R&d Sourcing Strategies: in Light of Past Experiences: Manufacturing and Services Sourcing Strategies

Strategic Sourcing was initiated in manufacturing companies,then various methods and procedures were modified, developed, and applied in service sector organizations. By the time Research and Development became a reinforcing derivative sector inside each industry; which needs its own contributions. As R&D is a younger concept in case of tangible and intangible specifications; comparing various factors of manufacturing (tangible) and services (intangible) supply chains to find opportunities for modification or innovation in R&D supply chains could be beneficial. The supply chain is seen as a system in which the input should pass out the processor to be converted into the appropriate output, and various sourcing strategies could change the outputs. Thus, in this book, inputs, outputs, and processors of supply chains are studied. Quality, cost, flexibility, competitiveness, resource utilization, and innovation; are the criteria which each sourcing strategy (internalizing, outsourcing, concurrent sourcing) is evaluated in each supply chain (Manufacturing, Services, R&D).