An exploration of global sourcing in the New Zealand manufacturing industry – A case study analysis

Abstract

Global sourcing and its impact upon organisational competitiveness is an issue which has yet to be examined in the New Zealand context. The aim of this research project is to investigate the effect of global sourcing for manufacturing organisations in New Zealand. In order to generate raw data for the research, the global sourcing practices of ten manufacturing companies were studied. To further explore the impact of the use of global sourcing, factors such as the benefits and challenges which have arisen for manufacturing firms in New Zealand were examined. In addition, a comparison between global sourcing experiences of manufacturing firms in New Zealand and internationally was completed in order to provide further analysis. As a result of the analysis of the raw data which emerged from the global sourcing experiences of the participants, eight areas of improvement were identified. These recommendations are not a prescriptive guide to implementing a global sourcing programme, rather they are areas which can be used to improve the effectiveness of global sourcing in a manufacturing organisation in New Zealand.