50 Years of research on organizing the purchasing function: Do we need any more?

•We provide an overview of the 50 years of research on purchasing organization.•Within purchasing organization research 12 distinct research areas have evolved.•Future business trends will impact research in these research areas.•Against expectations, almost all research areas remain relevant for the years to come.

Research on organizing the purchasing function has seen the rise and fall of different topics, for example the buying centre. And although the increasingly strategic role of purchasing still possesses practical challenges to its effective organizational setup, one has to question whether, after 50 years, there really is a need for more research in this specific domain.As starting point to answer the question, 212 articles published since 1962 are reviewed to provide a comprehensive overview of existing insights. Via content analysis, we inductively establish 12 specific research areas dealing with distinct aspects of purchasing organization.Then the need for further research is assessed by combining those findings with relevant business trends that induce practical challenges in each research area and, consequently, also the need for future research. We conclude that almost all research areas will remain relevant in the future, but need an adjustment of their focus.