Essay: Effects of Global Sourcing on Supply Networks

Global sourcing makes supply networks longer and more complex, involving more partners (Christopher and Peck, 2004). Terrorism, diseases and natural disasters are possible risks arising from global sourcing (Peck and Ju ̈ttner, 2002; Christopher and Peck, 2004). Hence, several considerations related to supply countries and companies should be assessed; these include size and development level of the market, existence of required infrastructure, political characteristics, local demand, currency exchange risk, climate and weather patterns, language skills, management training, and cultural characteristics of the player in the market (Vestring et al., 2005).

Although there are several studies on global supply chain risk (e.g. Zheng et al., 2001; Zsidisin, 2003; Ju ̈ttner et al., 2003; Harland et al., 2003, Christopher and Lee, 2004; Christopher and Peck, 2004; Zsidisin et al., 2008; Manuj and Mentzer, 2008a; 2008b) and a smaller number of studies on supply risk (Markides and Berg, 1988; James, 1990; Fagan, 1991; Braithwaite, 2003; Fitzgerald, 2005; Trent and Monczka, 2005), research into the categorization of, and tools and strategies to mitigate global supply risk is scarce. The author aims to use the frameworks provided by Christopher and Peck (2004), Christopher (2005) and Manuj and Mentzer (2008a) as guides to help answer the following research questions.