International purchasing offices: Literature review and research directions

International Purchasing Offices (IPOs) now play an increasingly important role in the management of international sourcing activities, both in developed and emerging economies. The relevance of this organisational solution and the relatively limited research that has been published so far in the P&SCM literature make the “IPO” topic particularly promising for future research. This paper – based on an analysis of 59 works published between 1991 and 2011 – provides the first comprehensive literature review and research agenda on this topic. The primary issues (i.e., IPO definition, activities, location choices, strengths, weaknesses, and human resources management) are identified, and a conceptual framework is proposed. Building on this analysis, some theoretical and methodological weaknesses of the existing works and some gaps in the literature are discussed. This work concludes by suggesting several future research directions.     

Using replication research for just-in-time purchasing construct development

Using replication research, the validity of the just-in-time purchasing (JITP) construct is established. Although empirical researchers have examined JITP over the last two decades, a consistent set of valid, reliable factors has not been used. The lack of valid construct is a barrier to hypotheses testing and meta-analyses on JITP. This study confirmed the validity of six JITP factors: top management commitment, employee relations, training, supplier quality management, transportation, and quantities delivered using two different data sets and testing the first- and second-order structure of the JITP construct. Content validity, reliability, unidimensionality, convergent validity, discriminant validity, criterion-related validity, and an invariant factorial structure of the JITP construct were empirically established.     

Analyzing the sourcing literature: Over two decades of research

Sourcing is an essential component of purchasing and supply chain management and has been extensively studied by academic researchers. A comprehensive scholarly literature review of sourcing was undertaken to provide guidance for future scholars through an in-depth review of past research. A total of twenty journals were selected, and 520 articles addressing sourcing topics were identified from 1995 to the present. The review process identified seven major sourcing categories within the literature. These included: strategic and relational, transactional/tactical, sourcing tools, global, sustainability, services, and new product development. Each of the seven sourcing categories is separately discussed by focusing on main themes, theories and methods. Findings indicated that strategic and transactional categories received the most attention from researchers. The area of sustainable sourcing has increased the most dramatically, while sourcing tools proved the most stable over the four time periods studied. Over 120 different theories were used to explain sourcing actions, with transaction cost economics being the most prominent. Surveys and quantitative modeling were the two most widely utilized research methods. Finally, conclusions to our findings are presented.     

An analysis of research into the future of purchasing and supply management

Business organisations are going through rapid external environmental and internal organisational changes due to increasing globalisation, E-business, and outsourcing. As a result, the future of purchasing and supply management—as a function within organisations, as a process that spans organisation boundaries and as a profession—raises important concerns for both organisations and the purchasing professional. This paper considers a broad and rather fragmented body of empirical evidence and analyses 42 relevant empirical studies on the future of purchasing and supply management. The major findings are reported in terms of changes in business contexts, purchasing strategy, structure, role and responsibility, system development and skills. Cross-sectional comparative analyses were also conducted to examine variation by sector, firm type, people's roles in purchasing, and country. A number of major implications for the purchasing function, process and professional bodies are presented together with suggestions for future research to address significant gaps in the current body of knowledge.     

50 Years of research on organizing the purchasing function: Do we need any more?

Research on organizing the purchasing function has seen the rise and fall of different topics, for example the buying centre. And although the increasingly strategic role of purchasing still possesses practical challenges to its effective organizational setup, one has to question whether, after 50 years, there really is a need for more research in this specific domain.As starting point to answer the question, 212 articles published since 1962 are reviewed to provide a comprehensive overview of existing insights. Via content analysis, we inductively establish 12 specific research areas dealing with distinct aspects of purchasing organization.Then the need for further research is assessed by combining those findings with relevant business trends that induce practical challenges in each research area and, consequently, also the need for future research. We conclude that almost all research areas will remain relevant in the future, but need an adjustment of their focus.     

The role of artificial intelligence in the procurement process: State of the art and research agenda

Artificial intelligence (AI) is widely adopted in many areas, but it is still in its infancy in procurement, despite its potential. To map the state of the art of both research and practice and identify future research directions, this paper presents a mixed methodology exploratory study of the role of AI in the procurement process. The paper combines a systematic literature review, a mapping of the offerings of providers of AI-based procurement platforms and a focus group with procurement managers. Results map the functionalities of AI-based solutions throughout the procurement process, describe benefits and challenges to their adoption and identify future research directions.     

Guest Editorial: A purchasing and supply management view of supply resilience for better crisis response

Purchasing and supply management (PSM) has been under great pressure since the COVID-19 pandemic first shook the world. Companies and public organizations faced new kinds of supply disruptions, and at a scale never seen before. New response abilities were required from PSM to address these challenges and disruptions. This Editorial introduces four articles in the Special Issue on “PSM learning from the pandemic: transforming for better crisis management.” These empirical contributions show how companies could build resilience to survive and be competitive during the COVID-19 pandemic. This Editorial discusses how supply resilience should be conceptualized in post-pandemic supply chains adopting a PSM perspective. We suggest that supply resilience practices should be developed and planned according to whether they strengthen existing supply chain relationships (bridging) or establish new ones (buffering) and whether they are short-term (temporary) or long-term (permanent) orientated. Furthermore, three supply resilience capabilities, absorbing, responding and capitalizing, should be prioritized in supply chains for responding to and recovering from global crises and disruptions. Supply resilience is key to crisis response and recovery, and PSM has an essential role in building and sustaining that resilience.     

Towards a spatial perspective: An integrative review of research on organisational space

Although the notion of space has gained considerable attention in organisation studies, it remains vague, and the respective literature is fragmented. In this paper, we review the empirical literature on organisational space with the aim of synthesising the findings of existing research and thereby facilitating the development of cumulative knowledge in this field. We highlight three dominant concepts that define space: boundaries, distance and movement. Furthermore, we identify four major spatial themes: the distribution of positions in space, the isolation of space, the differentiation of spaces and the intersection of distinct spaces. On that basis, we develop a comprehensive research framework and propose an agenda for future research on organisations from a spatial perspective.     

Levels of strategic purchasing: Impact on supply integration and performance

The growing importance of supply chain management has led to an increasing recognition of the strategic role of purchasing, which has recently evolved and expanded from “buying” to “procurement” and “supply management”. In this study, we chart our sample firms’ advance in strategic purchasing, characterized by the strategic focus, strategic involvement of the purchasing function and the status and visibility of the purchasing professionals, into three stages.This study provides strong empirical support for the importance of strategic purchasing by showing that, by moving towards the more advanced stages, firms at the nascent stage of strategic purchasing can achieve better supply integration, a second-order construct composed of four facets of relational, process, information, and cross-organizational team integration. Our analyses further reveal that strategic purchasing can have a profound impact on supply chain performance for both buyer and supplier firms.     

Forecasting in humanitarian operations: Literature review and research needs

Forecasting research in the humanitarian context is scarce. In this literature review, our goal is not only to show why forecasting research is important for the humanitarian sector, but also to identify what has been done so far, and where are the needs for further research. We conducted a structured literature search in Scopus, Web of Science, ABI Inform, and Google Scholar resulted in only 38 papers published between 1990 and 2018. Based on our findings we highlight three case studies as exemplary research in forecasting within the humanitarian context and list seven future research streams with specific research needs identified in each stream.     

How and when do purchasers successfully contribute to the implementation of circular purchasing: A comparative case-study

The transition towards a circular economy puts pressure on organizations to purchase in a circular manner. The aim of this research is to investigate the role, behaviors, and characteristics of purchasers in the circular purchasing process, and the contextual factors that influence circular purchasing. To address this aim, we interviewed purchasers, supervisors and policy makers of seven Dutch organizations. The results of the comparative case-study show that the main roles of the purchaser are those of coordinator, facilitator and advisor, and that the successful circular purchaser can best be described as intrapreneurial, sustainability-minded and knowledgeable about the circular economy. Purchasers are successful in implementing circular purchasing when they share responsibility with budget holders and when they are part of organizations that have processes in place to ensure the inclusion of circularity in their purchasing projects. The drivers that influence the success of circular purchasing can be described as creating a sense of direction and grasping the complexity of the circular economy. Furthermore, the market, organizational, legal, conceptual and cultural constraints that limit the success of circular purchasing were identified.     

Researching the future of purchasing and supply management: The purpose and potential of scenarios

Drawing on prior research, the value of scenario planning as a methodology for researching the future of purchasing and supply management (PSM) is explored. Using three criteria of research quality – rigour, originality and significance – it is shown how developing scenarios and analysing their implications present new, important research opportunities for PSM academics, practitioners, and leaders of the profession. Researching the future of PSM supports the identification of uncertainties and anticipates change across many units and levels of analysis of interest to PSM scholars and practitioners, such as the profession/discipline, markets/sectors, or organisations. Scenarios are particularly effective for: considering how the complex interaction of macro-environmental factors affects the PSM context; avoiding incremental thinking; surfacing assumptions and revealing significant blind spots. PSM research using scenarios aligns with Corley and Gioia's (2011) call for prescience-oriented research in which academics aim for more impactful research, enhancing sense-giving potential and theoretical relevance to practice, to better perform their adaptive role in society.     

品牌层次化构建对消费者购买行为的影响分析

市场经济发展和进化到了品牌经济阶段,品牌成为影响消费的重要因素。文章基于品牌将消费者群体进行划分,以动态视角分析品牌层次化构建对不同消费群体的消费特征和购买行为的影响,为进一步发展品牌经济提供参考。     

Subsidiary driven innovation within shifting MNC structures: Identifying new challenges and research directions

The multinational (MNC) is well established as an arena primed for the creation and sharing of innovations. Within this arena, the creation of innovations is borne from leveraging the unique knowledge and opportunities of its globally dispersed subsidiaries.     

购买法和权益联合法合并会计报表的特征比较及其选择

1999 年清华同方以股权交换方式吸收合并山东鲁颖电子公司,会计方法上使用的是权益结合法。之后,新潮实业、青岛双星、龙电股份等 9 家上市公司换股吸收合并非上市公司均采用了权益联合法。迄今为止,我国关于合并会计处理方法还没有最终形成企业并购具体会计准则,仅在1996 年财政部发布了《企业合并(征求意见稿)》。在实务中,主要参照1997年财政部颁布的《企业兼并有关会计处理问题暂行规定》、《合并会计报表暂行规定》和《关于执行具体会计准则和〈股份有限公司会计制度〉有关会计问题的解答》,在这些规定中隐含着企业购买法下的合并会计方法问题,一直没有涉及企业股权联合的问题。文章分析了企业合并的两种不同的会计处理方法:购买法和权益结合法引起的经济后果的差异,尤其结合我国现有经济环境,对《企业合并》会计准则制定中涉及的相关问题提出粗浅看法。