COMM 491

Introduces fundamentals of purchasing and supply management, including terminology, concepts, procedures, and models. It includes purchasing objectives and organization, operating procedures, specification, supply search and supplier selection, price determination, bidding and negotiation, forward buying, cost and value analysis, outsourcing, legal and ethical issues, supplier relations and partnerships, warehousing, inventory control models, and material requirements planning. The first 2/3 of the course concentrates on purchasing, while the remaining 1/3 focuses on inventory control systems. Purchasing uses decision-making cases, whereas Inventory Control emphasizes quantitative problems and models. Where appropriate and available, selected software programs will be used.