Global Organizational Design in Purchasing and Supply Management: Headquarters and Subsidiaries in a Contingency Perspective

Abstract

AbstractGlobal sourcing strategy has become one of the most important topics for multinational corporations (MNCs) to cope with the increasing global competition. Although the topic has been advanced in theory, many MNCs still have difficulties in implementing a global sourcing strategy. Designing an efficient organizational structure for global sourcing is essential in order for strategies to be successful. Thus far, extant research has mainly focused on organizational design from the headquarters’ perspective. Based on an analysis of integrative mechanisms and sourcing-related contextual factors, this study aims to identify how contextual factors influence the global sourcing organizational design of centralized organizations at both the subsidiary and headquarter levels. A case study was conducted with nine cases in one MNC: the findings indicate a high importance of contextual factors for the configuration of organizational design. This study addresses the headquarters and subsidiary levels and analyzes the implementation of theoretical concepts. The derived propositions help managers to clearly understand contextual factors and effectively respond to environmental and internal issues with specific organizational design choices.KeywordsSupply Chain ManagementOrganizational DesignMultinational CorporationBusiness UnitInformation Management SystemThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.