Course Description
This concise course is designed to explore the institutional purchasing cycle for consumable materials, raw materials, spare parts, and capital assets. Additionally students will explore and develop a thorough understanding of the supplier/buyer relationship, the benefits of high-quality vendor management systems, and the pitfalls of poorly designed or implemented vendor management systems. Throughout this course we will focus in detail on the basic principles, procedures, and policies involved in the organizational function often referred to as Supply Chain Management.
We will explore the delicate balance and interrelationships between the Supply Chain Management function and other key functions within the organization, and discover how the distinct but often overlooked value proposition that a well engineered purchasing and vendor management system can deliver to an organizations bottom line. Specifically we will explore how vendor product quality can contribute to performance gains, and losses that can, and have made the difference between a healthy income statement and balance sheet and losses that can quickly add up and haunt an organization for several fiscal periods.
We will also investigate a variety of purchasing and vendor management philosophies, and discover a variety of management systems that can contribute to data driven purchasing and vendor management decisions that insure optimal performance of the Supply Chain Management function.
Upon completing this course the student will be able confidently make data driven purchasing decisions for their organization, understand how purchases and vendor relationships affect the entire organization, and deliver bottom line improvement through a much greater understanding of Purchasing and Vendor Management.
- Completely Online
- Self-Paced
- Printable Lessons
- Full HD Video
- 6 Months to Complete
- 24/7 Availability
- Start Anytime
- PC & Mac Compatible
- Android & iOS Friendly
- Accredited CEUs

Learning Outcomes
By successfully completing this course, students will be able to:
- Define what purchasing and vendor management is.
- Describe the purchasing process.
- Describe vendor relationship management.
- Summarize alternate purchasing methods.
- Describe the processes for continuous improvement in purchasing and vendor management.
- Describe income statement and balance sheet considerations in purchasing and vendor management.
- Demonstrate mastery of lesson content at levels of 70% or higher.
Assessment Guide
Assessment | Points |
---|---|
An Introduction | 1 points |
Lesson 1 Assignment | 15 points |
Lesson 1 Exam | 10 points |
Lesson 2 Assignment | 15 points |
Lesson 2 Exam | 10 points |
Lesson 3 Assignment | 15 points |
Lesson 3 Exam | 10 points |
Lesson 4 Assignment | 15 points |
Lesson 4 Exam | 10 points |
Lesson 5 Assignment | 15 points |
Lesson 5 Exam | 10 points |
Lesson 6 Assignment | 30 points |
Lesson 6 Exam | 8 points |
Lesson 7 Exam | 9 points |
The Final Exam | 34 points |