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Navigating complexity in global sourcing : insights from technology providers
Fisscher, Stef (2025) Navigating complexity in global sourcing : insights from technology providers.
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| Abstract: | Global sourcing offers strategic benefits such as cost efficiency, innovation, and access to international supplier networks. At the same time, it introduces growing complexity through regulatory demands, fragmented data, and limited visibility across supply chains. This study investigates how digital technologies support organisations in managing this complexity, based on twelve expert interviews with technology solution providers. Using the ABCDE visibility framework, the study shows that sourcing complexity is closely tied to visibility challenges. A distinction is made between physical visibility, which relates to the traceability of goods, and informational visibility, which concerns the structure and accessibility of procurement and compliance data. Different technologies are needed to address these distinct gaps. An integrated theoretical framework combining the Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) model and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was applied to analyse how technological characteristics, organisational conditions, and environmental factors influence the effectiveness of technology in sourcing contexts. The findings show that sourcing complexity can only be effectively managed when technologies are selected based on the specific problem they are intended to solve. Organisations typically combine specialised tools that address concrete challenges such as ESG compliance, risk monitoring, or supplier data quality. These tools improve the quality, availability, and structure of sourcing information, enabling faster and more evidence-based decision-making in complex global environments. This study contributes by offering a structured explanation of how visibility gaps shape global sourcing complexity and how digital technologies can support targeted, adaptive responses. Technology does not remove complexity but enables organisations to manage it more effectively through improved transparency, informed decision-making, and better alignment with sourcing needs. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 85 business administration, organizational science |
| Programme: | Business Administration MSc (60644) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/107922 |
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