Buying for Business

Buying For Business provides a simple but comprehensive guide to purchasing and supply. With current literature often academic in focus and unsuited to modern business readers, it offers straightforward and engaging information on the principles and practice of purchasing and supply management that will be of great value to anyone in business who deals with suppliers. Experts Mark Whitehead and Christopher Barrat answer all the key questions facing purchasing in business today, and offer advice on everything from ethics to outsourcing. Diagrams, analysis tools and pro-formas aid understanding, while case studies and bench-marking exercises illustrate and reinforce the learning.

Preface and Acknowledgements vii

Chapter 1 Everyone’s a Buyer 1

Chapter 2 Managing Purchasing People 21

Chapter 3 The Position of Purchasing 43

Chapter 4 Managing your Customers 61

Chapter 5 Relating to Suppliers 83

Chapter 6 Negotiation 105

Chapter 7 Measuring Performance 127

Chapter 8 E-commerce 151

Chapter 9 Outsourcing 173

Chapter 10 Globalization 195

Chapter 11 Ethics 215

Chapter 12 The Future 235

Index 251

“…Recommended reading for anyone already involved in or thinking about a career in the buying department…”
(Reading Chronicle, 9th December 2004) Christopher Barrat started out armed only with a degree in law and a bus conductor's license. He now has over 25 years of business experience. Working in the UK chemical industry, he was involved in sales, marketing and corporate purchasing before taking on more senior roles in ICI as European Sales Manager and Purchasing Director - experience that has given him a view 'from both sides of the table'. He is currently a director of the Greystone Partnership, where he specialises in developing skills in purchasing, negotiation, management and communication. He is a popular speaker and proud to be the first person to get the word 'Sex' into the CIPS annual conference agenda. He lives in Manchester with his family, and works with major blue chip companies throughout Europe.

Mark Whitehead started his career with a brief spell as a teacher before finding his vocation in journalism. He covered education, HR, management and general news for a variety of publications before specializing in purchasing joining Supply Management as deputy editor. The baffled looks on people's faces when he tried to explain what his magazine covered led to the idea of writing it all down in a book. He strongly believes that nothing is too complicated to be explained simply, which is one reason why he became a journalist and not a nuclear physicist. The other is that he dropped sciences in the fourth form. He lives with his wife and young son in north London, where he plays a variety of musical instruments and beats the congestion charge by cycling to work.

Purchasing and supply management – what’s it all about?

Buying for Business gives you the answers in a manner that is engaging and thought-provoking in equal measure. It’s relevant to every organization, from the smallest charity to the largest multinational – after all, there will never be a sale without a corresponding purchase – and to everyone from salesperson to shareholder. Whatever your sector, industry or job description, you’ll almost certainly find that purchasing affects you.

Written by two experts with insight into the key challenges facing the industry today, Buying for Business will prompt you to re-assess and re-think. Its straightforward information cuts through complexity, and its wry, people-focused approach will keep you entertained as well as informed. If you think you’re involved in purchasing, read it and keep it by you. If you think you’re not, read it anyway. You may need to think again.

"I started my business career as a buyer and the experience has informed my judgment and viewpoint to this day. This book covers the subject comprehensively and with a good balance of theory and practical experience. Buying for Business is a welcome arrival in an area that has been neglected in the past but which is vital to commercial success."
—Sir John Harvey Jones, former ICI Chairman and Troubleshooter, UK

"At last an easy to read, pragmatic, useful book to help business managers understand procurement. The jargon is minimal and the language is in a style that any business person can relate to. Buying for Business demystifies procurement and gives useful hints and tips about how to manage procurement people, suppliers and customers."
—Robin Cammish, CEO, QP Group, UK

"Buying for Business is a bold synthesis of theory and practice and should be welcomed by all for this. Not simply a "how to do it" book; there is real food for thought here. It is a refreshing change."
—Richard Lamming, Director, School of Management, University of Southampton

"Buying for Business is a useful read for both purchasing and non-purchasing professionals who seek to lever purchasing beyond an art into a science."
—John McKean, Executive Director, Center for Information Based Competition, USA

"Purchasing is too often overlooked by executives as a dull hygiene factor. As Barrat and Whitehead argue very effectively, purchasing can in fact be a strategic weapon, and the skill with which a company deploys it can make all the difference to both their bottom line and customer impact. I would recommend this introduction to the area."
—Mark Scott, a director of the Ashridge Strategic Management Centre, UK