OPRE 6371 Purchasing, Sourcing and Contract Management Spring 2024

Course Syllabus

Course Information

Course Number/Section OPRE 6371 Sections 0w1

Course Title Purchasing, Sourcing and Contract Management

Term Spring 2024

Modality

The course modality is (asynchronous) Online. The class do not meet in person or virtually. Each week the Instructor will upload recorded videos onto eLearning and hold online office hours. The students are required to watch the videos and complete assignments within the week. Any questions could be sent to the Instructor by email or answered during the online office hours. Exams will be held at the Testing Center or online during a time period.

Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites, and/or Other Restrictions

OPRE 6301 is recommended as a pre-/co-requisite and should at least be taken concurrently. You should be comfortable with basic Excel operations.

Course Description

Costs associated with purchasing may account for as much as 80% of the cost of goods sold. This means that even a small decrease in purchasing costs can have a significant impact on the bottom line. Procurement involves a constant tension between reducing immediate costs and managing other hidden elements such as quality, risks, and supplier relationships, with strategic incentives being an important underlying force. Throughout this course we will examine a variety of procurement issues, emphasizing relevant strategic incentives and going beyond immediate costs.

Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes

· Describe the strategic sourcing process;

· Match the appropriate commodity sourcing strategy to a product or service;

· List at least five major metrics for evaluating and selecting suppliers;

· Analyze strategic purchasing/sourcing interactions using simple game-theoretic models;

· Apply conceptual models to make make-versus-buy recommendation;

· Name BATNA and calculate reservation prices in a negotiation;

· Recognize four major types of procurement auction mechanisms;

· Characterize the optimal bidding strategy for each of the four major procurement auction mechanisms;

· Define and explain important elements of procurement auction design, such as reservation price, number of bidders, minimum bid decrement, and ending rule;

· Recognize two major types of agency problems;

· Recommend a solution for each type of agency problem.

Required Textbooks and Materials

Required Texts

· None

Required Materials

· Coursepack, to be digitally purchased by student at https://hbsp.harvard.edu/import/1136095

Suggested Course Materials

Suggested Readings/Texts

· Purchasing and Supply Management by Johnson, Leenders, Flynn

· The Procurement and Supply Manager’s Desk References by Sollish and Semanik

Suggested Materials

· None

Textbooks and some other bookstore materials can be ordered online or purchased at the UT Dallas Bookstore.

Technical Requirements

In addition to a confident level of computer and Internet literacy, certain minimum technical requirements must be met to enable a successful learning experience. Please review the important technical requirements on the Getting Started with eLearning webpage.

Course Access and Navigation

This course can be accessed using your UT Dallas NetID account on the eLearning website.

Please see the course access and navigation section of the Getting Started with eLearning webpage for more information.

To become familiar with the eLearning tool, please see the Student eLearning Tutorials webpage.

UT Dallas provides eLearning technical support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The eLearning Support Center includes a toll-free telephone number for immediate assistance (1-866-588-3192), email request service, and an online chat service.

Communication

This course utilizes online tools for interaction and communication. Some external communication tools such as regular email and a web conferencing tool may also be used during the semester. For more details, please visit the Student eLearning Tutorials webpage for video demonstrations on eLearning tools.

Student emails and discussion board messages will be answered within 3 working days under normal circumstances.

Distance Learning Student Resources

Online students have access to resources including the McDermott Library, Academic Advising, The Office of Student AccessAbility, and many others. Please see the eLearning Current Students webpage for more information.

Server Unavailability or Other Technical Difficulties

The University is committed to providing a reliable learning management system to all users. However, in the event of any unexpected server outage or any unusual technical difficulty which prevents students from completing a time sensitive assessment activity, the instructor will provide an appropriate accommodation based on the situation. Students should immediately report any problems to the instructor and also contact the online eLearning Help Desk. The instructor and the eLearning Help Desk will work to resolve any issues at the earliest possible time.

Academic Calendar

Grading Policy

Grade Composition:

· Prep/reflection (11 x 1%, capped at 10%) 10%

· Group assignments (6 x 5%) 30%

· Midterm exam 30%

· Final exam 30%

Grading Guideline:

· Top ~45% A’s

· Next ~50% B’s

· Next ~5% C’s and below

Each exam is 120 minutes, open note. No communication of any kind allowed. Each exam grade will be curved to have an average of 80 and a standard deviation of 10.

Course Policies

Make-up exams

· Make-up exams must be requested before the regular exam time and are granted on a case-by-case basis. No make-up exams are available for those who miss the regular exam without the instructor’s explicit prior permission.

Extra Credit

· No extra credit is available

Late Work

· Because most assignments will be discussed in class, late work is not accepted in principle.

Class Participation

· There will be several single-player games and a multiple-player game. Students are expected to play these games seriously to maximize learning.