Rethinking Procurement in the Era of Globalization

The role of procurement within global companies has changed dramatically over the past 25 years from that of simply buying goods and services to overseeing an integrated set of management functions. This brings new challenges and opportunities to procurement. Offshoring and the increased emphasis on specialization and fragmentation of production enhance the strategic character of procurement decisions. Increasingly, procurement decisions have become intertwined with strategic management in general. In this article, the authors discuss the changes in procurement from the perspective of transaction cost economics. They separate transaction costs into “soft” and “hard” costs and differentiate between the internal and external factors that affect these costs. In making procurement decisions, the authors argue, managers need to consider the full range of cost elements. In addition to traditional transaction costs such as transport costs and tariffs, managers need to recognize such elements as cultural and legal differences, government regulation, social preferences, environmental issues, political stability and risks involved in unethical business behavior. The authors argue that knowing the risks and opportunities of the different exposures is a critical management competence. Although management decisions originate in many different parts of the company, procurement managers need to keep a close eye on the various cost exposures and flag concerns as they arise. Procurement, therefore, will need to become more closely connected with strategic decisions throughout the company. This broader view represents a major extension of the concept of total cost of ownership in procurement decisions. Global sourcing creates many new opportunities for value creation, which well-run companies must learn to take advantage of.