پیگیری هم افزایی خرید جهانی

The pursuit of synergy is generally considered an important strategic thrust. In multiplant and multinational corporations, the quest for global efficiency and effectiveness has led to increased centralization and coordination of the purchasing function. The centralization–decentralization issue is debated at length in the purchasing literature as well as in the marketing and strategic marketing literature. However, most authors limit their discussion to arguments in favor of or against centralization and to criteria to select a suitable approach. Insights into the process of achieving global purchasing synergy as well as specific managerial guidelines are lacking. This article aims to bridge the gap between the literature stressing the need for achieving purchasing synergy on the one hand and specific implementation guidelines for managers on the other hand. In order to do so, we link the process aspects of global supply coordination to satisfaction levels experienced at both headquarter and plant level. As a result, managerial implications to successfully tap global purchasing synergy are formulated.

In today's highly volatile and hypercompetitive global markets, achieving and sustaining competitive advantage necessitate not only the creation of superior customer value [1] but also the continuous pursuit of operational effectiveness [2]. Further, it has been argued at length in the strategy literature 2 and 3 that complementarities in resources and activities are the underlying conditions for achieving these targets. Complementarities—resulting in synergy—are therefore often considered as the “holy grail” of business strategy. However, the clarity of the recommendations of extant strategy research is obscured by problems when implementing these in practice. Many seek synergy but few actually discover it 4 and 5. This article focuses on global purchasing synergy. Given the rising role of purchasing in companies' corporate strategies 6 and 7 and cost structures 8 and 9, attention to the creation of synergy in this function is warranted. This is the more true because of the lack of scientific literature on the subject [6]. Also, global business-to-business marketers should be interested in the subject. In fact, the success of their customers' globalization efforts determines largely the success of their suppliers' global marketing strategies. This article focuses on gaining insight into the process aspects of purchasing synergy programs. Indeed, recommendations emerging from the strategy literature have prompted many firms at pursuing “horizontal strategies,” that is, “a coordinated set of goals and policies across distinct but interrelated business units” [10]. In this article, we specifically focus on the process of implementing such an approach. We do not look for performance implications per se. Rather, we are interested in measuring the overall quality and performance of the process of implementing horizontal strategies. Moreover, we are looking to extract specific managerial guidelines by studying these process aspects. Based on the previous arguments, we formulate the following research question: “what process issues are key in global purchasing synergy efforts?”1 The article proceeds along the following outline. First, we briefly review the literature on this subject. Second, two real-life examples illustrate our problem statement and introduce our main empirical research on the processes of implementing global supply coordination. Third, the applied research methodology is described. We then discuss our major findings and finally extract managerial guidelines for a successful implementation process.

This study shows support for what Bartlett and Ghoshal [36] have labeled the “emerging change process” (p. 485). Rather than starting with changing formal structure and responsibilities (anatomy), followed by changes in interpersonal relationships and process (physiology) and changes in individual attitudes and mentalities (psychology), effective organizational change aimed at tapping global purchasing synergies, seems to require changes in psychology and physiology first. This way the change process “is much less organizationally traumatic and therefore less likely to result in major problems or even outright rejection” (p. 486). Further, our recommendations for achieving global supply synergies (coordination is built step by step, confidence building measures and communication and trustworthiness and supplier relations) are also supportive for findings of the Brown and Eisenhardt study on organizational change processes in highly volatile environments [41]. They explicitly state that “organizations must be grown, not assembled at a single point in time” and emphasize the importance of low-cost experiments for successful change programs. Further, successful organizations are characterized by what the authors call “semistructures”; within such structures, managers combine clear responsibilities and priorities with extensive communication and freedom. These semistructures are “sufficiently rigid so that change can be organized to happen, but not so rigid that it cannot occur” [41]. Tapping synergies by global purchasing coordination can be a strategic contribution of the supply function to a company's creation of competitive advantage and shareholder value. Many companies set up regional or global purchasing projects. Yet, it does not seem to be all that simple to realize the benefits discussed in the literature. In this article, a preliminary list of process requirements was suggested. As these are based on qualitative research, there are evident limitations to this study. As mentioned before, in this article we are particularly interested in process aspects of coordination efforts and strategies. Consequently, we overlooked other aspects of global purchasing synergies. Future research will have to accommodate for differences in purchasing context and corporate culture. Therefore, our study and guidelines should be considered more as propositions and invitations to further research than as definite prescriptions. Further research can focus on corroborating these guidelines. Of particular interest might be the use of empirical data on performance improvements and link these to different approaches for realizing global purchasing synergies. That way, longitudinal data might help test hypotheses. We could not aim at this objective because of the nature of our data and because other longitudinal studies [42] have demonstrated that the span of time for data collection is not fixed but firm-specific. This would inevitably have led to arbitrary choices of cases that hinder theoretical development in the field [38]. Finally, in testing hypotheses, the researchers must be able to control for other influences. In our research, this would have meant that we would have had to test under which conditions (such as corporate culture, industry context, management style, competitive strategies) coordination of purchasing activities is likely to be successful. Our process perspective was in contradiction to such a research approach. Notwithstanding the limitations of our methodology, we feel confident that our findings suggest interesting points to ambitious global purchasing coordinators. Also, industrial marketers should reflect on the impact of their clients' global purchasing projects on their business. In some instances, a real global supplier might judge it can reach a competitive advantage over local or regional competitors. Consequently, it could think of helping its customers in tapping their global purchasing synergy potential. Account managers might for instance stimulate the customer's unwilling affiliates to participate in the global agreement, help the coordinator show and communicate results and help the customer choose a first “easy to realize” project. Global account managers can find the necessary global purchasing synergy knowledge from their own purchasing coordinators or from “experienced” customers. As a customer service, knowledge can be transferred to key customers facing troubles in their synergy endeavors. Creating strong bonds with purchasing coordinators might also be necessary in such instances, thus effectively creating a “double-sided” global competitive advantage. A global marketing approach, no matter how brilliant, will fail if not addressed to customers sensitive to and ready for it.