Janet Y. Murray, Masaaki Kotabe, Stanford A. Westjohn, (2009). Global Sourcing Strategy and Performance of Knowledge-Intensive Business Services: A Two-Stage Strategic Fit Model. Journal of International Marketing: Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 90-105.
doi: 10.1509/jimk.17.4.90

Global Sourcing Strategy and Performance of Knowledge-Intensive Business Services: A Two-Stage Strategic Fit Model

Janet Y. Murray, 1

1E. Desmond Lee Professor for Developing Women Leaders and Entrepreneurs in International Business and Professor of Marketing, College of Business Administration, University of Missouri-St. Louis.


Janet Y. Murray is E. Desmond Lee Professor for Developing Women Leaders and Entrepreneurs in International Business and Professor of Marketing at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Her research interests focus on global sourcing and international marketing strategies, international strategic alliances, learning and knowledge transfer, and competitive strategy in transitional economies. As a recipient of four Best Paper Awards, her research has appeared in journals such as Journal of Marketing, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Business Research, Journal of International Marketing, Journal of World Business, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research, Management International Review, International Marketing Review, and others. She serves on the editorial review boards for Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of International Marketing, Journal of International Management, and others. She is serving a two-year term (July 2009–June 2011) as the president of the Women of the Academy of International Business (WAIB).

Masaaki Kotabe, 2

2Washburn Chair Professorship in International Business and Marketing, Fox School of Business, Temple University.


Masaaki Kotabe holds the Washburn Chair Professorship in International Business and Marketing in the Fox School of Business at Temple University. He has written more than 100 scholarly publications, including the books Global Sourcing Strategy: R&D, Manufacturing, Marketing Interfaces (1992), Anticompetitive Practices in Japan (1996), Global Supply Chain Management (2006), and Global Marketing Management (2008, 4th ed).

Stanford A. Westjohn3

3Assistant Professor of Marketing and International Business, College of Business, University of Toledo.


Stanford A. Westjohn is Assistant Professor of Marketing and International Business in the College of Business at the University of Toledo. He holds a doctorate in international business and marketing from Saint Louis University. His research has been published in Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of International Marketing, and International Marketing Review.



Abstract

This research contributes to the understanding of global sourcing strategy of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBSs) by offering an explanation for the differential performance among firms, even when they use similar global sourcing strategies. Using a systems integrator as the sourcing firm's perspective, the authors argue that complex KIBSs involve a complicated mixture of interfaces in that the performance of an individual KIBS is insufficient in defining the overall performance of the integrated KIBS system. The theoretical framework uses a two-stage strategic fit model that emphasizes the conditions under which global sourcing of KIBSs influences performance. Firms that strategically coalign sourcing strategy with KIBS attributes for each KIBS activity should perform more effectively than firms that lack such a coalignment. After selecting an appropriate sourcing strategy, the firm's dynamic capabilities (i.e., absorptive capacity and integration capability) may accentuate or attenuate the performance of the strategy at the integrated KIBS system level. Thus, although managers may be tempted to source KIBSs globally to reduce labor costs, they must examine both the KIBS attributes and the firm's dynamic capabilities.

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