Procurement and Sourcing Strategies: Balancing Cost, Risk, and Value

Introduction

Procurement is a key function in many organizations across industries and sectors, and procurement costs often constitute over 50% of the cost of goods sold (COGS). The procurement function is responsible for ensuring the supply from external sources (i.e., suppliers) of products and services that the organization needs. Procurement contributes to sustainability by balancing cost reduction, value adding, and risk management. Central in this balancing act is to develop proper sourcing strategies. How procurement can develop and exectute such strategies in an effective, efficient, and responsible manner is at the core of this course. The course is a mix of theoretical insights and high level analyses on the one hand, and application of practical tools, methods, and examples on the other.

Course content

The course includes a variety of topics that are relevant for achieving the learning outcomes. The list below gives an overview but is not exclusive:  

• Procurement function and tasks
• Procurement strategies at different levels
• Spend analysis, category management, and portfolio management
• Sourcing, supplier selection, and performance measurement
• Procurement planning
• Negotiation and contracting
• Managing supplier relationships and networks
• Procurement organizing and capabilities

Disclaimer

This is an excerpt from the complete course description for the course. If you are an active student at BI, you can find the complete course descriptions with information on eg. learning goals, learning process, curriculum and exam at portal.bi.no. We reserve the right to make changes to this description.