Create a business, define priorities, drive your business (purchasing) decisions with those priorities. Please choose a business that is associated with a commodity. This business should ideally be a product or extension of the commodity. For example, if cotton was the commodity, develop the business around clothing. If oil, think about a consumer product which uses oil (e.g. plastics).
You are opening a chain of retail stores. It must be a chain of multiple stores with a distribution network. You may sell product on-line, but the primary venue of your sales is brick and mortar. This must be a business where you sell retail goods, not just services. You may also sell services, but selling goods is essential to the project. Your job, as the Director of Procurement, is to develop a procurement strategy which supports the firm’s mission and objectives.
Please address each of the five parts/sections below. What you choose to highlight within each section is your group’s decision. The following are guidelines and ideas. Address those which are relevant. If you try to include each, you’ll produce a very shallow document, which would not be of value to your company. Remember, you are presenting a procurement strategy to CEO, COO, CFO and other Directors (e.g. Dir of Global Operations, Dir of Marketing). Plan accordingly
Part I: Describe your store and your customer.
• What is the name of your chain and what do you sell?
• Describe your customer: Who is your primary market? The order of your priorities should be apparent from a solid description of your customer. Know and understand your market.
Part II: List your business priorities in order
• Knowing your customer and the experience you wish to provide her/him, you should be able to outline your business priorities. Rank the following four items in the order that you see them as a priority for your business.
• Increase Sales
• Increasing Customer Service
• Reduce Expenses
• Increasing Gross Profit Percent
Sample Solution