Over the last two decades, growing concerns about eroding ecosystem quality have led to a renewed interest in environmentalism. Such concerns have prompted purchasing professionals to reassess their current purchasing strategy. To help purchasing professionals configure an environmentally conscious (green) purchasing strategy, the empirical findings from a survey of US firms with greater environmental risks are reported. Based on the empirical findings, aims to identify variables that either promote or inhibit the successful implementation of green purchasing and to evaluate the effects of green purchasing on the firm’s supplier selection, waste management, packaging, and regulatory compliance.

IN BRIEF Over the last two decades, growing concerns about ecosystem quality have led to a renewed interest in environmentalism. Purchasing professionals should also be concerned and need to rethink purchasing strategies which have traditionally neglected environmental impacts. To help foster environmentally concerned purchasing strategies, this article presents the findings of an empirical survey of NAPM members in firms with a high level of awareness and frequent applications of “green” purchasing. Environmental factors are identified that may reshape supplier selection decisions. The role of “green” purchasing in reducing and eliminating waste is discussed. Also, effects of “green” purchasing on packaging decisions are explored. Finally, some important practical guidelines are suggested which may enhance the effectiveness of regulatory compliance, pollution prevention, and resource recovery.

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As the global marketplace continues its relentless growth, international purchasing strategy assumes greater significance for many firms. Nevertheless, relatively few studies have reported on the general practice of purchasing professionals in international purchasing situations. This study identifies and analyzes the distinctive, dynamic, and complex aspects of international purchasing strategies prevalent among the nation's typical multinational firms. The findings should assist purchasing professionals in understanding the key principles of international purchasing and in formulating effective international purchasing strategies for their firms.

As the Clinton administration recently released its plan for developing world‐wide information superhighways and making electronic communications a national priority, a growing number of firms have shown increased interest in electronic commerce (EC) as an effective business‐to‐business purchasing tool. A high level of interest in EC is piqued by its ability to reduce order cycle time, paperwork, order processing error, and procurement cost. Realizing such managerial benefits, buying firms need to reassess their current business‐to‐business purchasing strategy which, in most cases, still relies on traditional paper‐based transactions. To identify strategic variables that influence the successful implementation of EC and then help evaluate the strategic importance of EC to business‐to‐business purchasing, this paper reports the findings of an empirical study of US purchasing organizations.