Relaciones entre servicios centrales y unidades de negocio en grupos empresariales: efectos derivados de la centralización de compras

Abstract

In the present situation, characterized by globalization and internationalization of the markets and a crisis whose effects remain undefined, it is essential for companies to obtain a strong competitive position. For several years, geographic market development has been one of the most frequent strategies and it has turned out to be nearly one of the most successful. Only a short time ago, Spanish businesses which had adopted this strategy in previous years, revealed that a substantial part of their results came from their units in other markets, in many cases, emerging markets. In spite of these always very relative results, these multinational or transnational companies have felt the need to apply reinforcement strategies, such as the use of scale economies, in an attempt to obtain improvements in costs through accumulation and uniformity. The aim of this article is to analyze the effects that measures such as centralization of purchases can have in the managerial group as a whole, to study possible negative effects inside it and to suggest some alternatives to compensate for them.