SCM210

Procurement & Sourcing

Decide where purchasing effort will help most, compare suppliers on total cost, and examine contracts and supplier development. Four chapters use fictional cases and worked calculations.

  • 4 chapters
  • ~23 min of reading
  • 12 learning objectives
  • 12 practice questions

Course overview

The course runs to 4 chapters and about 23 minutes of reading. Every chapter is self-contained: read it in one sitting, work the example on paper, then check yourself against the practice solutions before moving on.

The learning path below shows how the chapters build on one another, and each chapter card lists what you should be able to do once you have finished it.

How each chapter works

  1. Objectives — what you should be able to do afterwards.
  2. Reading — short sections that build the idea in plain language.
  3. Worked example — a full problem solved step by step.
  4. Practice — questions with solutions you can expand once you have tried them.
  5. Takeaway — the one sentence worth remembering.

Learning path

Chapters build on each other. This is the arc from first principles to the end of the course.

  1. Spend Analysis and Category Strategy

    Spend analysis and Kraljic-style segmentation force procurement to spend its effort where leverage is real, and a category strategy is the bridge from analysis to action.

  2. Supplier Selection and Total Cost of Ownership

    Unit price is the starting point, not the answer; TCO and weighted scoring force the conversation about hidden costs and non-price criteria that determine which supplier is actually cheapest and best.

  3. Contracts, Risk, and Total Value Exchange

    A contract is not just a price; it is the alignment of incentives, the definition of service, and the firm's exit option, and the right type and clauses depend on the strategic posture the firm has chosen.

  4. Supplier Development and Operational Currency Risk

    Procurement is the operational layer where strategic posture, contracts, supplier development, lead-time design, and currency awareness all come together; each of them is a lever, and the job is to pull them on purpose.

Chapters (4)

Open any chapter to see its objectives, reading, worked example, and practice questions.

  1. Chapter 1: Spend Analysis and Category Strategy

    • Segment purchased spend using Kraljic's matrix and explain why each quadrant demands a different strategy
    • Compute a Pareto view of spend concentration
    • Translate category analysis into a small set of strategic moves

    3 sections · ~6 min read · 3 practice questions

  2. Chapter 2: Supplier Selection and Total Cost of Ownership

    • Build a weighted scoring model that includes both price and non-price criteria
    • Compute a simple Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and explain the components
    • Recognize when a low unit price is more than offset by hidden costs

    3 sections · ~6 min read · 3 practice questions

  3. Chapter 3: Contracts, Risk, and Total Value Exchange

    • Distinguish fixed-price, cost-plus, and volume-based contracts and when each fits
    • Identify the major commercial clauses that protect the firm in a supply contract
    • Use a simple risk register to map supplier risks to mitigations

    3 sections · ~5 min read · 3 practice questions

  4. Chapter 4: Supplier Development and Operational Currency Risk

    • Apply a supplier development cycle (assess, plan, execute, sustain) to a critical supplier
    • Explain operational lead-time scenarios that drive sourcing footprint decisions
    • Reason about currency exposure in procurement and the basic tools to manage it

    3 sections · ~6 min read · 3 practice questions