Best practices in the area of Goods Reception and the 3-way match process

Abstract

Driven by a commitment to high efficiency and low costs, the automation of procure-to-pay process and the outsourcing of indirect procurement are widely advocated. Ideally, the automated three-way match (Purchase order, invoice and goods reception) process, the key financial control mechanism in the P2P cycle, should require little to no manual intervention, while the outsourcing of indirect procurement should lead to significant reductions in procurement operating costs. However, the straight-through processing rate for automated three-way match (3WM) still needs to be improved, and the outsourcing increases communication friction. This thesis takes the practical challenges faced by the case company, explores the goods receipt (GR) related 3WM stagnation and mismatches with integrating agency theory, organisational control theory, technology acceptance model, and transaction cost economics.

To diagnose and resolve the root causes of GR issues, this study employs an abductive reason-ing approach to qualitatively investigate the case company. Data collection was conducted using a triangulation approach, combining direct observations, document review, and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. The collected data were analysed and organised using thematic analysis, process mapping, and root-cause analysis.

The study finds that the root causes of GR barriers include information asymmetry, inconsistent data quality, communication silos, insufficient automation, and role misalignment, collectively caused by technical flaws, impractical organisational design, and non-compliant human behaviours. To address these issues, a practice framework is proposed. It is suggested to include logistics information as the data foundation to trigger automated GR and post-GR invoicing reminders, institutionalise a cross-boundary stakeholder communication protocol, and strengthen the consequence-driven user management.

This thesis has both academic and practical significance. By examining the operational, technical, and behavioural reasons for GR failures, this thesis validates agency theory and transaction cost economics and extends the technology acceptance model from an organisational control perspective. The practical recommendations are helpful in shifting 3WM management from a reactive approach to a proactive and preemptive one.

This study is limited by its single-case design, and its generalizability is unclear; furthermore, it does not distinguish between physical and virtual products. Future research could address these two aspects, consider product segmentation, and conduct cross-company or cross-industry research.