Dr Robert Stolt

Sourcing in emerging markets: Particularities and challenges Dr Robert Stolt

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject Business economics - Supply, Production, Logistics, grade: 2,1, European Business School - International University Schloß Reichartshausen Oestrich-Winkel (SMI), 42 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Table of Contents List of Abbreviations i List of Figures and Tables ii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Problem Formulation and Objectives 1 1.2 Course of the Investigation 2 2 Characteristics of Sourcing 3 2.1 The Global Sourcing Theory 3 2.2 The Sourcing Process 4 3 Emerging Markets - Risks and Opportunities of Global Sourcing 7 4 Case Study in Global Sourcing - The Jungheinrich AG 11 Concluding Remarks and Outlook 13 Reference List 15 List of Appendixes 19 Appendix 20 Honourable Declaration 22 1 Introduction 1.1 Problem Formulation and Objectives Global sourcing or sourcing in emerging markets per se is becoming more and more influential, and is a crucial factor of success in many companies. Globalisation is certainly one of the most outstanding phenomena in our today's world. [...] Especially German companies are facing a multitude of obstacles in their domestic market: High salaries and non-wage labour costs, market saturation and elevated production costs, associated with rising product prices, as well as increasing market dynamism and competi-tiveness forcing the companies to constantly adapt to those changes. Many companies have thus seen an opportunity in global sourcing and moved to emerging market economies (EMEs) in the search for reducing their costs (Heakal, 2003). The foremost reason why those companies move to aspiring markets like China, India, South-East Asia, Eastern Europe or Latin America are the lower wholesale prices in those countries (Kalkowsky, 2006). However, most firms have a different approach to the sourc-ing process and consequently varying success amongst them. This study investigates the strategic challenges of German retail companies in conducting and balancing their