Master Purchasing and Supply Management | Business Administration

Become a highly sought-after business expert, specialised in industrial and/or public procurement and impacting performance, innovation and sustainability throughout the entire supply chain.

The thirty largest Dutch companies rely on suppliers for no less than 70% of their turnover. No wonder that the demand for purchasing specialists is on the rise, in both the industry and the public sector. Do you want to become a business expert who can combine the management of huge contracts and strong supply chains with a broad business perspective? If so, the specialisation in Purchasing & Supply Management is the right choice for you.

You will gain an in-depth understanding of purchasing management strategies in both the industrial sector and the public sector/healthcare procurement. In fact, this specialisation is the only one in Europe that offers you a choice between these two directions. Moreover, the Netherlands, historically, is a superpower in the science of purchasing, and no other university offers as many courses in this field as UT does.

What to expect?

How should the government, or hospitals, manage the procurement of critical healthcare products in shortage, such as mouth masks during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic? How do you run a purchasing department in a way that also helps your suppliers to perform better, and positively impact communities and society? And how can purchasing affect growth, innovation, or sustainability? These are just a few of the many, diverse questions you can expect to tackle.

Examples of courses you (can) follow during this specialisation:

During the course Purchasing Strategy and Systems, you will discover the impact of purchasing, and learn how to develop purchasing and business strategies. The course is taught by the Chief Purchasing Officer of a large automotive supplier.
With B2B Marketing you come to understand the buyer as well as the seller of a product. You will learn to prepare your purchasing strategy based on the marketing strategies chosen by suppliers.
The course Global Sourcing and Organisation will give you in-depth insights into cross-cultural negotiation as well as different purchasing designs. You will discover how to manage purchasing and perform a purchasing maturity assessment for an actual company.

Drawing on many real-life cases presented by various companies, you will learn how purchasing can influence innovation, sustainability and transformation. This specialisation will help you become skilled in working with people while using your knowledge ideas to drive performance across entire supply chains. You will develop a firm grasp of how procurement impacts key areas of industry and society, and how to handle that impact in the years ahead – from the challenges of COVID-19 to those of Industry 4.0, and from public healthcare procurement to digitalisation or blockchain implementation.

Go for a double degree!
Did you know that you can combine this specialisation with a second Master’s in Finland? Find out more about this double degree.

What will you learn?

As a graduate of this Master's and this specialisation, you have acquired specific, scientific knowledge, skills and values, which you can put to good use in your future job.

Knowledge
After completing this Master’s specialisation, you:
- have an in-depth understanding of marketing, market analysis, sales management, business marketing, negotiation and decision-making;
- have a general overview of purchasing, including all its strategic, tactical and operational aspects – either in the industrial world or in the public sector;
- understand how purchasing affects strategic management and supply chain performance.
Skills
After successfully finishing this Master’s specialisation, you:
- can realise strategic plans by making effective use of IT systems, eProcurement, controlling, processes and more;
- possess the skills needed to procure complex projects, goods and services for government and health-related organisations;
- know how to drive innovation or sustainability as a (public) procurement specialist, and how to transform a business or organisation through strategic purchasing choices;
- have acquired important and highly sought-after skills in international purchasing and cross-cultural negotiating.
Values
After completing this Master’s specialisation, you:
- use your knowledge and skills to help businesses, or public sector organisations, to positively impact society;
- value innovation and sustainability in managing supply chains;
- manage (international) purchasing processes from a holistic, ethically responsible and accountable perspective, with a keen understanding of key issues, such as corruption, governance and crisis management.

Other master’s and specialisations

Is this specialisation not exactly what you are looking for? Maybe one of the other specialisations suits you better. Or find out more about these other Master’s:

Courses & research