MANAGING THE INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC SOURCING PROCESS AS A MARKET-DRIVEN ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING-SYSTEM

This study examines the effects of market-driven organizational learni ng on a select set of strategic sourcing outcomes involving the sourci ng function of a Fortune 500 multinational corporation. The focus is o n the dyadic activities and relationships between the domestic and int ernational strategic business units (SBUs) and the corporate buying ce nter. The hypothesized relationships are tested on the overall sample and based on a two-by-two matrix framework defined by international ve rsus domestic settings and frequent versus infrequent sourcing scenari os, Based on a sample of 179 domestic and 167 international SBUs, the results suggest that market-driven organizational learning in the stra tegic sourcing units influences customer satisfaction, relationship co mmitment, and cycle time of the sourcing process. However, while the s et of learning orientations appears to be strategically robust across the four quadrant scenarios (moderator settings), the sourcing situati ons differ somewhat in the specific tactical learning orientations pre ferred.