China Stationed Global Sourcing
With the maturity of the China supply chain system, more companies are placing their global sourcing leader where the action is. Often companies place designate this position in Shanghai, but many other cities will also suffice for China stationed global sourcing.
However, just saying this will not make the policy successful. 45% are going to accept money from suppliers to choose them. Another 45% are not nearly as good as their interview. Nonetheless, the 10% is why you should hire your global sourcing VP in China.
A good thinking customer said, “Jim, getting the right supply chain leader is a no brainer. With a $100M spend, I save 1% and am taking an extra $1M in savings.”
Well said. Saving is small potatoes though. The hard-to-find right supplier can make your business fly. More than that, the right purchasing strategy can improve the top line revenue more than any savings in bottom line profitability. Now, let’s go find them
Placing China Stationed Global Sourcing is Dicey
People enter this line of work in China as they like money. They are often just too lazy to sell. However, they are often good at manipulating people and data. It is unfortunate that Western companies do not prosecute criminal behavior in their China companies. If they were, then the worst would be spotted more completely and taken out of our path. So the result is they keep bouncing from one place to the next and developing their skills in not getting caught.
By the time they are senior and showing up for global sourcing director work, they have refined their skills considerably including how to do resumes and interviews. Furthrmore, you need aperson with enoiugh maturity to provide leadership and coaching to people on your team around the world. That is more than having good English. It takes good maturity to manage cross culturally. Those are hard to find. The result is that Western companies have trouble identifying the candidates with the triple play of right thinking. right experience and right character. See also The Gap in Quality Sourcing.