Organisational Approaches to Managing International Sourcing

Abstract

Analysis of the organisational structures utilised to conduct international purchasing activities was undertaken at 24 multinational corporations. The majority of the corporations studied had decentralised purchasing organisations and all had corporate purchasing staffs. Four basic approaches were found: (1) totally decentralised; (2) co‐ordinated; (3) totally centralised; and (4) separate international purchasing group. Within this overall framework there were several forms of staff assistance to assist operating units effectively accomplish their international purchasing goals. This assistance included foreign buying offices, trading companies and international staff specialists. There was also a common philosophy which indicated the necessity of worldwide sourcing.