Title
Future prospects of the Low Cost Country sourcing strategy: A case study analysis of the critical uncertainties within: Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and the Netherlands
Author
Berben, W.
Contributor
Geenhuizen, M. (mentor)
Faculty
Technology, Policy and Management
Department
Economics of Innovation
Programme
Management of Technology
Date
2011-08-22
Abstract
The current globalized world continuously increases competitiveness and the pressure to raise operational efficiency in all industries. A popular approach among labour intensive industries is the Low Cost Country sourcing strategy. At present, central and eastern European regions are popular sourcing destinations for western European based firms. Especially, firms within the manufacturing industry, where a large share of the operation cost is determined by labour cost, do largely implement the Low Cost Country sourcing strategy in order to reduce their cost and stay competitive. Although, Low Cost Country sourcing proved to be profitable in the past, due to vast economic progress and social developments, the future prosperity should be reconsidered. Labour costs within the eastern European regions have increased considerably, even more as within the western economies. Besides, this unequal growth in labour cost there is also vast difference in the speed of recovery after the recent recession. This great variety in economic performance and development considerably impacts the success of sourcing decisions. Where firms benefitted from a clear sourcing advantage in the past, at present there is no clear picture or solid understanding of the underlying mechanisms which determine this advantage. Therefore this study aims to provide an understanding of the context in which many manufacturing intensive organizations operate in.
Subject
Low Cost Country Sourcing
sourcing
eastern Europe
Poland
Czech Republic
Hungary
manufacturing industry
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Embargo date
2012-08-22
Access restriction
Campus only
Part of collection
Student theses
Document type
master thesis
Rights
(c) 2011 Berben, W.