Procurement Operations and Strategy (5 cr)

Objectives (course unit)

The student acknowledges the impact of megatrends on procurement and the strategic nature of procurement. The student is able to analyse how the company´s vision, mission and corporate strategy impact the development of its procurement strategy. The student is able to evaluate procurement-related internal and external influences on company strategy, including the role of stakeholders and external resources in the different phases of procurement process. The student compares ways to organise procurement function and relates maturity models in assessing the status and development potential of the procurement function. The student is able to exploit a spend analysis, classify purchases and create a purchasing portfolio analysis for both direct and indirect procurement. The student is able to judge outsourcing decisions and strategic impact of make-or-buy analysis. The student distinguishes the principles and stages of category management and how to apply the approach in practice both in direct and indirect procurement. The student is able to develop procurement performance management and create KPIs for both strategic and operational procurement.

Content (course unit)

• Global sourcing, megatrends and operating environment • Procurement strategy aligned with corporate strategy • Analysis tools and models to support procurement decisions • Procurement process • Organising the procurement function

Prerequisites (course unit)

Completed higher education degree (Bachelor level)

Location and time

The introduction to the course and first lecture will be on Friday 29.8. 13:30-16:00. This first lecture on 29.8. is a hybrid (possible to join in class at campus or online) Subsequent online lectures will be on Mondays: 08.09. 17:00-20:00 22.09. 17:00-20:00 06.10. 17:00-20:00

Exam schedules

No exam.

Assessment methods and criteria

Assignments/test related to the course and informed by the lecturer when course starts. Assessment scale used: 50 -59 = 1 60-69 = 2 70 - 79 = 3 80 - 89 = 4 90 -100 = 5

Assessment scale

0-5

Teaching methods

Online lectures via Zoom or Teams. Online learning material and individual and group assignment and tests via Moodle learning platform. Link to Zoom or Teams and Moodle pages will be sent via email to the students once the enrolment is complete.

Learning materials

To be announced in the beginning of the course.

Student workload

Workload (total 135 hours) Lectures and seminars 4x3=12h Reading Materials ~40h Individual and Team assignments ~83h

Content scheduling

The more detailed content of the course, assignments and assessment will be discussed during the first lesson. The main content is: Global sourcing, megatrends and operating environment, Procurement strategy aligned with corporate strategy, Analysis tools and models to support procurement decisions, Procurement process, Organizing procurement function. The main objectives of the course are: The student acknowledges the impact of megatrends on procurement and the strategic nature of procurement. The student is able to analyze how the company´s vision, mission and corporate strategy impact on developing procurement strategy. The student is able to evaluate procurement-related internal and external influences on company strategy, including the role of stakeholders and external resources in the different phases of procurement process. The student compares ways to organize procurement function and relates maturity models in assessing the status and development potential of the procurement function. The student is able to exploit a spend analysis, classify purchases and create a purchasing portfolio analysis for both direct and indirect procurement. The student is able to judge outsourcing decisions and strategic impact of make-or-buy analysis. The student distinguishes the principles and stages of category management and how to apply the approach in practice both in direct and indirect procurement. The student is able to develop procurement performance management and create KPIs for both strategic and operational procurement.

Further information

Prerequisites of the participation: This course is for Master level studies and part of the Procurement Master's program. Therefore you should have completed bachelor level studies already and having some prior knowledge of procurement is recommended. The teacher of the course is Ms. Mari Hiljanen, mari.hiljanen@metropolia.fi.