This area provides an overview of my research activities by area. Downloads are provided of some working papers and earlier versions of published papers. For final versions please contact the publishers.

Management innovation

With Julian Birkinshaw and Gary Hamel I am working on a series of papers. The following link leads to a paper recently published in Sloan Management Review


Outsourcing

This research revolves around the question whether outsourcing is a useful tool to improve a firm's performance. Cambridge University Press will now publish my new book, entitled 'Outsourcing: Design, Process and Performance'.

Working papers
Download an old working paper on outsourcing and performance
Masaaki Kotabe (Temple University) and I are interested in redefining the relation between outsourcing and financial performance.
With Dries Vermeulen I have a paper on the same topic but with a wildly different methodology (micro-economic modeling) under review at Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. Download here.
I am also working on a paper that assesses the importance of national level variables, in particular culture and institutions, on outsourcing.

Published work
Book by De Wit, Mol & van Drunen (1998, in Dutch)
Article by De Wit & Mol (1999, in Dutch).
Book chapter by Kotabe and Mol (2004 Carnegie Mellon U. Press)
Download an earlier version of a paper published in Research Policy.


Supplier relations

Research on this topic is concerned with whether and how supplier relations can add to the competitiveness of a firm.

Working papers
Download this now very old working paper on differences and commonalities in relations in the EU.
I am working on a conceptual paper that describes the limits to the extent of outsourcing and the closeness of supplier relations.
Another project uses survey data from my dissertation and compares trust, cooperation, and performance among international partners with domestic partners.

Published work
Short piece in Academy of Management Executive by Mol (2001).


International sourcing

Here the focus is on the extent of internationalisation of sourcing, its antecedents, and the impact of internationalisation on firm performance.

Working papers
With Mike Kotabe and Sonia Ketkar I have a paper under review that presents a stage model of international outsourcing, detailing how it can negatively affect firm competences in the long run.

Published work
A book on Global Supply Chain Management is forthcoming with Edward Elgar (Kotabe & Mol). It is a collection of the best research articles on this topic in International Business, Marketing, Operations Management, Strategic Management, and Economics, accompanied by an overview and introduction by us.
We have a paper forthcoming with International Business Review (Mol, van Tulder & Beije). Download an older version here
An article on a technological contingency perspective was published by Journal of International Management (Mol, Pauwels, Matthyssens & Quintens).
Case study on international sourcing and the Ford Mondeo by Mol (2001). Download
Shorter pieces in European Business Forum by Mol (2004) and Mol and van Tulder (2002).

Information technology and sourcing

This used to be an an area of interest of mine. The focus is on how IT, especially the Internet, helps to re-shape sourcing strategies.

Published work
A chapter with ITC of the United Nations by Mol (2000).
An article in the Journal of Global Information Management by Mol & Koppius (2002). Download older version
An article in European Management Journal by Mol and van Tulder (2002). Download
A book chapter by Mol & Koppius (2004).


General

Here I fit everything that could not be fitted above.

Working papers
Currently working on a meta study with Finn Wynstra on the state of purchasing & supply management research (1999-2003) in marketing, organization, strategy, operations, and purchasing & supply management journals.

Published work
An article on "Purchasing's strategic relevance" in the Journal of Purchasing and Supply Chain Management by Mol (2003). Download
An article on the methodologies in use in management departments in the world's top business schools in Strategic Organization (SO!) by Heugens and Mol (2005).

Now somewhat outdated but below you find my PhD thesis (Rotterdam School of Management, 12/2001) entitled "Outsourcing, Supplier Relations and Internationalisation: Global Sourcing Strategy as a Chinese Puzzle".
I want to download the thesis. Or:
I just want to download the abstract.

For further information, please feel free to send an e-mail: michael and then at michaelmol and then .com.
You can also reach me at:
Phone: ++44 - 118 3787941

This page was last updated on April 5, 2007.