ELE 3771 Purchasing

ELE 3771 Purchasing

Course code: 
ELE 3771
Department: 
Accounting and Operations Management
Credits: 
7.5
Course coordinator: 
Erna Engebrethsen
Course name in Norwegian: 
Purchasing
Product category: 
Bachelor
Portfolio: 
Bachelor - Electives
Semester: 
2021 Spring
Active status: 
Active
Level of study: 
Bachelor
Teaching language: 
English
Course type: 
One semester
Introduction

How can purchasing contribute to cost reduction, value creation, and risk management in an organisation? This question is at the core of this course, and we will seek to answer it by looking at purchasing from an operational, tactical and strategic perspective. In today’s society, cost pressures and increasing customer demands push firms and other organisations to specialise and outsource. Firms often use 2/3 of their turnover on purchasing goods and services, which means that they increasingly rely on external resources. Purchasing represents a key means to achieve cost reductions and value adding in an organisation by mobilising and activating resources both internally and externally (i.e. suppliers) in a more efficient and effective way.

Students participating in this course will learn to understand the role and function of purchasing in today’s society, both from a profit-seeking company’s point of view and from other organisations, including the public sector. They will learn about a purchaser’s key tasks and responsibilities, and strategies and tools for dealing with key issues, particularly with regard to handling suppliers.

Learning outcomes - Knowledge

After completed course students shall:

  • Understand what purchasing is about in terms of roles, responsibilities, functions and processes in today’s society.
  • Understand and appreciate the differences in the operational, tactical and strategic levels of purchasing, and how purchasing can be organised.
  • Gain knowledge of central purchasing models, in relation to segmentation, insourcing/outsourcing, sourcing, and negotiation models.
  • Understand the importance of managing supplier relationships.

 

Learning outcomes - Skills

After completed course students shall be able to:

  • Undertake purchasing tasks and responsibilities with regard to the purchasing process: specification, search, negotiation, relationship handling, and evaluation.
  • Apply key purchasing models, such as segmentation models and managing high and low involvement supplier relationships.
  • Communicate in the range of purchasing professional roles, e.g. in terms of terminology.
General Competence
  • To be able to be a reflexive purchasing professional, including making considerations to key trends and ethical and environmental issues.
Course content

Purchasing’s role and function in today’s business context

  • Trends, definitions and key tasks and responsibilities, including ethical and environmental considerations
  • Purchasing’s role in business strategy and the value chain
  • Purchasing in different settings, including service and public sectors

Purchasing process

  • Specification and selection
  • Negotiation and contracting
  • Performance evaluation and KPIs

Purchasing strategy

  • Outsourcing and insourcing
  • Supply base management and segmentation
  • Sourcing strategies - international and global purchasing

Purchasing organisation

  • Purchasing organisation structures in different business settings
  • Decentralisation vs. centralisation of purchasing

Managing supplier relationships and partnerships

  • Developing resources with suppliers for innovation and productivity
Teaching and learning activities

Lecture, exercises and cases, guest lecturers, students are expected to contribute wih active participation in discussions.

Software tools
No specified computer-based tools are required.
Additional information

For electives re-sit is normally offered at the next scheduled course. If an elective is discontinued or is not initiated in the semester it is offered, re-sit will be offered in the electives ordinary semester.

Qualifications

Higher Education Entrance Qualification

Covid-19

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there may be deviations in teaching and learning activities as well as exams, compared with what is described in this course description.

Required prerequisite knowledge

None

Assessments
Assessments
Exam category: 
Submission
Form of assessment: 
Written submission
Invigilation
Weight: 
100
Grouping: 
Individual
Support materials: 
  • BI-approved exam calculator
  • Simple calculator
  • Bilingual dictionary
Duration: 
4 Hour(s)
Exam code: 
ELE37711
Grading scale: 
ECTS
Resit: 
Examination when next scheduled course
Type of Assessment: 
Ordinary examination
Total weight: 
100
Student workload
ActivityDurationComment
Teaching
45 Hour(s)
Prepare for teaching
45 Hour(s)
Group work / Assignments
56 Hour(s)
Preparation of presentation and tasks.
Student's own work with learning resources
50 Hour(s)
Examination
4 Hour(s)
Sum workload: 
200

A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 7,5 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of at least 200 hours.