It has long been emphasised in the organisation theory literature that a company’s structure and management process must grow increasingly complex to respond to a complex environment (Anderson 1999). To respond to today’s environmental complexity such as the increasing product proliferation, outsourcing and globalisation, organisational systems have become increasingly complex. For example, as companies and their supply chains expand globally, management of processes across different cultures, technical standards, regulatory requirements and geographic distances becomes more complex. Reducing complexity enables companies to streamline their processes, eliminate waste and ultimately improve the overall performance (Wilding 1998, Khurana 1999, Vachon and Klassen 2002). The complexity experienced in a supply chain also increases the vulnerability to disruptions (Wilding 1998, Choi and Krause 2006). When the level of complexity is uncontrolled, organisation systems are less predictable (Manuj and Mentzer 2008). Reducing complexity has thus been considered as a strategic goal for operations (Frizelle and Woodcock 1995).