How to manage corporate purchasing synergy in a decentralised company? : towards design rules for managing and organising purchasing synergy in decentralised companies

Abstract More and more organisations are showing interest in how purchasing strategy and structures may support their overall business strategies. More and more, therefore, the question prevails how to get organised at a corporate level to capture the potential purchasing synergies. The challenge is to generate knowledge regarding how to structure and manage effectively purchasing synergies between business units. This paper deals with the concept of purchasing synergy or more specifically: the management of value-adding linkages in the area of purchasing between different business units in a multi-business company. It summarises the intermediate results from Ph.D. research currently conducted at Eindhoven University of Technology. Based on the findings derived from in-depth case studies at three large multinational companies, we propose a model, which may support management by formulating the right strategy and designing the right structure aimed at capturing the potential synergies.