Supervisor: Dr Farooq Habib
Background
Procurement and supply decisions have a significant impact on performance, not only in terms of cost reduction, but also on revenue generation and risk management. Increasingly, procurement professionals will be involved in business process improvement efforts across the supply base, with a greater contribution to measured objectives and their performance frequently reported to the organisation’s top management. At the same time, the role and seniority of procurement must be developed and matured in multiple levels.
A recent study by Cranfield Centre for Strategic Procurement and Supply Management reveals procurement and supply management as a major driving force of the organisations’ future business processes. The role of procurement will be more strategic and its scope will be wider. In the future, procurement will not just focus on cutting cost, but it will be needed to contribute to the final customer value and protecting the organisation from external risks.
The extent to which procurement and supply management can fulfil these new responsibilities, however, may depend on its enhancement level or maturity. The academic literature of procurement and supply management lacks a comprehensive definition and explanation for different types and levels of future procurement development. This gap can be filled by a maturity model which describes auditable stages a future procurement function is expected to follow for higher a level of performance and impact.
Possible Research Areas
PhD proposals with a particular focus on procurement maturity models can include, but not limited to, the following areas:
- Performance measurement mechanisms to address new procurement models
- Sourcing decisions and supply planning
- Procurement internal processes
- Supplier relationship management
Suggested Reading
Huang, Y. Y., & Handfield, R. B. (2015). Measuring the benefits of ERP on supply management maturity model: a “big data” method. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 35(1), 2-25.
Schiele, H. (2007). Supply-management maturity, cost savings and purchasing absorptive capacity: Testing the procurement–performance link. Journal of purchasing and supply management, 13(4), 274-293.
Spina, G., Caniato, F., Luzzini, D., & Ronchi, S. (2013). Past, present and future trends of purchasing and supply management: An extensive literature review. Industrial Marketing Management, 42(8), 1202-1212.
Úbeda, R., Alsua, C., & Carrasco, N. (2015). Purchasing models and organizational performance: a study of key strategic tools. Journal of Business Research, 68(2), 177-188.
