Matthyssens, Paul

Pauwels, Pieter

Quintens, Lieven

English

Research Papers in Economics

Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management 12 (2006) 167–169
Guest Editorial
The global purchasing challenge: A look back and a look ahead
1. Introduction
Despite the critical and still increasing importance
of purchasing in a majority of globalizing industries,
international purchasing remains a neglected research ﬁeld.
To date, it is largely unclear how the international context
impacts on purchasing internationalization and organiza-
tion, and how international purchasing brings return to the
company. The aim of this special issue is to compile state-
of-the-art research on the topic of global (international)
purchasing. In this guest editorial, we look back at the
roots of the ﬁeld and look forward to the contributions in
this special issue.
2. Looking back
Global purchasing is a young research topic. It has
grown out of three main ﬁelds: international business,
marketing management and purchasing and supply man-
agement. Each of these research streams has inﬂuenced and
shaped the global purchasing literature.
2.1. International business
Global purchasing emerged gradually since the early
seventies when potential advantages of purchasing abroad
were noticed from an international business point of view.
Leontiades (1971) discussed the use of ‘satellite plants’.
These are foreign subsidiaries of multinational ﬁrms
founded in foreign countries because of low-cost produc-
tion and seen as a special form of global purchasing. Leff
(1974) indicated that such a shift towards production in
less developed countries was due to the ability of these
countries to export products at competitive prices, which
could be used to serve the American market. Buckley and
Pearce (1979) presented four types of variables to describe
an international sourcing policy: the degree of multi-
nationality of production, the degree of multinationality of
sales, the export behavior and two sourcing output ratios.
Finally, Heﬂer (1981) put forward three types of global
purchasing based on the ownership of the supplying plant:
from arm’s length over joint venture to fully owned plant.
In the international business literature global purchasing
is thus seen as a special case within internationalization
where it is used as a tool to achieve better positions against
competition. Global purchasing is examined mainly from a
multinational point of view. Although, global purchasing is
seen as the accumulation of all the purchases abroad, there
is a strong tendency to focus on international intra-ﬁrm
purchasing. Such intra-ﬁrm purchasing includes a major
part of international trade. The United Nations indicate
that about one-third of world trade, and as a consequence
also of global purchasing, is indeed intra-ﬁrm trade
(Kotabe and Murray, 2004).
2.2. Marketing management
Starting from the publication of Kotler and Levy’s
(1973) seminal article ‘Buying is marketing too!’ the
purchasing function has also been approached from a
marketing point of view. This marketing point of view
assumes that companies could beneﬁt in terms of (inter-
national) sales increase if they have a thorough understanding
of the purchasing practices of their industrial customers.
Three points of attention dominate this marketing
perspective. First, there is a tendency to focus heavily on
buyer–supplier relationships in an international context.
Although, the relationship in the dyad is mainly seen from
a supplier perspective (e.g., Haugland, 1999; Leonidou and
Katsikeas, 1996), a growing number of articles look at the
dyad from the buyer perspective as well (Katsikeas and
Kaleka, 1999; Andersen and Buvik, 2001; Buvik and
Andersen, 2002). Andersen and Christensen (2005) identify
a typology of subcontractor roles in global production
networks. Secondly, various authors focus on pure import,
so without a manufacturing component (Katsikeas and
Al-Khalifa, 1993; Katsikeas and Dalgic, 1995; Skarmeas
et al., 2002). Finally, a somewhat distinct research stream that
is also closely linked to international business deals with the
inward–outward nexus of international knowledge trans-
fers within a company. The core idea in this intertwined
nexus is that global purchasing and global marketing
within a company are linked (Korhonen et al., 1996;
Karlsen et al., 2003). Welch and Luostarinen (1993) suggest
that inward internationalization (global purchasing) might
precede the outward internationalization (global market-
ing) as companies buy products from foreign suppliers.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
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doi:10.1016/j.pursup.2006.10.0052.3. Purchasing
Global purchasing is considered as a special case of
purchasing management. Per se, global purchasing is not
different from local purchasing (Carter and Narasimhan,
1990). A thorough search for goods and services is believed
to enhance the competitive position of the company and to
improve its functioning. Already in the 1970s, Davis et al.
(1974) derived seven points of attention that have to be
taken into consideration when the decision between a local
and a global supplier is to be taken. Overall, this third
stream of literature brings two major messages. The ﬁrst is
the role of global purchasing in creating competitive
advantage. As such, several studies are to be considered
strategy papers (Carter and Narasimhan, 1990; Alguire
et al., 1994; Arnold, 1999), or strategy process papers
(Arnold, 1989; Bozarth et al., 1998). The second message is
that (global) purchasing is part of a large international
supply chain and actions of global purchasing should be
considered in a broad perspective of total cost of owner-
ship. Issues such as logistical problems and costs (Min and
Galle, 1991; Zeng and Rosetti, 2003) and the relationship
between global purchasing and just-in-time (Das and
Handﬁeld, 1997) have been covered well in this respect.
Without doubt, these three research ﬁelds have substan-
tially contributed to the knowledge creation on global
purchasing. By focusing on the multinational character of
many ﬁrms, the special relationship between marketing and
purchasing and the role of purchasing in the supply chain,
insights on why companies engage in global purchasing
have expanded signiﬁcantly. These studies give an answer
to the question why and how ﬁrms purchase abroad, even
though it is generally seen as a more complex and a more
risky undertaking. Unfortunately, a true multidisciplinary
perspective is currently lacking since references to the other
research ﬁelds are currently rather exceptional.
3. A look ahead
In this special issue, all ﬁve articles pay attention to
future paths for global purchasing research. The opening
article ‘‘Global purchasing: State of the art and research
directions’’, written by the guest editorial team, brings an
overview of the global purchasing literature. The ante-
cedents, drivers, success factors and performance outcomes
are described and an emphasis is laid on the process of
global purchasing. The article furthermore identiﬁes
challenges for future global purchasing research. The
second article ‘‘The purchasing market entry process—A
study of 10 Swedish industrial small and medium sized
enterprises’’ by Henrik Agndal focuses on the process of
international purchasing by SMEs. The author zooms in
on how SMEs enter new international purchasing markets
and how this engagement evolves over time in particular
patterns. Therefore, he builds on the outward-inward
internationalization analogy and on a dynamic and
network view of (purchasing) internationalization. This
case-based study shows that Swedish SME managers are
rather reluctant to source abroad, that their attitude is
rather reactive and with a preference for closer markets.
Invitations for future research are apparent as this paper
formulates doubts on the applicability of the internationa-
lization process model (Johanson and Vahlne, 1990) in the
context of purchasing. In the third article ‘‘Organizing
international supplier relations: an exploratory study of
Western purchasing in China’’, Asta Salmi addresses the
experiences of Finnish-based companies that are purchas-
ing in China. In this case-based study, companies stress the
importance of having a long-term perspective on sourcing
in China. This is speciﬁcally necessary for gaining trust. In
fact, frequent information exchanges and intensive com-
munication backed by a tight personal relation are critical
to overcoming entry problems. This study shows the
importance of thorough knowledge on the relationship
with foreign suppliers. The fourth article ‘‘Managing the
global supply base through purchasing portfolio manage-
ment’’ by Kees Gelderman and Janjaap Semeijn illustrates
the importance of developing and sharing knowledge in
multinationals with a focus on purchasing and supply
management. The authors describe how in a chemical
company the buying approaches for different afﬁliates are
managed and streamlined. The key tool here is Kraljic’s
portfolio matrix, which compares the purchasing positions
of thirty plants worldwide in cooperation with head-
quarters, R&D and ﬁnance. The company also coordinates
three recognized buying roles for its afﬁliates lead, main
and local buying. Their ﬁndings urge for more research on
the gap between intended and achieved purchasing
behavior and the relation with performance. The ﬁnal
article of this special issue ‘‘Offshoring: dimensions and
diffusion of a new business concept’’ by Christopher Jahns,
Evi Hartmann and Lydia Bals is conceptual. It brings
clarity in the terminological jungle regarding the offshoring
phenomenon. The authors propose a typology and describe
drivers for offshoring. Jahns and his colleagues seek
explanations for the phenomenon from three managerial
perspectives: transaction cost economics, the resource-
based view, and the market-based view of the ﬁrm. The
paper does not only offer conceptual clarity to researchers,
it also invites for future research, in particular on the
relationship between offshoring and core competencies.
In sum, these ﬁve papers highlight various points of
attention within global purchasing literature. Although, we
do not claim to cover every single aspect of global
purchasing, these papers offer a good representation of
major research themes, including internationalization,
knowledge creation, relationships and terminological
clearance. For each of these themes, particular foci are
developed and, on their turn, they generate even more
dedicated questions. The articles in this special issue all
indicate that global purchasing research is in full develop-
ment and global purchasing research would signiﬁcantly
beneﬁt from more dedicated yet thorough conceptual and
analytical contributions.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Guest Editorial / Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management 12 (2006) 167–169 168References
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Paul Matthyssens
Antwerp University, Belgium
Erasmus University, The Netherlands
E-mail address: paul.matthyssens@ua.ac.be
Pieter Pauwels
Maastricht University, The Netherlands
Lieven Quintens
Maastricht University, The Netherlands
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Guest Editorial / Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management 12 (2006) 167–169 169

The global purchasing challenge: A look back and a look ahead.

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The global purchasing challenge: A look back and a look ahead.

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