Foreword In today's markets, companies face ever growing international competition, radical technological change, and increasingly demanding customers. These developments force managers to focus on core competencies and result in decreasing in-house val- add across industries. Adequate supplier...

Christian Baier empirically investigates the alignment-performance link in PSM. His findings provide clear guidance to practitioners on how to design their purchasing strategies and practices to achieve maximum alignment and thus effectively contribute to the firm's competitive advantage. Dr....