As a result of increasing competition and faster economical, organisational and technical changes, firms increasingly outsource parts of their development, production and delivery processes to specialised external suppliers. Firms not only in manufacturing industries (e.g., Philips, Toyota, Unilever) but also in service industries (e.g. Turkish Airlines, Akbank) buy raw materials, components, sub-systems and services from suppliers for a value that is more than two-thirds of their total sales. This implies that managing suppliers – and the underlying purchasing process – is of crucial importance to the success of the firm: regarding costs and prices, but also regarding quality and delivery performance, and increasingly also with respect to innovation, risk management, and sustainability.

The objective of this course is to provide the students with the key concepts regarding purchasing and supply management, and prepare them for future careers as purchasing managers/buyers who are equipped with the necessary knowledge to manage not only tactical and operational, but also strategic aspects of purchasing.