Global sourcing of Services: Strategies, Issues and Challenges

Abstract

The world has gone through three waves of sourcing and we are on the cusp of fourth wave. These waves appear to parallel agricultural, industrial, information/Internet, and now the cloud age. It is crucial to pay attention to client as well as vendor, micro as well as macro, practitioner as well as researcher, MNCs as well as SMEs, issues. Four aspects of global sourcing are: Why, What, Where and How. Both clients and vendors need to comprehend the seven primary stages in the global sourcing life cycle (GSLC). A Two-Stage model recommends that a client company ought to choose an appropriate country and then the best fit vendor within the chosen country. It is critical to manage effectively communication and coordination for a satisfying long term client-vendor relationship in a global souring project. It is important to understand and manage social capital in the context of global sourcing of manufacturing or services to get the best overall value from offshore sourcing engagement. A thoughtful reflection would suggest that global sourcing of manufacturing and services would reduce economic inequities in the world. When young minds are engaged in productive and satisfying endeavors, they can contribute to world peace and harmony and not be enticed by destructive forces.