The Lee Kong Chian School of Business
Academic Year 2014 /15
Term 1
OPIM 341 PROCUREMENT & STRATEGIC SOURCING
Instructor Name
Title
Tel
Email
Office
: Koh Niak Wu
: Adjunct Faculty of Operations Management
: 6828 0713
: nwkoh@smu.edu.sg
: LKCSB Level 5, Adjunct Faculty Office
COURSE DESCRIPTION
In today’s increasingly competitive and globalized world, firms are trying to find ways to improve their
performance and differentiate themselves from their rivals. Clearly, suppliers can have great impact on a firm’s
total cost and help in this differentiation process. Increased levels of outsourcing and offshoring make correct
selection of suppliers and their quality, along with development of relationships between suppliers and
producers, more crucial than ever. Whatever the supplier provides, the effective organization needs a robust
system to procure the correct goods and services at the best possible price for the organization. Once the
organization has made the decision to procure goods and services from another organization, both
organizations must clearly define the parameters of the relationship. This course aims to provide students with
an understanding of the impact that sourcing and supply management has on the success and profitability of
firms in today’s business environment. This course will expose students to concepts and principles in strategic
sourcing as pursued by leading edge firms. The course will provide applied learning opportunities in strategic
sourcing through a combination of lectures, case analyses, and group exercises.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this course, students will internalize concepts and practice skills that will enable them to:
 Understand the importance of procurement and supplier management in today’s business
environment.
 Familiarize with the basic concepts, techniques, methods and applications of procurement and supplier
management, including: supplier selection, sourcing decisions, managing supplier performance, and
negotiations.
 Enhance analytical skills and ability to uncover problems and opportunities for improvement in supply
chain and overall organizational performance.
 Provide an opportunity to exercise writing and presentation skills.
PRE-REQUISITE/ CO-REQUISITE/ MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE COURSE(S)
Please refer to the Course Catalogue on OASIS for the most updated list of pre-requisites / co-requisites for
this particular course.
Do note that if this course has a co-requisite, it means that the course has to be taken together with another
course. Dropping one course during BOSS bidding would result in both courses being dropped at the same
time.
Students are expected to have been exposed to introductory concepts in business management, operations
management, or strategic management.
OPIM 341 – Course Design Document
1
ASSESSMENT METHODS
Group Case Presentations and Write-ups (3)
Group Exercises (4)
Class Participation
Quizzes (4)
30%
20%
20%
30%
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
All acts of academic dishonesty (including, but not limited to, plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, facilitation of acts
of academic dishonesty by others, unauthorized possession of exam questions, or tampering with the academic
work of other students) are serious offences.
All work (whether oral or written) submitted for purposes of assessment must be the student’s own work.
Penalties for violation of the policy range from zero marks for the component assessment to expulsion,
depending on the nature of the offence.
When in doubt, students should consult the course instructor. Details on the SMU code of academic integrity
may be accessed at http://www.smuscd.org/resources.html.
INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS AND EXPECTATIONS
This course combines lectures, case analyses, and group exercises (supplier comparison, supplier selection
using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), price/cost calculations, and negotiation). Theory and conceptual
thinking form the backbone of the course but there will also be a strong emphasis on experiential and actionbased learning through case study preparations and group exercises. Groups will consist of 4 to 5 students.
RECOMMENDED TEXT AND READINGS

Case course-pack (required): We will be discussing business cases in this course. You will be able to
purchase the course pack from the Li Ka Shing Library, Services Desk, Level 2 (11:00 AM – 4:00 PM)
by using NETS, NETS FlashPay or Cash Card.

Recommended Book: “Purchasing & Supply Chain Management” by Monczka, Handfield, Giunipero,
and Patterson. Publisher: South-Western/Cengage

Copies of lecture notes and slides will be uploaded onto eLearn
CLASS SCHEDULE
Week
No.
1
Topic
Cases and Readings
Introduction, Purchasing Operations and Structure
Chap. 1 & 4
2
Strategic Sourcing
3
Strategic Sourcing (Exercise 1: Supplier comparison in the
case: Spin Master Toys (A): Finding a Manufacturer
for E-Chargers)
Chap. 6 & 7
Chap. 8, Spin Master Toys
(A): Finding a
Manufacturer for EChargers
4
Sourcing Strategy Process (Quiz 1 – Materials covered on
Weeks 1-4)
Chap. 9
5
Case Group Presentations & Discussion # 1
The Lego Group: An
Outsourcing Journey
6
7
8
Sourcing Strategy Process (Exercise 2: Supplier
Selection)
Sourcing Strategy Process (Quiz 2 – Materials covered on
Weeks 6 & 7)
Recess week
OPIM 341 – Course Design Document
Chap. 11
Chap. 11
2
9
10
11
12
13
14
Case Group Presentations & Discussion # 2
Sourcing Strategy Process (Exercise 3: Price/Cost
Exercise)
Sourcing Strategy Process (Quiz 3 – Materials covered on
Weeks 10 & 11)
Case Group Presentations & Discussion # 3
Sourcing Strategy Process (Exercise 4: Negotiation
Exercise)
Sourcing Strategy Process (Quiz 4 – Material covered on
Weeks 13 & 14)
OPIM 341 – Course Design Document
Procurement at
Betapharm Corp. (A)
Chap. 12
Chap. 12
Whirlpool Corporation
Global Procurement
Chap. 13
Chap. 14
3