How to Measure Performance of the Purchasing Function

The purchasing function has been put in a leading position in many business sectors in recent years in terms of its impact on a company's competitiveness and consequently the company's value. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how the activities of this function are being accounted for and measured.

This book addresses the hypothesis if the currently existing performance measuring tools and the role given to the purchasing function are valid and sufficient. Based on best practices (e.g. automotive) it investigates on what processes purchasing departments should focus on. The findings during a conducted research and the generated results have been taken as the basis for deriving an example for measuring the contribution of the purchasing function and its performance. It was found that the methodology was successful in measuring the contribution while making the influenced factors transparent. An applied case study based on best practices delivered the basis for a new target setting system in the form of measurement criteria for purchasing departments. This book presents a derived system that is valid and applicable in a real life environment.

This book presents an adjusted way of measuring the performance of purchasing departments by introducing new ways. A methodology for the objective assessment of the contributing factors by defining the role of purchasing, its tasks, goals and direct and indirect influence on the company's value by using a scorecard system. The proposed system has been put in practice for validation. This book provides a significant step in understanding performance measurement of the purchasing function. The proposed methodology constitutes a scientific advancement, successful in quantifying (through a catalogue of criteria) the measurement of a purchasing department's performance, for the assessment of the purchasing function's contribution to the company's value (financial and non-financial contributors).

Further views on the current role of purchasing in the automotive industry, if its role should be changed in the future as well as how the results of purchasing influences the company's performance are contained, too.

In summary, this book is about increasing the awareness of the influence on capabilities and the impact of purchasing actions. The development of a criteria catalogue to measure correctly the monetary and non-monetary influence of the activities of purchasing to drive the company's value in a positive way.