Organization of global sourcing: ways towards an optimal degree of centralization

Abstract Global sourcing is one of the most discussed aspects of supply chain management. Previous research in the field of purchasing focused on the strategic aspects of “going international”. In this paper, we want to concentrate on structural aspects of global sourcing, especially the degree of centralization of the global souring organization. Therefore, we use a combined theoretical and empirical methodology (case studies). This leads to three ideal organizational types for global sourcing which are described in detail.