UTIPS research

UTIPS focuses on five main research areas within purchasing:

The public sector

E-procurement

Non-product related purchasing (products and services)

Interface between purchasing and OR/management science/mathematics

Management: focusing on 'how to manage?' instead of 'how to do?'

Research that is conducted is often done in a combination of those areas. Also several surveys have been done on the purchasing practice in the public sector.

At the moment three UTIPS members are working on their PhD. Obviously the subjects are related to the five UTIPS research areas. A description of the projects is given below.

Multiple sourcing

PhD research by Merijn Linthorst

Cooperative purchasing

PhD research by Fredo Schotanus

Lower transaction costs, economies of scale, stronger negotiation positions, lower supply risks, learning from others and gaining access to more procurement expertise: all theoretical advantages related to purchasing consortia. Many organisations tried to gain these advantages in practice. It seems however that purchasing and cooperating do not always get along very well. Premature endings of existing purchasing consortia occur regularly and other consortia do not flourish. Disturbing is that there is very little knowledge on what causes these mishaps.

The overall goal of this project is to investigate, analyse, model and improve the establishment and management of purchasing consortia. The approach will be aimed at theoretical results in terms of development of formal models, empirically tested hypotheses and the development of methods and tools. For some sub-questions, we even aim at mathematically rigorous theorems. Also on the practical side there will be useful results from this work by providing methods, tools and some basic decision support system. Knowledge from technical, technological as well as social sciences will be combined to create an integrative and multidisciplinary approach .

The following research topics will be investigated during the research project:
When will a purchasing consortium become useful?
What will be the expected performance of a purchasing consortium?
What is the suppliers perspective concerning purchasing consortia?
What are suitable consortium members?
What is the optimal number and size of consortium members?
How should purchasing consortia costs and savings be allocated?
What purchasing consortia type suits which product types?
What are the critical success factors for managing purchasing consortia?
How should purchasing consortia respond to changes?

Organisational-dependent implementation of e-procurement

PhD research by Jeroen Harink, completed in 2003 (samenvatting)

The objective of the PhD project is to get a lucid understanding of the relation between the needs of organisations, based on their business objectives, and the various forms of e-procurement. In daily practice there are about five main forms of e-procurement. Each of these forms can be used as a mean in order to (more efficiently or effectively) achieve business objectives. The main challenge for organisations is to choose the optimal form(s) of e-procurement in order to achieve its business objectives. During the project the various forms of e-procurement, including the benefits, will be described and a relation with organisational business objectives will be established and tested.

Mathematical and statistical analysis of initial purchasing decisions

PhD research by Govert Heijboer, completed in 2003 (full text)

Decisions in initial purchasing are still mostly based on the purchaser’s knowledge and experience. Very little work has been done on formal analysis of the decision situations and on analytical and statistical optimization theory. A number of situations are very suitable for mathematical analysis though. The goal of this project is to investigate those purchasing decision problems, make mathematical and statistical analyses using operations research techniques and provide tools (DSS) that can aid in understanding and solving these problems in practice. Luitzen de Boer has already provided a framework in his thesis in which new tools can be developed. This makes the actual design of such tools a logical next step.

Managing purchasing outside of the Purchasing Department

Research by Corina Pop-Sitar

Many purchases in an organization are done without involvement of the purchasing department. This is not necessarily bad, but it requires management to control these purchases in a different way. The word "control" implies a combination of monitoring, managing and analyzing a function. This project is aimed at providing (general) management with tools, approaches, organizational arrangements and techniques to "control" the purchasing function without actually executing the purchasing function themselves (or under their direct supervision).

Design of a toolbox for supplier selection

PhD research by Luitzen de Boer, completed in 1998 (full text)

In this thesis we consider the application of methods and techniques from Operations Research in Purchasing. In particular, we study the use of decision models for supporting the selection of suppliers. We present the design of a toolbox which links different purchasing situations with appropriate decision models for supplier selection. Empirical testing of the toolbox in four organizations shows that it may offer the purchasing professional useful and comprehensive support when selecting suppliers.

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Home Education Links NEVI Research Staff Tools (freeware) << Enquete Sitemap Search	UTIPS research UTIPS focuses on five main research areas within purchasing: The public sector E-procurement Non-product related purchasing (products and services) Interface between purchasing and OR/management science/mathematics Management: focusing on 'how to manage?' instead of 'how to do?' Research that is conducted is often done in a combination of those areas. Also several surveys have been done on the purchasing practice in the public sector. At the moment three UTIPS members are working on their PhD. Obviously the subjects are related to the five UTIPS research areas. A description of the projects is given below. Multiple sourcing PhD research by Merijn Linthorst Cooperative purchasing PhD research by Fredo Schotanus Lower transaction costs, economies of scale, stronger negotiation positions, lower supply risks, learning from others and gaining access to more procurement expertise: all theoretical advantages related to purchasing consortia. Many organisations tried to gain these advantages in practice. It seems however that purchasing and cooperating do not always get along very well. Premature endings of existing purchasing consortia occur regularly and other consortia do not flourish. Disturbing is that there is very little knowledge on what causes these mishaps. The overall goal of this project is to investigate, analyse, model and improve the establishment and management of purchasing consortia. The approach will be aimed at theoretical results in terms of development of formal models, empirically tested hypotheses and the development of methods and tools. For some sub-questions, we even aim at mathematically rigorous theorems. Also on the practical side there will be useful results from this work by providing methods, tools and some basic decision support system. Knowledge from technical, technological as well as social sciences will be combined to create an integrative and multidisciplinary approach . The following research topics will be investigated during the research project: When will a purchasing consortium become useful? What will be the expected performance of a purchasing consortium? What is the suppliers perspective concerning purchasing consortia? What are suitable consortium members? What is the optimal number and size of consortium members? How should purchasing consortia costs and savings be allocated? What purchasing consortia type suits which product types? What are the critical success factors for managing purchasing consortia? How should purchasing consortia respond to changes? Organisational-dependent implementation of e-procurement PhD research by Jeroen Harink, completed in 2003 (samenvatting) The objective of the PhD project is to get a lucid understanding of the relation between the needs of organisations, based on their business objectives, and the various forms of e-procurement. In daily practice there are about five main forms of e-procurement. Each of these forms can be used as a mean in order to (more efficiently or effectively) achieve business objectives. The main challenge for organisations is to choose the optimal form(s) of e-procurement in order to achieve its business objectives. During the project the various forms of e-procurement, including the benefits, will be described and a relation with organisational business objectives will be established and tested. Mathematical and statistical analysis of initial purchasing decisions PhD research by Govert Heijboer, completed in 2003 (full text) Decisions in initial purchasing are still mostly based on the purchaser’s knowledge and experience. Very little work has been done on formal analysis of the decision situations and on analytical and statistical optimization theory. A number of situations are very suitable for mathematical analysis though. The goal of this project is to investigate those purchasing decision problems, make mathematical and statistical analyses using operations research techniques and provide tools (DSS) that can aid in understanding and solving these problems in practice. Luitzen de Boer has already provided a framework in his thesis in which new tools can be developed. This makes the actual design of such tools a logical next step. Managing purchasing outside of the Purchasing Department Research by Corina Pop-Sitar Many purchases in an organization are done without involvement of the purchasing department. This is not necessarily bad, but it requires management to control these purchases in a different way. The word "control" implies a combination of monitoring, managing and analyzing a function. This project is aimed at providing (general) management with tools, approaches, organizational arrangements and techniques to "control" the purchasing function without actually executing the purchasing function themselves (or under their direct supervision). Design of a toolbox for supplier selection PhD research by Luitzen de Boer, completed in 1998 (full text) In this thesis we consider the application of methods and techniques from Operations Research in Purchasing. In particular, we study the use of decision models for supporting the selection of suppliers. We present the design of a toolbox which links different purchasing situations with appropriate decision models for supplier selection. Empirical testing of the toolbox in four organizations shows that it may offer the purchasing professional useful and comprehensive support when selecting suppliers.