Big data in purchasing and supply management: A research agenda

This paper presents an analysis of two courses in the fields of Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM) and Supplier Relationship Management (SRM). The aim is to investigate how teaching content and methodologies can be adapted to align with evolving global trends in PSM, while also evaluating their effectiveness in developing the skills essential for professionals in this field. Drawing on a longitudinal tracking of six years, we examine the courses at three levels: course topics, teaching methods, and assessment methods. We link these three course components with the skills required in PSM. This model categorizes procurement skills into technical , interpersonal , internal and external (to the company) , and strategic skills. The findings highlight the significance of integrating both theoretical foundations and practical applications in PSM education. The study provides insights into how PSM courses can be designed to foster the development of both hard and soft skills that are crucial for procurement professionals. Moreover, the results highlight the importance of regular course reviews to accommodate emerging trends and industry demands. This study makes both theoretical and practical contributions. Theoretically, it offers professors and lecturers a comprehensive framework for designing PSM courses. Practically, it provides managers with guidance on collaborating with academic institutions to promote project-based learning with students, which can help attract talent and advance applied research in the field of PSM. • Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM) education must adapt to meet the evolving needs of students and the job market, emphasizing collaboration between universities and companies, innovative teaching materials, and modern pedagogical methods. • This research introduces a structured framework for designing PSM courses that integrate foundational technical skills with practical applications, emphasizing sustainability, digitization, and interpersonal competencies essential for future Chief Purchasing Officers (CPOs). • Using Bals et al.’s (2019) model, the study clusters PSM skills into four categories—technical, interpersonal, internal/external enterprise, and strategic business skills—and proposes a blended teaching approach to cultivate these skills. • A retrospective analysis of two PSM courses in a Management Engineering program highlights the benefits of combining theoretical foundations with hands-on project-based learning, industry collaborations, and simulations. • The findings underscore the importance of aligning educational strategies with industry trends, fostering students’ cognitive, relational, and adaptive capabilities to prepare them for dynamic global supply networks.

Researching the future of purchasing and supply management: The purpose and potential of scenarios

Moving purchasing & supply management beyond a cost-focused identity

In this contribution an original Purchasing and Supply Management Maturity Framework (PSM2F) is going to be presented based on the findings of a comprehensive literature and empirical research and a comparative analysis of maturity/stage models published between 1983 and 2014 as well as (management) frameworks published between 1998 and 2014 in Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM). In total 20 maturity models published from authors with an academic or scientific background, 18 maturity models offered from consulting firms and 19 management frameworks of purchasing management were examined. Beside the presentation of eight core modules that contribute to a mature and professional PSM (e.g. strategy & plans, controlling & performance management, organization & internal interfaces, supplier management & external interfaces), contentrelated as well as descriptive findings are going to be discussed. Based on that, the development as well as the overall concept of the Purchasing and Supply Management Maturity Framework will be presented. To cover also the future aspects of professional PSM, 16 studies about trends and challenges in PSM were analyzed. Contrary to the large part of the published maturity models in PSM, this framework is designed as a management model for (1) the assessment of the PSM maturity in a company and (2) the creation of an improvement roadmap that should lead to higher maturity. In addition to the hard facts (What a company has to do to reach higher maturity in PSM?) also soft facts (How to proceed to reach higher maturity in PSM?) derived from change management theory will be addressed.

Paper aims This study characterizes Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM) projects in the context of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) at a Brazilian steel company, using the reference architecture model industry 4.0 (RAMI4.0) as a basis. Originality The article adapts RAMI4.0 to the PSM context and empirically evaluates the model, promoting digitalization practices in PSM. Research method An in-depth case study was conducted using participant observation, document analysis, individual interviews, and focus groups with PSM professionals. Main findings By adapting the life cycle (dimension) to the stages of PSM deployment, this study establishes a framework for monitoring and optimizing activities throughout the PSM process, offering valuable insights. Implications for theory and practice The customization and evaluation of the RAMI4.0 model for PSM can serve as a reference framework for companies seeking to drive the digital transformation of the PSM function. This model offers a strategic perspective on how to integrate Industry 4.0 technologies across various organizational levels, with the goal of promoting digital PSM.

Purchasing and supply management (PSM) professionals frequently work in a global business context. Understanding cultural differences can help professionals communicate appropriately with people from different cultural backgrounds. The successful use of cross-cultural teams provides different insights into the “inner“ and “outer” world and avoids cultural misunderstandings, allowing organizations to achieve competitive positions in a global setting. The impact of national cultures on the success of operation practices and the firms’ performance in certain countries is significant. Differences in operational decision-making can be explained by differences in cross-cultural issues and how they arise, and national culture is a key factor that influences PSM performance. With the increasing economic globalisation, many Europe-based, multinational companies have integrated themselves into global sourcing, and a majority of them are targeting the Asian market. The PSM functions in European firms have become more global and connected within the Asian market, because these firms have outsourcing to countries like China, Hong Kong and Singapore. Consequently, it is necessary for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to provide a framework for teachers and professors that allows to train and enable their students to respond to future cross-cultural challenges the job market is asking for. However, not all teaching activities of professors at HEIs and outsourcing activities of firms lead to success. This study was conducted to explore the differences in PSM job advertisements published in European countries (Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands) and three regions of Asia, namely, China, Hong Kong and Singapore in order to draw conclusions for job profiles as well as PSM teaching programmes. To achieve this, a bi-continental approach was taken as part of this research to compare online PSM job advertisements from these regions. The European advertisements had already collected as part of earlier research from online job platforms for three European countries with similar GDPs per capita, but with distinctively different cultural profiles: Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands. The Asian societies sample is an exact replication of the European set. The advertisements were collected from online job platforms for jobs in the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong and Singapore. To distinguish the national and cultural differences, the four cultural dimensions of Hofstede were applied. Authors of the current literature view the results of secondary data analysis, like the requirements mentioned in online job advertisements, as important sources of state-of-the-art and practically available information that provide readers with a good understanding what the employers’ requirements. This research contributes to the literature in that PSM (or SCM – Supply Chain Management) job ads published in these regions will be compared for the first time and described on the basis of their common grounds and cultural and structural differences. The findings may help HEIs to modify their PSM study programs regularly to react to the different requirements for graduates in terms of the demands of the global job market.

Evaluation criteria development and assessment of purchasing and supply management journals

Due to rapidly changing business environments, purchasing and supply management (PSM) organisations are constantly confronted with new problems impacting organisational performance. PSM research can address these problems through design science research. Design science is also regarded as the science of the artificial. Design science research is a methodology that aims to systematically generate knowledge for the design, synthesis, testing, and evaluation of human-made artefacts (e.g., tools, interventions, policies) that solve practical problems. PSM artefacts such as the purchasing portfolio matrix invented by Kraljic (1983) represent a valuable opportunity to solve problems in the PSM discipline. However, our artificial-intelligence (AI)-based analysis of the discipline's flagship journal, the Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management (JPSM), indicates that design-oriented publications in PSM are underrepresented, accounting for less than 4% of the total publications. We argue that existing PSM research should be complemented with more design-oriented research, and address the following research question: How can PSM scholars publish more design-oriented research? Our objectives are to (1) provide arguments for advancing PSM as a design science, (2) nurture a better understanding of design science research as a methodology, and (3) propose publication guidelines that enable researchers to present design-oriented research in a management journal.

Application of artificial intelligence technology in the manufacturing process and purchasing and supply management

Change within purchasing and supply management organisations – Assessing the claims from maturity models

The character and significance of Nordic purchasing and supply management research: A systematic review of the literature

This paper studies the performance impact of multi-dimensional strategy alignment in purchasing and supply management (PSM) in a literature review (LR)-based analysis. In a first step, it evaluates the scientific state-of-the-art in a systematic LR by classifying, analysing and synthesising 29 empirical studies with reference to a conceptual framework and based on the methodologies used in the sampled papers. The results of the review indicate that coordinating purchasing strategies with: 1) goals and strategies at the corporate level; 2) other functional strategies; 3) the supplier base (and the corresponding contextual requirements) has a significant positive effect on performance. Building on the conceptual framework, we highlight managerial insights and develop a research agenda by identifying research gaps and pointing out methodological shortcomings of the sampled papers in a second step. Finally, we operationalise an integrated strategy alignment index and develop hypotheses that support future empirical research on holistic strategy alignment in PSM.

This paper studies the performance impact of multi-dimensional strategy alignment in purchasing and supply management (PSM) in a literature review (LR)-based analysis. In a first step, it evaluates the scientific state-of-the-art in a systematic LR by classifying, analysing and synthesising 29 empirical studies with reference to a conceptual framework and based on the methodologies used in the sampled papers. The results of the review indicate that coordinating purchasing strategies with: 1) goals and strategies at the corporate level; 2) other functional strategies; 3) the supplier base (and the corresponding contextual requirements) has a significant positive effect on performance. Building on the conceptual framework, we highlight managerial insights and develop a research agenda by identifying research gaps and pointing out methodological shortcomings of the sampled papers in a second step. Finally, we operationalise an integrated strategy alignment index and develop hypotheses that support future empirical research on holistic strategy alignment in PSM.

Supply relationship evaluation:: The relationship assessment process (RAP) and beyond

The Journal of Supply Chain Management (JSCM) is a hallmark in the academic field of operations and supply chain management. During the past 50 years, it has contributed substantially to the recognition and adoption of purchasing and supply management (PSM) as an academic and strategic business domain. Having been invited by the JSCM editors to provide some ideas on the future directions of PSM research, the authors discuss what can be done to further increase both its relevance and rigor. Rigor and relevance in academic research are interconnected. To improve its relevance, the authors argue that future PSM research should better reflect the strategic priorities raised in the contemporary strategic management literature. Next, future PSM research should be much better embedded in a limited number of management theories. Here, stakeholder theory, network theory, the resource‐based view of the firm, dynamic capabilities theory, and the relational view could be considered as interesting candidates. Rigor is connected with robustness of academic research designs and projects. To foster its rigor, future PSM research should allow for an increase in the number of replication studies, longitudinal studies, and meta‐analytical studies. Future PSM research designs should reflect a careful distinction between informants and respondents and a careful sample selection. When discussing the results of quantitative studies, future PSM research should report on effect sizes and confidence intervals, rather than p‐values. Adoption of these ideas would have some important implications for both the academic PSM community and academic journal editors.