Purpose Research on purchasing managers and their skills requirements supports the training and education of purchasing professionals. This paper offers an in-depth analytical review of the purchasing skills reported in the supply chain management (SCM) literature. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the most important skills and factors that influence these skills. Design/methodology/approach This paper employs a systematic literature review methodology. Two databases, Scopus and Web of Science, are searched for relevant articles. The selected journal articles are used as sources to obtain a view not only on the relevant purchasing and supply management (P/SM) skills, but also on factors that emphasize certain P/SM skills. This paper also summarizes the ten skills ranked as most important (often described as the “top ten”) among the sample articles. Findings The paper highlights the essential skills for purchasing professionals, verified both by their frequent appearances in rankings and by citation frequency in the literature. Generic managerial skills, such as communication, cost analysis, teamwork, problem-solving, negotiation, influencing, and persuasion, as well as information technology skills, received the most attention in the literature and rankings of the “top ten” P/SM skills. This paper provides a refined categorization of purchasing skills, which have merged recently with other discussed skills, such as political and entrepreneurial ones, into this categorization. This paper identifies factors that affect purchasing managers’ skills requirements. Originality/value This paper presents a structured overview of 57 peer-reviewed articles from high-quality journals about purchasing skills. The review contributes to the purchasing skills literature by showing the most relevant skills and the factors that influence skills requirements. These factors also provide arenas for further research related to purchasing skills.
PurposeThe aim of this study was to identify interventions for and mechanisms of the digital transformation of purchasing and supply management (PSM) processes. The digital transformation of tactical and operational PSM processes has often progressed slowly despite the solid knowledge of advanced technologies.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a qualitative exploratory approach based on 14 interviews with PSM executives from firms that are continuously working toward using advanced technologies in their PSM processes but have not yet gained full strategic benefits from digital transformation.FindingsThis study formulates five propositions regarding interventions and mechanisms that can positively influence the digital transformation of PSM processes. The main intervention in this regard is the renewal of data infrastructure, including platforms. PSM-related data should meet needs from both tactical and operational viewpoints. When applications serve as a source of data, they support digital transformation. Mechanisms such as supplier measurement and process improvement are outcomes of the digital transformation of PSM processes.Practical implicationsThis study highlights the importance of common data sets for tactical and operational purchasing. These purchasing data should be owned and served by a cross-functional team. To create this interoperability, a firm needs global governance of open standards.Originality/valueThis study makes a theoretical contribution to the discussion of what kind of interventions positively influence on the digital transformation of PSM processes. Specifically, this study explains the integration needs of data and applications.
PurposeBuyer–supplier relationships in public procurement have garnered increasing attention in research, yet studies on the perspective of suppliers on public procurement have remained limited. This research takes the perspective of suppliers and aims to investigate the innovativeness of suppliers and the impact of supply chain ambidexterity strategies on their perceptions about public procurement in terms of innovation enablers and customer attractiveness.Design/methodology/approachThis research draws from a survey of 137 suppliers to the public sector in Finland and applies PLS-path modeling to test its hypotheses.FindingsThe findings reveal that the ambidexterity strategy of suppliers in the supply chain influences how they perceive the innovation enablers and customer attractiveness of public organizations since processes of public procurement do not support these strategies fully. Supplier innovativeness has an influence on the perceived innovation enablers of public procurement, which, in turn, influences customer attractiveness.Practical implicationsThe innovativeness and strategies of suppliers for the supply chain have an impact on how attractive they perceive public procurement. The findings of this research provide insights on why the customer attractiveness of public procurement may not be high enough to secure the competition in their bidding processes.Originality/valueThe study’s contribution adds to the field of buyer–supplier relationships and customer attractiveness in public procurement by showing the importance of innovation enablers and highlighting the impact of supplier's ambidexterity in the supply chain on their perceptions about public procurement.
The Internet of things (IoT) transforms how businesses operate, create, and deliver products and services. Despite increasing interest in IoT business models, knowledge of the capabilities needed to implement them remains vague. The objective of this paper is to investigate patterns found in 21 empirical tested cases covering several industries. This paper identifies the most common capabilities (connectivity, data management and storage, monitoring, data analytics, control, operations management, maintenance, communication, applications, and security) in an IoT-Product Service System (PSS). Industry practitioners can use this information to visualize linkages between their intended business model and capabilities when developing IoT-PSSs.
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