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SAP: The Challenge of Aligning Sourcing and Innovation Strategies
內容大綱
In late 2011, SAP, the German leader in the enterprise software industry, announced a major investment plan for expanding in China and also acquired a leading American firm in cloud-based human capital management software. At first glance, these investments seemed rather unconnected. A closer look at SAP’s strategy, however, revealed a closely connected and coordinated network of strategic decisions and investments for which alignment and finding the right balance were key challenges. Hence, it was crucial to ask: What were the principal challenges for SAP in aligning its innovation and sourcing strategies? Compared to its key competitors — Microsoft, IBM and Oracle — how was it aligning its innovation strategy with its sourcing strategy?
學習目標
This case is suitable for use in both graduate and undergraduate courses in corporate strategy (including outsourcing), innovation and international business. The overall teaching objective is to provide students with an understanding of the complexities of aligning a firm’s sourcing and innovation strategies, while also assisting them in developing theory-derived analytical tools for managing these alignment and trade-off processes. The case addresses the question of how a multinational software firm should organize its sourcing in a way that supports enduring process and product innovation. The task of putting in place an appropriate sourcing structure implies organizational/firm-boundary decisions as well as geographical choices. Such choices call upon the use of various theoretical perspectives. Hence, the case encourages students to use theories (e.g., Barney’s resource-based view and Porter’s Five Forces) for solving an existing practical management problem, namely, the alignment of sourcing and innovation strategies.