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There is no great reservoir of literature available to the serious student of that part of management sciences known as purchasing. Although there are a number of textbooks prepared by academics in purchasing, much of the authorship of other purchasing‐related literature has been undertaken by practitioners and academics in the field of marketing. This is regrettable but quite logical, for it arises out of the fuller explanation of the subject. Here, marketers have perceived a legitimacy in researching inter alia such areas as buyer behaviour, buyer perceptions, the organisation of buying and the decision‐making process of the purchasing function. Although many of these pieces of work are helpful to those studying purchasing subjects, they are necessarily written from the marketing perspective and therefore not entirely adequate for the serious student of purchasing. As an example, such authors naturally see the buyer as part of the customer market and references to markets is within this context. The buyer himself has a perspective of his/her supply markets which recognise their wider scope and increased complexity more accurately than can be perceived by an author taking a marketing viewpoint.

Traces the development of purchasing from a materials acquisition function to supply chain management. The paradigm shifts to recognising every purchase is also a sale and that purchasing is more than buying. Contemporary purchasing incorporates strategic procurement – aligning suppliers’ performance with purchasers’ business strategies, supplier‐base management – managing the structure and culture of supplier relationship, and lean supply organisation – energising internal and external organisational teams through flexible structures and responsive information systems. Tasks for purchasing and supply chain management can be differentiated at the operational, administrative and entrepreneurial levels. An incremental approach is recommended to changing practices and policies by encouraging organisational learning, teamwork and dissemination of experience with supply chain management.

Discusses supply chain management practices, with emphasis on purchasing, in Botswana (a developing country). Focuses on problems facing business operations and how to improve the situation. Presents the views of purchasing personnel from public and private organizations and of students taking purchasing and supply chain management courses. Discovers that purchasing has not been recognized as a profession, which has led to lack of motivation in purchasing sections’ personnel. Further, purchasing policies on external relationships and image are non‐existent in most organizations. Claims that managers need to change their thinking about the purchasing and supply function – to see it as strategic and not clerical; and purchasing and supplies personnel require training in supply chain management.

An investigation has been carried out within a multinational engineering corporation into the role of purchasing within a corporate structure. The main research method was case studies of corporate purchasing and three factory buying departments. It was found that the division of responsibilities between corporate and factory levels had a major effect on the role of purchasing at factory level resulting in the latter occupying a service role in relation to other departments. It is also pointed out that the use and usefulness of various purchasing techniques is also influenced by the relationship between corporate and factory purchasing and factors such as tighter control of stocks, pressures from customers, purchasing department staffing levels, the economic situation, the level of computerisation and the role of purchasing in relation to other departments.

Purchasing management has been recently focused by public organisations aiming to maximise its contribution to operations. Such an aspect has been emphasised by the impacts of on going commercialisation process in the network public service sector. This paper provides evidence of changes in purchasing management behaviour in public firms in the water supply sector. In particular, in Italy the firms, after a first phase of increasing attention to purchasing management and suppliers selection, slowly has come back to a clerical approach, maintaining an “arms-length” relationship with suppliers. A model for describing the oscillation of purchasing management within the firms is presented and an explanation of such an oscillation is suggested in terms of flow of power between technical management and political managers.

Evaluates the level of purchasing participation in the corporate strategic planning process. Results indicate that the level of participation has increased over the last five years. Discusses possible explanations for this increase.

Looks at two aspects of the industrial purchasing process: constructing a definitive any variations in their relative importance by purchasing and non‐purchasing executives when making buying decisions. Proposes that marketing manager need to know what factor influence buying behaviour in order to be able to design better a marketing mix for their organization. Suggests that marketing, managers may also benefit from an analysis of vendor attributes.

The days of effortless profits for Saudi firms and for companies in the Gulf region are over. The current status of purchasing efficacy in Saudi Arabia is examined at a time when the economies of the Gulf countries are going through a critical transformation. A survey undertaken in Saudi Arabia is described, its results presented, and its findings and their implications discussed.

As the importance of the purchasing function in corporations increases, there has been a concurrent increase in the importance of ethics in the purchasing environment. The purchasing linkage is critical to effective operation of corporations as high‐quality raw materials and supplies available on a timely basis are required for global competitive success. Bottom‐line productivity and profitability, as well as long‐term viability, are directly dependent on effective functioning in the purchasing arena. The traditional organisational structure of the purchasing function has the potential to encourage unethical employee practices. Viewing the relationship between an organisation and its suppliers as adversarial creates conflict as well as inherent ethical dilemmas in the purchasing function. This article discusses various categories of unethical purchasing situations and illustrates ways to lessen or avoid these dilemmas through the introduction of just‐in‐time (JIT) inventory control procedures. The internal co‐operation necessary in the purchasing/operations interface under JIT facilitates development of a corporate culture supportive of ethical behaviour. Moreover, since in JIT the supplier is considered part of the team – the “person at the previous work station” – these concepts can reinforce intraorganisational ethics as well.

The contrast between Japanese purchasing practices and US traditional purchasing practices provides a good insight into the relative importance of JIT for US firms. Since the initial implementation of JIT purchasing in late 1980 by Kawasaki Motors (Lincoln plant), at least 50 companies in the US such as GM, Ford, Nissan, Hewlett‐Packard, Xerox, Goodyear, GE and other large US corporations, have adopted and implemented the concept. This has significantly altered not only the way these companies plan and control their production facilities and purchasing systems but has also led to improvements in their product quality and productivity.