Purpose

The large and   persistent trend of firms sourcing from China is in itself well-established with many success stories. However, managing the sourcing is a complex issue confounded both by cultural differences and the length of the supply chain. Outcomes are often described primarily in terms of cost savings.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how Swedish firms manage their sourcing in China and connect this to the types of outcomes achieved.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on a series of semi-structured interviews with Swedish production firms sourcing from China. These findings are then confronted with previous research on sourcing from China from other regions.

Findings

The paper finds that the firms have developed good monitoring systems for their sourcing work and are generally satisfied with the outcomes, but also have persistent communication issues. The ability to source effectively from China, based on many years of experience and having handled prior difficulties is seen as a competitive advantage.

Research limitations/implications  

One archetype of Swedish firms successfully sourcing from China emerges from the research. The research only deals with selected Swedish production firms however and may not show the general situation for Swedish firms sourcing from China.

Practical implications

The implications are that the development and use of monitoring systems seems to be a critical component of sourcing success.

Original/value

The research addresses a gap where the actual outcomes of sourcing beyond general   assessments of whether they are successful are little explored in the literature, in particular from the Swedish perspective.