On the basis of a pan-European survey conducted among senior purchasing managers of 200 large-sized multinationals, Martin Lockström identifies internal key success factors of companies sourcing in low-cost countries.

Low-cost Country Sourcing (LCS) has become a lot more sophisticated than taking a trip to your favourite city in China, staying in a five-star hotel and doing a deal. The landscape has changed immensely as the decisions have become increasingly complex and controversial. More importantly, a bad decision frequently means big career reversal for the original project team, as these decisions are open to scrutiny many years after the deal is done. Read on to make sure you know all the parameters of low-cost country sourcing that you may, or may not have thought about.