Abstract

With the evolution of globalization, multinational companies face increasing competition on national and international markets. As a result, they seek to implement proper strategies to maximize capacity and competitiveness. This article asks whether a multinational company in medical devices has the strategic potential to transform its procurement strategy to embrace a local sourcing concept to gain competitiveness while retaining engineering origin. Study results from the medical-device industry show that attributes delivered by German origin can improve competitiveness. A significant majority of customers see the importance in the “Made in Germany” label. Customers also tend to accept the conception of local production that retains German engineering. The medical-device industry represents several branches in areas such as quality and technology. The results of this paper address product marketing, product strategy, and decision-makers dealing with sourcing alternatives. The results suggest that the strategy of pairing local production with German engineering is desirable to enhance competitiveness.

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