Purchasing and Supply Chain

Management
Course Manual

2023-2024

Version August 31st, 2023

Course code: EBB742B05

Lecturers: Dr. Stefania Boscari (coordinator, room DUI 662, s.boscari@rug.nl)
Dr. Luca Gelsomino (lecturer, room DUI 610, l.m.gelsomino@rug.nl)
Secretaries: Room DUI 634, tel. 050-363 7020 (secr.operations.feb@rug.nl)
Period: Semester 1.1
Study load: 5 ECTS
Course and exam schedule

Table 1 provides a general overview of the course Purchasing and Supply Chain Management (SCM).
At the start of each week (excluding weeks 6 and 7), we will upload lecture videos that you are
required to watch prior to the corresponding on-campus session. Additionally, during weeks 2-6,
tutorials will also take place. Please see Didactic approach, organization and planning section below.
More detailed information can be found in the remainder of this course guide.

Table 1 – Course overview

Week Activities and Related book chapters and paper Videos and on-campus
deadlines sessions
1 (36) Lecture 1 Introduction Chapters 1, 5, 6, and 13 Videos on Brightspace
to the course Thu 7/9, 9 AM (Boscari)
Introduction to
purchasing and SCM,
andPurchasi
sustainability
DEADLINE: Thursday Sign up for tutorial group and assignment
7/9, 12-17 PM group (Brightspace)
2 (37) Tutorial 1 Introduction  Read assignment guide (see Various days and time slots
to the assignment Brightspace) (Boscari)
 Look up and bring FrieslandCampina’s
2022 annual report (information will
be posted on Brightspace)
Lecture 2 SCM and Chapters 8, 10.5, 12 Videos on Brightspace
sustainability Thu 14/9, 9 AM (Boscari)

3 (38) Tutorial 2 Case study Prepare case study (information will be Various days and time slots
on Purchasing posted on Brightspace) (Gelsomino)
Lecture 3 Purchasing Chapters 2, 3 p.55-77, 4 p.91-101 Videos on Brightspace
Thu 21/9, 9 AM (Boscari)
4 (39) Tutorial 3 is replaced Bring a copy of your progress on the Various days and time slots
with a meeting with a assignment (information will be posted on depending on your
lecturer Brightspace) assignment group (see
Brightspace)
Lecture 4 Purchasing Chapter 4 p. 101-124 Videos on Brightspace
and Sustainability Thu 28/9, 9 AM (Gelsomino)
(40) Career week Assignment A
DEADLINE: Monday 2
October, 9 AM
DEADLINE: Peer review on Assignment A
Wednesday 4 October,
9 AM
DEADLINE: Monday 9 If applicable: repair Assignment A
October, 9 AM

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5 (41) Tutorial 4 Assignment Bring copies of the feedback you gave and Various days and time slots
part B: sustainability received to/ from your peer group and
across sectors your own Assignment A

Lecture 5 P&SCM in Chapters 9, 10.4, 10.6 Videos on Brightspace

services Thu 12/10, 9 AM (Gelsomino)
6 (42) Tutorial 5 is replaced Bring a copy of your progress on the Various days and time slots
with a meeting with a assignment (information will be posted on depending on your
lecturer Brightspace) assignment group (see
Brightspace)
Lecture 6 Guest lecture Thu 19/10, 9 AM (Boscari)
by Unilever
7 (43) DEADLINE: Friday 27 Final report (A + B)
October, 9 AM
Lecture 7 Thu 26/10, 9 AM (Boscari)
Exam preparation
45 Exam: Friday 10 November 2023, 8.30-10.30 (always check the exam
schedule!)
5 Resit: 2 February 2024, 8.30-10.30 (always check the exam
schedule!)
Goals, content and justification
Educational goals
Upon completion of the course, the student is able to:
 Describe and summarize important concepts, ideas and principles of Supply Chain
Management (e.g. supply chain strategy, supply chain operations, integration) and
Purchasing management (e.g. sourcing, outsourcing, relationship management).
 Apply these concepts, ideas and principles in various industrial sectors (manufacturing and
services) and organizational contexts.
 Analyze supply chain management and purchasing issues from an economic, environmental
and social sustainability perspective.
 Apply supply chain management and purchasing theory and research findings to practical
situations faced by organizations.
 Reflect on academic research findings in a critical manner.

Course description
In today's business environment, most organizations are part of a chain or network in order to
produce and deliver goods or services to the ultimate customer. As such, organizations have all kinds
of relationships with one another and parties involved are connected through various business
processes. The purchasing process is one of these business processes, linking needs and
requirements of one organization with the supply of another. This course will focus on various
concepts related to supply chains such as supply chain strategy, supply chain operations, outsourcing
and relationship management between the focal firm, its suppliers and its customers. Moreover,
purchasing is examined from a supply chain perspective and business functions related to both
supply chain management and purchasing are explored. Attention will be paid to various working
contexts and sectors (manufacturing and services) in order to clarify that common purchasing and
supply chain management practices may not be used or applied in every context in the same
manner.
In this course, specific attention will be given to sustainability. Being of great importance in today’s
business environment, aspects of environmental and social sustainability and how these relate to
supply chain management and purchasing will be explored and critically reflected upon. This course
will allow students to become more sensitive to sustainability issues and how these are dealt with,
both in theory and in practice.

Subjects and coherence

The course Purchasing and Supply Chain Management (P&SCM) will provide students with a general
overview of developments and research in the fields of purchasing and supply chain management.
P&SCM is related to Supply Chain Operations (1 st year BDK) and Operations Management (2nd year
BDK-TM and BDK B&M). The course P&SCM adds to the study program of BDK in that it provides an
in-depth understanding and knowledge of the specific issues in purchasing and supply chain
management that take place between organisations and also in different sectors. Furthermore, a
sustainability perspective is put forward, thereby adding a specific dimension to student knowledge
that is of great importance in today’s business environment.
Relevance for practice
Working in any business requires working together with other organisations. This course provides
insights on issues faced when working together in a supply chain, both from buyer and supplier
perspectives. In this, attention will be paid, both in the lectures and in the assignment, to various
working contexts and sectors. Furthermore, the primary perspective taken in this course (i.e.,
sustainability) becomes more and more important for organisations and supply chains around the
world. This course will enhance students’ understanding of sustainability issues and how these can
be dealt with in practice.

Literature
Compulsory literature and materials
 Book: Purchasing and Supply Chain Management. A Sustainability Perspective. 2 nd
Edition. Authors: Thomas E. Johnsen, Mickey Howard, Joe Miemczyk. ISBN:
9781138064768 Price: ± €40,00
 Lecture slides (final sets will be posted on Brightspace)
 Slides related to the tutorials and assignment (final sets will be constructed by the
lecturers and posted on Brightspace).
 Case study related to tutorials (additional details will be posted on Brightspace)

The most relevant journals in the field:

 Supply Chain Management: an international journal
 Journal of Operations Management
 International Journal of Operations & Production Management
 Production and Operations Management
 Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management
 Journal of Business Logistics
 Journal of Supply Chain Management
 Journal of Cleaner Production

Required pre-knowledge
Some pre-knowledge is required to be able to follow this course. The book used in previous courses
in the bachelor BDK is ‘Operations and supply chain management – the Core’, by F.R. Jacobs and R.B.
Chase (3rd edition). Students will need to read some chapters from this book in order to become
familiar with concepts and ideas that are central to the field of Supply Chain Management. This will
enable students to more easily follow the lectures of the course Purchasing and Supply Chain
Management:
 Chapter 1: Operations and Supply Chain Management
 Chapter 2: Strategy and sustainability
 Chapter 13: Global sourcing and procurement
The book ‘Operations and supply chain management – the Core’ can be borrowed from the library.

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Didactic approach, organization and planning
The course Purchasing and Supply Chain Management consists of seven lectures, five tutorials and
one assignment, which consists of two sub-assignments. A full overview of the course can be found
in table 1.

Lectures and preparation for the lectures

At the start of each week (excluding weeks 6 and 7), we will upload lecture videos covering the main
topics that are listed in Table 1. Students should watch these videos and study related book chapters
for more detailed explanations before the on-campus session on Thursday morning.
At the start of each lecture (except the first and sixth weeks), multiple choice questions will be asked
based on the material (videos, slides, and book chapters) to be prepared for the lecture (please see
Bonus to exam grade section below). Afterwards, there will be a class discussion to develop more in-
depth understandings of some of the material presented in the videos.
Students are also encouraged to ask questions about the material in the videos and book to resolve
any confusions and to develop better understandings of course materials.

Assignment
The assignment for this course is elaborated upon in the Assignment guide (posted on Brightspace).
The assignment is to be made in groups of four. All four students need to be part of the same tutorial
group. The subdivision of students into groups needs to be done by students themselves. On
Thursday 7 September (as of Noon until 17.00 PM), students have to subscribe for a tutorial group
in Brightspace. Within each tutorial group, students then need to subscribe for an assignment group
in Brightspace.

Table 3 - Summary of Assignment deadlines and grading

What Deadline How Grading
Assignment A Monday 2 October, 9 Hand in report A via Sufficient / insufficient
AM Brightspace by starting a by fellow student
new thread in Upload group
assignment A
Assessment of Wednesday 4 October, 1. Use assessment scheme -
assignment A of 9 AM in the assignment guide
fellow-group 2. Reply to the thread of the
assigned group, (1) indicate
sufficient or not-sufficient
and (2) attaching the
assessment
Assignment A and B Friday 27 October, 9 Full report including both 1-10
AM part A and B via Brightspace Grading by instructors

In short, the assignment for this course focuses on the application of sustainability practices by
organisations that are active in different sectors. Two sub-assignments will allow you to report and
reflect on sustainability initiatives in practice:
Part A: You should acquire insights into the sustainability activities (environmental and social
sustainability) of 6 companies in one particular sector based on their annual (social) reports, as well
as reflect on these practical insights from a literature point of view;

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Part B: You should compare the sustainability activities in one particular sustainability field (i.e. social
or environmental) taken in various sectors (for this, you will have to use results of assignment part A
from different assignment groups) and reflect on these from a literature point of view.

Assignment groups start working on the assignment during the first tutorial. Thereafter, assignment
groups are expected to also work on the assignment outside class. During Tutorial 4, groups will work
on building the sector comparisons. For more detailed information on the assignment, the contents
of the two assignment parts and assessment and grading, see the Assignment guide on Brightspace.

Tutorials
Tutorials will be on-campus. The tutorials are closely linked to the assignment.
During the first tutorial the assignment will be explained and student groups will have time during
the tutorial to work on the assignment and ask questions to the instructor.
Tutorial 2 serves to give students a more in-depth understanding of purchasing management and
supply chain management in relation to sustainability. To this end, a case study will be discussed.
Each student group is expected to, as a group, prepare answers to the article/case study questions in
advance.
Tutorial 3 is replaced with a meeting between two student groups and a lecturer in which each group
can discuss specific issues encountered in doing the assignment A. To this end, each group is asked to
come with its work-in-progress on assignment A.
During tutorial 4, students will work on Part B of the assignment (i.e., comparison across sectors) to
identify similarities and differences between firms working in different sectors with respect to their
focus on and actions towards sustainability.
Tutorial 5 is replaced with a meeting between two student groups and a lecturer in which each group
can discuss specific issues encountered in doing the assignment. To this end, each group is asked to
come with its work-in-progress on assignment B.

Materials to be studied for tutorials will be posted on Brightspace in due time.

Table 4 - Overview of Tutorials, topics and related materials

Student activities during
Tutorial Topics to be covered Student preparation
tutorial
1 Explanation of assignment Read the assignment guide Work on assignment
and download
FrieslandCampina’s annual
report (posted on
Brightspace)
2 Case study on purchasing Read case study Case study discussion
and sustainability Make preparative
questions
3 Meeting with a lecturer Prepare and bring a copy of Assignment discussion
the assignment
4 Sustainability across Every individual student: Oral feedback from peer
sectors bring Part A of Assignment group
Work on Part B Assignment
5 Meeting with a lecturer Prepare and bring a copy of Assignment discussion

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 the assignment
Rules and procedures
Presence during the tutorials is compulsory. This does not hold in case a student does not feel well or
present any symptoms that can be linked to corona (please check the university policy for further
details). Please communicate this pro-actively to your tutor coordinator.
Students are supposed to actively participate during each lecture and tutorial. Furthermore, students
are expected to participate actively in all group assignments. Hence, it is of paramount importance
that all team members contribute equally to making these assignments. In case not all group
members contribute to the assignments, please communicate this pro-actively to your tutor
coordinator so that we can try to address such issues.
In case you still think not all group members contributed equally to an assignment, there is an option
to submit a Peer Review Form. If one group member fills this out and sends it to the course
coordinator (s.boscari@rug.nl), the course coordinator will invite all group members to fill out the
form. Based on this input, student groups can be invited for a small meeting, and the grade on an
assignment can be adjusted (maximum plus or minus 1 point based on individual contribution) by
redistributing the total number of points gained by the group among the group members.
Example: assignment is graded with a 7 (3 * 7=21 points); one group member provided substantially
less input, then grades can be adjusted to e.g. 6, 7.5, 7.5 (total 21 points).
Finally, plagiarism is not tolerated at the University of Groningen and carries severe consequences.

Assessment, grading and workload

Final mark
The final mark for this course is has 2 components with weights between brackets:
1) Literature exam (60%)
2) Assignment (40%).

Bonus to exam grade

Based on the quizzes that most lectures will start with, students can gain a maximum bonus of 1
point to be added to the exam grade. However, the bonus point will only be added to sufficient exam
grades (e.g. an exam grade 5.1 and 1 bonus point = no pass; an exam grade 5.5 and 1 bonus point =
exam grade of 6.5).
At the beginning of each lecture (except the first and sixth week), multiple choice questions will be
asked, based on the material (videos, slides and book chapters) to be prepared for the lecture. In
case the student has answered correctly 80% or more of the questions on the lecture, 1 point will be
assigned to the quiz of the lecture. If 70-80% of the questions have been answered correctly, 0.5
point will be assigned to the quiz of the lecture. However, if less than 70% of the questions have
been answered correctly, no points will be assigned to that quiz. The final bonus to be added to the
exam grade is calculated considering the points from all quizzes, excluding the lowest score:
 1 bonus point is added to the exam grade if all quizzes (with one exception) are assigned 1
point
 0.5 bonus point is added to the exam grade if all quizzes (with one exception) are assigned
points no lower than 0.5

Pass the course

In order to pass the course both the assignment and the literature exam should be made and fulfil
the following requirements:
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  The final mark before rounding should be at least 5.5.
 The mark for the literature exam should be at least 5.5.

The course is graded on a 1-10 scale.

If the overall grade of the assignment is not sufficient, this can be repaired by a completely new
individual assignment, to be decided upon by the lecturer. The maximum grade that the students can
get for the individual repair assignment is 5.5. This assignment will cover 50 hours per student (35%
of the course).

Literature exam
The digital exam will be on-campus and will consist of a mix of multiple-choice and open questions.
For the exam, indicated book chapters and additional literature sources indicated in Compulsory
literature and materials section (above) need to be studied, as well as the lecture slides and the case
study of tutorial 2.

Assessment/ grading
See Assignment guide on Brightspace for assessment criteria and grading.

Late penalty and penalty for exceeding the word limit for the full assignment
• When assignment is submitted late with no prior authorisation, a penalty of 10% will be
deducted from the actual mark for each calendar day, or part of a day, by which the deadline
is exceeded. After seven days from the initial deadline, a mark of zero will be awarded.
• Students who submit assignment that is above the word limit will be penalised. Indeed,
markers will stop marking once the word count limit has been reached, likely leading to a
reduced overall mark as key arguments or conclusions will not be included in the marked
work.

Workload (quantification of student activities in relation to the ECs)

The course encompasses 5 European Credits (EC) which means that a total effort of 140 hours is
required from the student. The 140 hours of the course are approximately built up as follows:

Lectures and preparation 40 hours

Tutorials and preparation 20 hours
Assignment 50 hours
Exam and preparation 30 hours
TOTAL 140 hours

Use of Brightspace
 Communication about the course will be mainly done via Brightspace. Announcements will
be posted. Furthermore, the Brightspace site contains course information (course manual,
assignment guide), course documents (slides and other relevant material) and contact
information of the course coordinator.
 Students have to subscribe for a tutorial group via Brightspace, and within that tutorial group
for an assignment group.

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 The reports for the assignment have to be handed in via Brightspace, under the Assignment
unit in the content menu. Assignment A has to be handed in via Upload assignment A and
the final report (A+B) has to be handed in via Upload final assignment.
 The peer review that is part of the assignment has to be handed in via Brightspace via File
Exchange.

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