ArticlesInternational purchasing offices: Literature review and research directions
Introduction
Over the past several decades, international (or global) sourcing has been a major trend (Christopher et al., 2011, Jahns et al., 2006, Javalgi et al., 2009). Market globalisation, the increasing interdependence among world economies, the increasing international competition, the development of information and communication technologies, and the removal of international trade barriers have led many companies to source goods and services from outside their national borders (Arnold, 1999, Ellram et al., 2008, Kotabe and Murray, 1990). In recent years, this development has attracted increasing interest from both academic and managerial circles (Benito et al., 2013, Lahiri and Kedia, 2011).
Several studies (e.g., Trent and Monczka, 2003) have shown that the selection of appropriate entry modes for foreign supply markets is essential to manage the complexity of international sourcing activities, which is caused by cultural heterogeneities, the presence of multiple actors, relationships with different and distant interlocutors, and unfamiliar business rules and behaviours. A possible solution is the establishment of an International Purchasing Office (IPO). Since the 1990s, IPOs have been mentioned in a number of scientific works. References to IPOs are even more common in the non-academic literature.
Nevertheless, none of the literature reviews pertaining to topics such as “international sourcing”, “global operation”, “international supply chain management”, or “import activities” (e.g., Aykol et al., 2013, Burgess et al., 2006, Meixell and Gargeya, 2005, Quintens et al., 2006) have tackled IPOs. Therefore, there is a need to revisit and review the works published in the past 20 years on the “IPO” topic, which in our view, leave ample room for development.
The aim of this work is to develop the first systematic literature review on IPOs, identify major gaps in the literature, and provide suggestions for future studies.
This paper contributes to the study of purchasing and supply management (P&SCM) in the following ways: (1) it collects, systematises, and summarises the existing literature on IPOs; (2) it analyses the distribution of papers by adopted methodologies, underpinning theories, geographical areas analysed, and topics; (3) it identifies various thematic, theoretical, and methodological gaps; and (4) it provides a set of suggestions related to emerging issues.
This work is structured as follows. After a discussion of the relevance of the topic (Section 2) and a description of the methodological approach of this review (Section 3), there is a classification of the reviewed works (Section 4). Section 5 focuses on the primary research issues concerning IPOs. Finally, the paper identifies some methodological weaknesses and gaps in the literature and suggests specific research directions (Section 6).
Section snippets
The relevance of IPOs and international sourcing
The literature shows that today more than ever, international sourcing (IS) is considered to be a strategic opportunity to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage (e.g., Grandinetti et al., 2009, Hultman et al., 2012).
Data show the relevance of international sourcing growth of both merchandise and commercial services. The volume of world merchandise sourcing increased by 5% in 2011 and 3.7% annually, on average, from 2005 to 2011 (i.e., its increase was greater than the 2.3% annual growth
Literature review approach
To ensure rigour, objectivity, and transparency in the research process and to obtain replicable and valid results, we performed a systematic literature review following the methodology that has been proposed by Rousseau et al. (2008) and Tranfield et al. (2003).
The general aim of a literature review is to give a critical overview of the existing knowledge in a field of enquiry; its format and scope may vary from discipline to discipline, from topic to topic, and even from research question to
Descriptive findings
In this section, we present some descriptive analyses of the reviewed works: distribution of the works by adopted methodologies, underpinning theories, geographical areas involved, and main research topics.
The most common adopted methodology in the scientific works is the case study (52%). This can be partially justified by the fact that the topic is at an early stage of research. Among the six available surveys, only two have used samples in which it was possible to isolate empirical evidence
Thematic findings
This section presents the six research themes identified in the literature review.
Agenda for future IPO research
The extensive review and synthesis of the IPO literature (presented in 4 Descriptive findings, 5 Thematic findings) allows us to highlight some methodological weaknesses and gaps in the research on the IPO topic. First, the theoretical foundations of IPO literature are lacking. We have shown that only six (out of 25) scientific papers are built on existing theories. Second, the IPO research tends to be affected by problems of methodological rigour. The research protocol (e.g., sample selection
Conclusions
The establishment of bridgeheads in foreign supply regions seems to be an essential step in the internationalisation path of firms. In the last decade, the creation of International Purchasing Offices has become one of the strategies most frequently adopted for managing international sourcing activities (Monczka et al., 2008).
This paper reported on the state of the literature about this organisational solution. We collected 59 contributions published in academic journals (25), practitioner
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