Kollaboratives Beschaffungsmanagement – Ein Managementkonzept für die ganzheitliche Entwicklung, Gestaltung und Steuerung der kollaborativen Beschaffung: Eine empirische Analyse der deutschen Tiefkühlindustrie

The industrial business landscape is in a constant state of flux, continuously presenting procurement with relentless new challenges. In particular, procurement in the German frozen food industry is currently under increasing pressure, driven by rising customer demands for product innovation and safety, and further intensified by geopolitical crises, stricter supply chain regulations, and the visible impact of climate change. These adverse factors severely test the ability of procurement in this sector to ensure the population’s basic need for reliable food supplies. It is becoming more apparent in today’s VUCA environment that traditional procurement models are no longer sufficient.

In response, this thesis proposes the creation of an integrated management concept for developing, designing, and steering collaborative procurement. Grounded in structured dimensions and defined action fields, this holistic framework aims to enable synergies among diverse business partners and effectively overcome procurement challenges.

A systematic review of the literature on industrial procurement reveals a significant and multifaceted research gap, including: a lack of empirical studies investigating multi-stakeholder collaboration; an absence of holistic management approaches that integrate organizational, cultural, technical, process-related, and other relevant aspects into collaborative procurement; and a shortage of economic research specifically addressing procurement practices in the German frozen food industry. To address this gap, twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with procurement and SCM experts, focusing on three interrelated issues: (1) the development and challenges of procurement within the German frozen food industry, (2) synergy effects potentially resulting from collaborative procurement, and (3) essential dimensions and action fields for managing collaborative procurement.

The interviews were evaluated using qualitative content analysis based on the method by Glaeser and Laudel, combined with a content-structuring approach as well as the cyclical procedure by Kuckartz and Raediker.

The research identified ten types of synergy. Its primary outcome is a structured framework comprising seven management dimensions and 30 action fields, spanning the entire spectrum of normative, strategic, and operational procurement management levels. Complemented by practical recommendations, the management concept provides companies with a comprehensive guideline for implementing and realizing collaborative procurement within networks.