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This case concerns the difficulties of global sourcing for InBev, an international brewery with branches in six geographical zones. In 2006, Pascal Baltussen came to China to set up the company's international procurement office and had it up and running by the end of the year. Not only were risks such as delivery delays and rising costs constantly lurking, but in 2010 his company, Brazilian-Belgian brewer InBev, acquired the almost equally large U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch to form the world's largest brewer, AB InBev. This posed further complications. How could Baltussen now successfully roll out his sourcing vision for China and manage internal and external challenges?

It was April 10, 2011, when the head of Whirlpool’s Asia International Procurement Office in Shanghai was informed by his colleagues that the company was about to launch a new energy-efficient refrigerator model in just six months. For the new refrigerator model, the basic difference was in the motor; the current AC motor would need to be replaced with a DC motor, which was more efficient but also more expensive. He would have to find a suitable supplier of DC motors in a very short time. Delayed sourcing of components would cause delays in the production of a new refrigerator and result in a later launch of new products. Within the home-appliance industry, the fierce level of competition meant that any delays in launching new products would result in a loss of sales. How should Whirlpool go about the process of finding a suitable supplier for the required DC motor parts? Should the company explore the possibility of developing its current supplier, or should it quickly engage an existing supplier of DC motors?

It was April 10, 2011, when the head of Whirlpool's Asia International Procurement Office in Shanghai was informed by his colleagues that the company was about to launch a new energy-efficient refrigerator model in just six months. For the new refrigerator model, the basic difference was in the motor; the current AC motor would need to be replaced with a DC motor, which was more efficient but also more expensive. He would have to find a suitable supplier of DC motors in a very short time. Delayed sourcing of components would cause delays in the production of a new refrigerator, and thus, a later launch of new products. Within the home-appliance industry, the fierce level of competition meant that any delays in launching new products would result in a loss of sales for the stragglers. How should Whirlpool go about the process of finding a suitable supplier for the required DC motor parts? Should the company explore the possibility of developing their current supplier, or should they quickly engage an existing supplier of DC motors?

In the winter of 2010 in Shanghai, Dr. Zeb Feng, procurement director for Asia at British Petroleum (BP), was acutely aware of the growing burden that quality control imposed over his company’s global operations. Chinese suppliers were masters of cost-cutting, but quality often suffered as a result, which led in turn to an increased need for inspection and development efforts. Almost five years ago, Feng’s company had established an international procurement office (IPO) in Shanghai, which served as a shared service centre for internal customers throughout BP worldwide. Since that time, the IPO had been mainly sourcing non-hydrocarbon goods and services. <br><br><br><br>After a corporate board meeting with Christina De Luca, the vice president of procurement and supply chain management for BP’s downstream operations, it had been decided that the company would start to enhance its global competitive sourcing. As the number-one supplier market in the world, China was a high priority for further oil exploration. The pressing point that concerned Feng was whether Chinese suppliers were sufficiently ready to supply mission-critical supplies for oil drilling, extraction, and refining. During a recent conference call, De Luca had reiterated, “Zeb, our competitors are way ahead of us in their sourcing operations, and they have achieved much lower costs. We’ve got to do something!” Feng had to gather his team for a planning meeting. He knew that supply quality was the key issue, but how could it be resolved?

It was the cold winter of 2010 in Shanghai, and Dr. Zeb Feng was becoming increasingly frustrated. As procurement director for Asia at British Petroleum (BP), Dr. Feng was acutely aware of the growing burden that quality control imposed over his company's global operations. Chinese suppliers were masters of cost-cutting, but quality often suffered as a result, which led in turn to increasing needs for inspection and development efforts. Almost five years ago, Dr. Feng's company established an international procurement office (IPO) in Shanghai, which served as a shared service centre for internal customers throughout the BP organization worldwide. Since that time, the IPO had been mainly sourcing non-hydrocarbon goods and services, such as manufacturing equipment and materials, packaging, catalysts, chemicals and additives, marketing products and retail equipment, as well as drilling services and well-completion services. After a corporate board meeting with Christina De Luca, the vice-president of procurement and supply-chain management for BP's downstream operations, it had been decided that the company would start to enhance its global competitive sourcing. As the number one supplier market in the world, China was naturally highly prioritized for further exploration. The pressing point that concerned Dr. Feng was whether Chinese suppliers were sufficiently ready to supply mission-critical supplies for oil drilling, extraction and refining. During a recent conference call, De Luca had reiterated, "Zeb, our competitors are way ahead of us in their sourcing operations, and they have achieved much lower costs. We've got to do something!" Dr. Feng put down the receiver and went back to his office to gather his team for a planning meeting. He knew that supply quality was the key issue, but how could it be resolved?

In May 2009, High-Tech Metal Components (HTMC) inaugurated its brand new production plant of forgings and castings for automotive supplies in Suzhou, a city of 13 million close to Shanghai, China. After the successful installation of machinery and placement of workers, the company was prepared to begin production. A month later, the general manager of the Chinese division of HTMC received a phone call from the chief operating officer of its German headquarters; it was decided that it was necessary to cut costs for 2009 by more than five per cent. The cost structure was way too high, with many components imported from Europe. How could cost-cutting be done with the existing supply chain design in China? What long-term measures could be taken to realize the goal?