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Paper info: Organising the Purchasing Function as anInterface between Internal and External Networks

Title


Organising the Purchasing Function as anInterface between Internal and External Networks

Authors


Anna Dubois
Chalmers University of Technology
Sweden
Anna Dubois and
Finn Wynstra
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Netherlands
Finn Wynstra

Place of Publication


The paper was published at the 21st IMP-conference in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 2005.

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Abstract


During recent years, increasing specialisation and complex market structures have made companiesdivide their purchasing functions into several organisational units to cope with increasingly diversifieddemands on linking the internal operations within the firm with operations at their suppliers. In thispaper, we focus on organising of the purchasing function as an interface between internal and externalcounterparts. We suggest a framework focusing on how the purchasing function works as an interfacebetween the firm’s suppliers and (other) firm internal functions, such as production, productdevelopment and marketing. The framework builds on two dimensions; one that describes how thepurchasing function of a firm relates to other internal functions and one describing how it relates tosuppliers. The purchasing situations described by the framework are illustrated with some examples.Also, the ways in which the organising principles can be aligned to purchasing strategies arediscussed. We conclude with some possible avenues for further research to explore the insights theframework may generate.Key words: purchasing function, organisational interfaces, purchasing strategy