Optimization of the Procurement Process : A Case Study for the University of Bristol

This thesis was commissioned by The University of Bristol for the research of its procurement process. The main purpose of this thesis was to research procurement methods, principles and procedures that would support the development proposals for the optimisation of specific areas for the case institution’s procurement process. The following points that needed addressing were the importance of the procurement function amongst the university’s stakeholders, supplier management, department integration and the use of procurement methods within the department. Through the research of academic literature, online sources and the issues presented by the case institution, a framework was created and with its support, 17 questions for the qualitative method (semi-structured interviews) were formed. The interview participants were made up of 3 professionals from the University of Bristol’s procurement department. The results discovered the need for development in specific areas of the procurement process for the case institution. The respondents stated that there was a requisite to improve how KPI’s were monitored regarding supplier management. In addition, it was stated that there was a need to provide more available information for the stakeholders regarding purchases and the use of other procurement methods for supplier relationship improvement. It is proposed that more informative material regarding the procurement function be available for the stakeholders in the university’s internal network, an added focus on KPI’s for the improvement of the activities relating to supplier operations and an integration of a new procurement method to optimise the function. A follow up of this study is recommended to measure the success of the suggested improvements. It would be interesting to compare the results if a similar research would be conducted on an annual basis