Short course

MBA Essentials – Strategic Procurement and Supplier Management

Start date: Friday 19 July 2024
Duration: Four days

Time commitment: 100 hours total commitment
Mode: In person

Cost: £2,625 - Scholarship available
Subject: Procurement and Supplier Management

Level: Postgraduate Microcredential
Credit: 10 credits

Assessment: Individual assignment

Taught over four days, our MBA Essentials course is made up of 'unbundled' modules from our full Executive MBA degree. The MBA Essentials offers block-teaching modules that fits busy schedule and will support managers with their career prospects, either in their own organisation or moving elsewhere.

The MBA Essentials – Strategic Procurement and Supplier Management is an investigation of ‘best practice’ procurement, contracting and supplier management. First, the module explores the different theories informing the broad subject area. These concern concepts such as trust, opportunism and power, and we look at how such concepts affect the way procurement and supplier management is both studied and practiced.

Second, the module focuses on organisational context and considers the management of the procurement operation. Here we look at procurement transformation, the alignment of procurement with organisational strategy, procurement technology and the internal marketing of the procurement function.

Third and influenced by our exploration of theories and organisational context, the module discusses how managers might start to think about the implementation of their strategic procurement, contracting and supplier management activities. The key implementation issues covered in the module are: the make-buy decision; organisational buying behaviour; supplier and relationship selection; supplier performance and relationship management; contracting; and conflict management.

By the end of the module you should be able to:

Understand, and have opinions on, the key debates within the field of strategic procurement, contracting and supplier management
Demonstrate an appreciation of the issues surrounding the management of the procurement operation
Undertake a rigorous make-buy analysis for an area of third-party expenditure
Understand the constraints on effective organisational buying behaviour
Understand the key criteria that should inform supplier selection decisions
Calculate buyer-supplier power relations
Understand the key issues related to supplier performance and relationship management
Be familiar with key global sourcing risks and be able to take a view on managing them
Recognise the hazards and management options relating to contracting
Demonstrate an appreciation of the principles of conflict management.

We are offering up to 15 £1,000 scholarships for learners studying an MBA Essentials short course.

Why study at University of Birmingham?

The module will equip you to move into more senior management positions, either in your own organisation or moving elsewhere
We are ranked number one for being targeted by the top UK employers (High Fliers Research 2021)
Modular delivery over long weekends (Friday to Monday) limits the impact of study on your work commitments
Birmingham Business School holds triple-crown accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS)
Birmingham Business School is the UK’s oldest business school, bringing more than 100 years of innovative teaching and research
The University of Birmingham is a member of the Russell Group, an organisation of the UK’s top 24 research-led universities
The University of Birmingham is also a member of Universitas 21, the leading global network of research-intensive universities

What is a microcredential?

Microcredentials are designed to upskill you for work in rapidly growing industries, without the time and cost commitment of a full degree. Your microcredential can stand alone as an independent credential, and some also offer academic credit to use towards a degree.

Learn with expert instructors: Complete courses led by experts with a dedicated group of professionals.
Earn a professional credential: Finish your learning and pass your assessments to gain an accredited credential.
Advance further in your career: Use your microcredential as evidence of your specialised skills and progress further in your industry.

How to apply?

When clicking on the Apply Now button you will be directed to an application specifically designed for the programme you wish to apply for where you will create an account with the University application system and submit your application and supporting documents online.

To be eligible for assessment, your application must be complete and submitted before: Friday 7 June 2024 for Overseas/International students and Friday 21 June 2024 for Home/UK based-students (23h59 - UK time). Before submitting your application, please make sure it is complete. Otherwise, your application will not be reviewed.

Find out more

Register your interest for this short course to request more information about the course and for scholarship information.

In order to be accepted onto the MBA Essentials – Strategic Procurement and Supplier Management , you must possess:

A good Honours degree (or equivalent), or equivalent professional qualification
Five years work experience with evidence of extensive managerial experience or professional responsibility. Three years exceptional work experience meeting this criteria will also be considered

International Students

IELTS 6.5 (with no less than 6.0 in any band).

IELTS 6.5 with no less than 6.0 in any band is equivalent to:

TOEFL: 88 overall with no less than 21 in Reading, 20 in Listening, 22 in Speaking and 21 in Writing
Pearson Test of English (PTE): PTE Academic 67 with no less than 64 in all four skills
Cambridge English (exams taken from 2015): Advanced – minimum overall score of 176, with no less than 169 in any component

If you are currently studying at a Chinese university, please view our specific entry requirements including our list of acceptable universities for further study at Birmingham.

Please note we will also consider candidates without a first degree or professional qualification but with at least ten years’ work experience including significant managerial responsibility.

What will you receive?

Our MBA Essentials – Strategic Procurement and Supplier Management will allow you to focus on specific areas in order for you to develop your career in the way that you want to. Each course is designed to equip you with the skills and knowledge of project management which will meet the needs of a wide range of learners and organisations.

10 UK Credits at Postgraduate level from University of Birmingham
A Postgraduate Microcredential certificate from University of Birmingham

Certification of UoB academic credit for PG microcredential courses is through production of an official University of Birmingham Microcredential certificate and transcript managed by UoB Student Records.

The skills you will gain

Understand, and have opinions on, the key debates within the field of strategic procurement, contracting and supplier management

Demonstrate an appreciation of the issues surrounding the management of the procurement operation

Undertake a rigorous make-buy analysis for an area of third-party expenditure

Understand the constraints on effective organisational buying behaviour

Understand the key criteria that should inform supplier selection decisions

Calculate buyer-supplier power relations

Understand the key issues related to supplier performance and relationship management

Be familiar with key global sourcing risks and be able to take a view on managing them

Recognise the hazards and management options relating to contracting

Demonstrate an appreciation of the principles of conflict management.

Meet your instructors

Professor Chris Lonsdale, Professor of Procurement and Supply Management

Chris started his academic career in 1992 as a teaching assistant at the Department of Politics, The University of Hull. In 1993, he moved to The University of Birmingham to be a teaching assistant in both INLOGOV and POLSIS. In 1994, he moved to the Business School to take up a research post and since that time has resided in the Procurement and Operations Management Group. He received his PhD in 1995 for work into the private equity market.

In 1999, Chris became a lecturer in the Business School, becoming Senior Lecturer in 2005, Reader in 2011 and a Professor in 2020. Since 1999, he has been Programme Director of the MBA in Strategy and Procurement Management, Head of the Procurement and Operations Management Group and Programme Director of the UG Business Management degrees. He is currently Director of Research for the Department of Management.

In 2008, he was awarded honorary fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, FCIPS; in 2012, he won the University / Guild Outstanding Personal Tutor Award; and his 2014 to date research-informed and 4* rated impact work (with Joe Sanderson) with Rolls-Royce plc has been nominated for a succession of awards by both the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply Management and the University, winning the College of Social Science prize in 2017 and receiving a commendation in the University’s Impact Awards in 2018.

Over the years, Chris has worked with a number of public and private sector organisations including the aforementioned Rolls-Royce plc, Department for Education and Skills, the Department of Health / various NHS organisations (2001 to date), IBM (1998-2007), BP Exploration, Novelis AG and Interbrew. He is also a long-standing lecturer on the Business School's Executive MBA programmes and the Health Service Management Centre's Executive MSc programmes.

Chris has also been successful in attracting research funding. In 2001, he was the joint-recipient of a £338,000 EPSRC grant for research into buyer-supplier relationships. In 2002, he was the joint-recipient of a £75,041 contract with the Oxford Radcliffe NHS Hospital Trust for research into organisational buying behaviour. In 2007, he was the joint-recipient of an £99,901 ESRC grant for research into temporary employment in the UK public sector. In 2010, he was the joint-recipient of an EREBUS CASE studentship concerning public sector procurement. In 2013, he was the joint-recipient of a £90,460 NHS NIHR grant for research into NHS commissioning.

All of these research projects have yielded a high number of publications (see list below), many in internationally leading journals such as Public Administration, the British Journal of Industrial Relations, Human Resource Management and Work, Employment and Society. Chris has also contributed to studies undertaken by the National Audit Office and the Treasury Select Committee.

Chris's current research activities focus upon procurement’s professionalization project, social value procurement, procurement and make/buy within the aerospace sector and the development of trustworthiness within buyer-supplier relationships. Chris also retains an interest in political science, with a particular focus upon the politics of state-finance relations and modern political philosophy.

Instructor Profile