Revolution in Purchasing: Building Competitive Power Through Proactive Purchasing.

This is a report of research - a skillful blending from both primary and secondary sources. On the primary side, the authors visited and interviewed 38 purchasing managers in 23 leading-edge multinational companies in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. No Pacific Rim companies were included - unless you consider Honda of America to be "Pacific Rim." On the secondary side, the authors have woven into their report their skimmings of recent management literature. An excellent list of their 87 sources is included as an appendix.

Both authors hold adjunct faculty appointments to the Faculty of Technology Management, Eindhoven University of Technology. Both are active consultants and published authors in the field of purchasing and supply management. They obviously have had experience as practitioners of the art. The research and writing resulting in this publication was sponsored by Philips Electronics, also located in Eindhoven.

The report is preceded by what is termed a "Management Summary." The authors review the setting: the globalization of trade, the rapid spread of information technology, the more demanding customers, the pressure for innovation, the pressure for cost reduction, the "lean" organization, the transition from a "goods" orientation to a "service" orientation - even in firms that consider themselves goods producers. This reviewer is on the board of directors of a firm that for years has been the top developer and manufacturer of spectrophotometers, colorimeters, and glossmeters: they now see themselves as providing "color management services."

In the body of their report the authors, wisely, carefully differentiate between production buying and non-production buying. They point out that multidivisional ...