Purchasing and supply management (PSM) has developed into a discipline of major strategic importance for effectively competing in today's global marketplace. To leverage PSM's strategic value creation potential, the decisions and activities of the purchasing function must be aligned with the firm's overall strategic orientation. Despite general agreement on this matter, research and practice lack knowledge on how exactly such an alignment can be achieved and what performance implications it has.

Christian Baier empirically investigates the alignment performance link in PSM. Drawing on the market-based view, resource-based view, principal agent theory, and contingency theory, the author suggests that the relative fit among a firm's business strategy, its purchasing competitive priorities, and its purchasing practices is key to achieving superior business performance. Results from profile deviation and hierarchical regression analysis of data collected globally from 141 chief purchasing officers in firms with revenues greater than USD 3 billions present strong empirical support for this hypothesis. Baier's findings provide clear guidance to practitioners on how to design their purchasing strategies and practices to achieve maximum alignment and thus effectively contribute to the firm's competitive advantage.

Autorentext
Dr. Christian Baier promovierte bei Prof. Dr. Christopher Jahns am Supply Management Institute (SMI) der European Business School (EBS) in Oestrich-Winkel. Er ist als Unternehmensberater für McKinsey&Company, Inc. in Berlin tätig.

Zusammenfassung
Foreword In today's markets, companies face ever growing international competition, radical technological change, and increasingly demanding customers. These developments force managers to focus on core competencies and result in decreasing in-house val- add across industries. Adequate supplier selection and competent management of the supply base have thus become key firm success factors. As a consequence, purchasing and supply management (PSM) has developed into a powerful weapon for contributing to a firm's competitive advantage along dimensions such as cost, quality, and inno- tion. Such a contribution, however, critically depends upon the alignment of purch- ing strategies and practices with the company's overall business strategy. Only if the purchasing function supports the firm's competitive position can it effectively improve profitability. Unfortunately, existing research still lacks both the theoretical concepts and empirical foundation to provide detailed guidance to practitioners regarding how such alignment can be achieved and what impact it should have on firm performance. The doctoral thesis presented by Christian Baier develops and tests a comprehensive model of the alignment-performance link in PSM in order to close this knowledge gap. Drawing on insights from the market-based view, the resource-based view, princip- agent theory, and contingency theory, the author derives a solid theoretical understa- ing of the relationships between business strategy and strategies and practices at the functional level. By applying the theory of production competence to the PSM context, two critical levels of alignment are identified: strategic alignment, i. e.

Inhalt
Problem situation and research approach.- A theoretical perspective on the contribution of PSM to the generation of competitive advantage.- A conceptual model of the alignment-performance link in PSM.- An empirical analysis of the alignment-performance link in PSM.- Summary and conclusions.