Organizational buying effectiveness in supply chain context: Conceptualization and empirical assessment

Early literature considers purchasing as a supportive activity in the traditional corporate value chain rather than as having an influence on customer value creation. This study builds on the concept that purchasing should provide value for the direct downstream customer in the supply chain and that this value represents the measure of its effectiveness. By employing theoretical triangulation, early organizational effectiveness literature provided a solid foundation for the development of the concept of organizational buying effectiveness (OBE). This study investigates the measurement properties and external validity of the OBE concept. The findings are based on a survey of 123 large and medium manufacturing firms in Croatia. The OBE scale exhibits sound metric properties and a satisfactory level of external validity, thereby confirming the plausibility of theoretical triangulation. Further, the theoretical and managerial implications for constituent fields, the study's limitations, and suggestions for further research are discussed.

► Study deals with the organizational buying effectiveness (OBE) concept.
► The OBE concept was developed using the theoretical triangulation.
► In empirical part, a survey was conducted on the sample of 123 firms in Croatia.
► The OBE scale exhibited satisfactory metric properties and external validity.