ABSTRACT
Global corporations normally resort to sourcing their products from contract manufacturers located in countries where it costs them least, provided they satisfy other criteria of selecting the vendors like cost quality and timely delivery of the goods. There are numerous challenges in managing successful global sourcing decisions. There are several models for determining the performance of the global sourcing decision in supply chain. Typical characteristics of successful global sourcing would require commitment, rigorous and well-defined processes, adequate resources, integrated IT and communication infrastructure. Global players prefer to have multiple sub-contracted manufacturing units located in strategic location to service the nearby markets effectively. This has evolved over several decades due to the influence of technology. First wave started in the 1980s was driven by manufacturing scale and technology, followed by second wave of information technology in the 1990s and third wave of focus on business processes in the 2000s and preferred destinations also shifted accordingly.
