The Lee Kong Chian School of Business
Academic Year 2014/15
Term 3B
OPIM 341 PROCUREMENT & STRATEGIC SOURCING
Instructor Name
Title
Tel
Email
Office
:
:
:
:
:
Dr. Anand Nair
Visiting Faculty of Operations Management
anandnair@smu.edu.sg / nair@broad.msu.edu
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. It will generate student interest in pursuing sourcing as a viable
career opportunity, be it in retailing, manufacturing, government agencies or non-profit organizations. 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.
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ASSESSMENT METHODS
Group Case Presentations and Write-ups (4)
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.
REQUIRED/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, Temporary Service Desk, Level 3 (Temporary
location for the Service Desk due to the renovation work). The cost of the course-pack is $$$ and
everyone enrolled in the class is expected to have a copy of the course-pack. Please bring the money
for the course-pack on the first day of the class. I will assign a class representative who will take the
money to the library and collect the course-pack for everyone.

Recommended Book: “Purchasing & Supply Chain Management” by Monczka, Handfield, Giunipero,
and Patterson. Publisher: South-Western/Cengage. The book is available in both print and e-book
version. Although this is not a required text for the course, I think the book could be a good
supplement for those who are looking for an in-depth understanding of purchasing and sourcing
strategy.
In the next page I have provided a tentative class schedule. While we will try to closely
follow the schedule, it is possible that we might be slightly ahead or behind the
schedule.
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TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE
Session
No.
Topic
Cases and Readings
15 June
Introduction, Purchasing Process, Policy and Procedures
Lecture 1
16 June
Purchasing Process, Policy and Procedures (Exercise 1:
Supplier comparison in the case)
Lecture 1,
17 June
Purchasing Process, Policy and Procedures (Quiz 1 – Material
covered on 16, 17 and 18 June)
Lecture 1
22 June
Case Group Presentations & Discussion # 1;
Commodity Strategy Development & Strategic Sourcing
Spin Master Toys (A): Finding
a Manufacturer for EChargers ; Lecture 2a
23 June
Commodity Strategy Development & Strategic Sourcing;
Supplier Selection, Evaluation and Management (Exercise 2:
Supplier Selection)
Lecture 2a; Lecture 2b
24 June
Supplier Selection, Evaluation and Management (Quiz 2 –
Material covered on 23, 24, and 25 June)
Lecture 2b
29 June
Case Group Presentations & Discussion # 2; Strategic
Cost Management
The Lego Group: An
Outsourcing Journey; Lecture 3
30 June
Strategic Cost Management (Exercise 3: Price/Cost
Exercise)
Lecture 3
1 July
Strategic Cost Management (Quiz 3 – Material covered on 30
June, 1 July, and 2 July)
Lecture 3
6 July
Case Group Presentations & Discussion # 3;
Negotiation and Conflict Management, Contract Management
Procurement at Betapharm
Corp. (A) ; Lecture 4
7 July
Negotiation and Conflict Management, Contract Management
(Exercise 4: Negotiation Exercise)
Lecture 4
Case Group Presentations & Discussion # 4; (Quiz 4 –
Material covered on 7, 8 and 9 July)
Whirlpool Corporation Global
Procurement
8 July
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