The possibility of applying the philosophy of sufficiency economy in organizational purchasing

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to explore the possibility of applying the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy in purchasing of the organizations. The Sufficiency Economy Philosophy is initiated by His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. The philosophy reflecting the principle of Thai culture is a method of development on the three foundations of moderation, reasonableness, and self-immunity. These three bases are performed with the provision of knowledge and integrity as well as the intelligence and perseverance leading to the true happiness or progress of the organization. The philosophy has been increasingly recognized. Thailand’s Eleventh National Economic and Social Development Plan (2012–2016) has included this philosophy as a guideline for private and public sectors. Noticeably, there are many studies and research on the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy in various areas including individual levels, public and private sector levels. Purchasing as a strategic sourcing contributes a great deal in the organizations. Strategic sourcing emphasizes the four elements of strategic orientation, cross-functional team, process-driven approach, and supply base management. Purchasing is one of the most important logistics activities, as an original upstream function of the supply chains. In addition, it is also closely related to other logistics activities such as transportation, customer service, etc. Literatures reveal several actions and strategies in purchasing that are consistent with the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy. In spite of several research on this philosophy, there is a limited number of studies focused mainly on the application in organizational purchasing. Therefore, these provide a good venue for this research. This research investigates how organizations can use the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy in purchasing activities. As for the methodology, firstly the researcher reviews the literatures from books, articles, and research on the ‘Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy’, strategic sourcing and sustainable sourcing in order to analyze the linkage of the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy and purchasing. Secondly, document analysis is used as a qualitative research method, which the documents such as the annual reports of the companies that adopt the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy are investigated to evidence such a linkage. The finding section proposes the conceptual model for purchasing based on the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy. The model expects that the three foundations and the two conditions of the philosophy can be applied with organizational purchasing. Finally, further research directions and limitations are discussed.