Aligning Sourcing and procurement strategy to corporate strategy/strategic supplier selection analysis, Collaboration methods and mechanisms
INTRODUCTION
Organizations are operating in an environment characterized by continuous economic, social, natural and political disruptions to their sources of supplies and services/ consumers and markets. To survive in this turbulent and highly competitive market place, these organizations must continually monitor their competitive positions alongside their internally controllable functional strategies to ensure they are proactively aligned with the overall corporate strategy. To succeed therefore in this fact evolving global competitive business environment, an innovative business concept Supply Chain Management was introduced to help align the functional strategies with the overall business strategies and suppliers. During World War I and II, the success of a firm was not dependent on what it could sell, since the market was almost unlimited. Instead, the ability to obtain from suppliers the raw materials, suppliers and services needed to keep the factories and mines operating was the key determinant of organizational success. Consequently, attention was given to organization policies, strategies and procedures of the supply chain functions which resulted to activities termed logistics, souring, procurement, material management. By the open of 1970’s, organizations faced two most challenging problems: an international shortage of almost all basic raw materials needed to support operations and a rapid rate of price increase. These developments put the spotlight for their performance determined the success or failure of an organization. By the unfolding of 1990’s, it became obvious that organizations must have an efficient and effective supply chain strategy properly fitted into its overall cooperate strategy to complete