, with R&D and financial inputs, similar and comparable portfolio analyses are performed by 30 plants worldwide. These 30 affiliates supposedly understand their own local markets. The portfolio analyses are carried out according to strict guidelines. Targets are set based on the outcomes of the portfolio analyses. Apart from the lead buying system, the coordination of procurement is rather limited (see Table 2). Our findings cast doubt on the effectiveness of the organizational settings which were chosen by the case company. As suggested by Quintens et al. (2005), it is difficult to assess the effectiveness of coordination mechanisms and organizational learning. The required portfolio analyses, performed by the local plants in accordance with the set guidelines appear to have stimulated the organizational learning of the affiliates (Hult et al., 2000). The impact on coordination, however, is less evident. The study shows that the portfolio tool forces cross-functional teamwork, which improves the internal coordination within business units, but not across business units. The pursuit of integration and coordination of procurement across worldwide business units is commendable. The daily reality of global purchasing in a MNC shows considerable resistance to giving up autonomy. A critical challenge would be to get the autonomous business units to collaborate more in the area of purchasing and global sourcing.