UTIPS education

Purchasing management is becoming more and more important. Production companies purchase nowadays approximately 70% of their turnover, service companies purchase approximately 40% of their turnover! The importance of purchasing requires therefore intensive management.

UTIPS offers an (optional) course in Purchasing Management to all Master students in the University of Twente. This course provides a general overview of purchasing management. It is not to teach specific purchasing skills, but rather to develop the understanding of what strategic, tactical, and operational aspects are involved in purchasing and how these aspects can be managed. The purchasing function is considered from various angles including its organisation, the relevant procedures, and the purchasing process itself. Many issues are illustrated with examples taken from the practical experience of the teaching staff. In this way also new developments in purchasing are included.

Learning objectives

After successful completion of this course the student is able to analyse the performance of the purchasing organisation and make well-founded decisions on purchasing issues.

The course usually runs in the first semester and comprises 15 lectures of each 1,5 hours. Every year around 100 students enroll in the course and take one of the 2 written exams that are organised. A general outline of the course is shown in the table at the bottom of this page. For more specific information about the course see Teletop.

Capita selecta

Students who have passed the Purchasing exam, may subsequently submit a proposal for a so-called Capita Selecta-project on Purchasing Management. A capita selecta project involves writing a paper based on a thorough literature search on a specific topic.

Graduation projects

The UTIPS staff supervises around 10-15 students every year who work on a (Master-level) graduation project on Purchasing Management. These projects are usually carried out over a period of 6-8 months in both public and private organisations. Some typical examples of Master projects are:

Auditing of the purchasing function

Investigating the tools for purchasing analysis and diagnosis

Improving the efficiency of MRO-purchasing

Investigating the possibilities of E-commerce

Bezoek voor actuele afstudeeropdrachten op het gebied van inkoop & logistiek de site van OMPL.

Internships

The UTIPS staff is also involved in supervising students who are involved in a practical training project on Purchasing Management (internship). These projects cover around 10 weeks and are usually carried out abroad.

Outline of the course