ISCOM 361 Week 2

Individual Assignment The Purchasing Cycle

Read the following scenario:

To be the best asset to its organization, a purchasing department must efficiently and effectively use the purchasing process. The process includes how the department identifies organizational needs, evaluates those needs, chooses suppliers who fulfill those needs, ensures prompt and accurate payment, evaluates the level to which needs were met, and facilitates improvement. The effectiveness a purchasing department displays in overcoming challenges presented by the process and the efficiency with which it streamlines day-to-day operations is vital to organizational success. For an employee to work in the process, he or she must understand it. Please use headers for each requirement below.

Choose a specific industry, such as transportation, food and beverage, or housing.

Conduct research into the purchasing process for the industry you choose.

Write a 1000 to 1100-word paper, addressing the following:

Summarize purchasing objectives and responsibilities.

Explain steps of the purchasing cycle.

Determine what elements of the process could be improved. Provide three to four examples of how you would improve the process and how they improve it.

Describe how the purchasing process is different for capital goods. Provide specific examples of the difference between capital and non-capital goods.

Illustrate how an organization may gain a competitive advantage by improving their purchasing process.

Use a minimum of one reference and APA guidelines apply. Use headings for each bulleted requirement.

Learning Team Assignment Organizational Design at Caterpillar

Resource: pp. 148149 of Purchasing & Supply Chain Management

Write an 1100-word paper addressing the topics below.

Consider how the organizational design in the example affects purchasing. Please remember to use headers for each requirement clearly identifying your responses.

What personnel duties and responsibilities make this relationship possible?

How were organizational decisions made and communicated?

Is Caterpillars purchasing authority centralized or decentralized?

What are advantages of this type of authority?

How may Caterpillar continue to ensure their organizational structure meets future needs?

How does Caterpillars organizational structure compare to that of your current organization, or one you worked for in the past? If you have no organization to compare to, chose one you are interested in off the internet and use its organizational structure for comparison purposes.

Use a minimum of one reference and APA guidelines apply. Use headings for each bulleted requirement.

Discussion Questions

What are advantages of a centralized purchasing authority? What are advantages of a decentralized purchasing authority? What must an organization take into consideration when choosing a centralized or decentralized purchasing authority?

What is a supply chain management structure? Why would an organization use a vertical organization structure? Why would an organization use a horizontal organization structure?

Which would you choose? Why?