Birmingham Business School has possessed extensive expertise in strategic procurement and supplier management for over 25 years, with the academic team vastly experienced at delivering research, publications, consultancy and continuing professional development.
Procurement and supplier management is for many, if not all, firms a critical activity. For example, manufacturing firms commonly source 70% to 80% of the content of their products from suppliers. Many public services are also, sometimes controversially, sourced from the private sector. Best practice procurement and supplier management can, in such cases, lower costs or, where priorities are different, enhance innovation and secure greater responsiveness.
“Best practice procurement and supplier management can lower costs or, where priorities are different, enhance innovation and secure greater responsiveness.”
The specific areas of interest of the team at Birmingham include:
- internal cross-functional and cross-organisation working (i.e. how the procurement function interacts with and develops procurement and supplier management strategies with its internal stakeholders - and vice-versa);
- the role of power in procurement and supplier management;
- implementing SPM and SRM;
- services procurement
- the development of self-enforcing agreements with suppliers.
Research Outputs
The expert team at Birmingham regularly publish research on aspects of best practice procurement and work directly with clients to help them achieve it. CPD and consultancy assignments include engagements of over ten years with IBM Global Procurement and the UK National Health Service, and an ongoing CPD relationship with Rolls-Royce plc (see link) that saw it receive the College of Social Science ‘Outstanding Impact in Business and Enterprise’ award in 2017.
Lead contact
Dr Chris Lonsdale
Reader in Procurement and Supply Management
Telephone: +44 (0)121 414 7593
Email: c.m.lonsdale.ieb@bham.ac.uk
Chris's current research activities focus upon NHS commissioning, public sector contracting, buyer-supplier relationships, trust and opportunism in business markets, the promotion of innovation through public procurement, the procurement of professional services and organisational buying behaviour. Chris also retains an interest in political science, with a particular focus upon the politics of state-finance relations and modern political philosophy.
View Chris' profile
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