委外製造於中國之風險

Abstract

從中國採購和委外製造是在世界快速成長的現象，由於通訊和交通技術的發展，讓全世界各地的公司一起工作。在這種情況下，因為中國勞動力成本低、高科技製造能力高，加上政府在物流與基礎設施的激勵，中國成為許多公司領先的採購和委外製造的目的地。 然而，從中國採購使公司面臨很多的風險。過去的研究主要將研究問題集中於在中國採購時所面對的風險和不利的情形，探討如何減少風險以及成功的策略，主要由個案研究進行調查。而本研究主要集中討論採購和委外製造風險次數，藉由網路上數據的調查，利用統計的方式研究外國公司在中國採購和委外製造對於風險的的看法，以及研究如何減輕其影響。 結果表明，最常見的風險問題跟中國合作夥伴之內部能力有關，如：品質問題、交貨期與文化的差異。中國公司內部能力涉及到風險之影響力也最高。因此，最重要的管理方式即為增強潛在的中國合作夥伴的選擇方法已發展雙方長遠關係，減少採購風險。 本研究作為一個基礎的中國委外之調查，其研究貢獻為指出產業中實際需應用之方式。最後，這本研究限制於受訪者之樣本，其研究結果或許難以一般化推論至其他公司。Sourcing is a fast-growing phenomenon in the world, due to developments in communications and transportation technologies, enabling companies from all over the world to work together. In this scenario, China is the leading destination for sourcing activities, mainly because of its low cost labor, high-technology manufacturing capacities, installed logistic infra-structure and government incentives. However, companies that source from China face many risks. Past studies about sourcing in China focus mainly on listing its risks and unfavorable outcomes, debating best strategies to minimize risk or successful outsourcing methods, and mostly rely on case studies. This research focused on measuring the frequency of sourcing risks by the use of an online survey, and its importance to the foreign sourcing companies in China, and how they mitigate its impacts, providing a more complete analysis of the risks – which are not addressed in past studies. The results show that the most frequent risks are related to the Chinese partners’ internal capabilities: quality issues, delays on agreed delivery and receding quality; and cultural differences. The most impactful risks were also related to the internal capacities of the Chinese partners. Therefore it can be argued that the most important management tool for companies to reduce sourcing risk is to pre-evaluate thoroughly all its potential partners and enhance its selection method. The study contributed to the literature as one of the few researches that are survey-based and indicated practical applications for real industries. The survey was limited by the low sample of respondents, which affects the generalization of the findings.