A Difficult but Exciting Year for the Audencia RICC

The Audencia IPSERA RICC revolves around the Audencia Sustainable Supply Chain Management Group that is part of our Business & Society Department. The research interests of the group span a wide range of topics related to purchasing and supply chain management, but sustainability is one of our core interests as is the role of purchasing in innovation. Although 2020 was naturally a difficult year due to Covid-19 it was also a very busy year with lots of activity involving the RICC.

Audencia is part of the IPSERA SIG in Purchasing & Innovation and as part of this we have dedicated time to a Special Topic Forum (STF) on Purchasing & Innovation in Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management (JPSM). Manuscripts are currently undergoing review and/or being revised and we look forward to the outcome of this process.

We also organized an online workshop on Purchasing & Supply Management Digitalization. This workshop was organized in collaboration with two other SIGs - ‘Supply Chain Finance’ and ‘Internet of Things’ – and generated a great deal of interests amongst the over 50 participants. Considering the success of this event, we expect that this will not be the last joint SIG event.

We have also been working on our EU ERASMUS+ funded “PERISCOPE” project (http://eu-periscope.essca.fr/), which was launched in 2019 as a follow-up to Project PERFECT, which also counted a number of IPSERA participants. Project PERISCOPE aims to identify PSM skills and key competencies for innovation and sustainability and is undertaken by a consortium of five partner institutions: ESSCA, Copenhagen Business School, Graz University of Technology, the University of Twente and Audencia. During 2020 we held an online World-cafe and launched a Delphi study, which is still ongoing. These events are giving us great insights from senior purchasing professionals that represent multiple industries and we look forward to reporting the results from this work in due course.

Finally, our "Purchasing and Digital Innovation” chair, launched in 2019 in collaboration with French consulting company AXYS, has been busy working on exciting new projects related to purchasing digitalization. The chair engages many of our students as well as French companies in these projects. We held one event on Purchasing and Artificial Intelligence in Nantes in November – a physical event we managed in between lockdowns!

Audencia RICC coordinator Thomas Johnsen

The IPSERA Education SIG was involved in the recent Educator's Workshop and coordinated a session on teaching and learning techniques and tools for engaging students in the online environment we find ourselves in. This involved some brief presentations from community members on what they have found useful over the last year and an open discussion on others experiences and thoughts. We are keen to build on these activities and support the IPSERA community through an increased sharing of experiences and will therefore be making use of the IPSERA members area as a place to store any relevant materials and if you have anything that you think others would find useful, please do email stephen.kelly@edgehill.ac.uk with details.

We would like to organise future SIG activities that are aligned to the needs of the community and therefore invite you to attend an open and informal meeting via Zoom on Friday the 5^th of March at 15:00 CET to discuss this in more depth. Please contact stephen.kelly@edgehill.ac.uk for the Zoom link and with any suggestions for discussion items. 

The Ivey Business School (Western University, London, Canada) is seeking to fill a postdoctoral fellowship in Operations and Supply Chain Management, ideally with an interest in the Circular Economy.

The post-doctoral researcher will support the Circular Economy Lighthouse Project, which explores the operational, organizational and institutional factors influencing the integration of waste synergies into existing supply chains, and the implications for competitiveness and resilience.

Please read more here!

The provision of critical medical supplies such as mouth mask, respirators and tests became a critical part of the fight against the covid-19 outbreak. These medical supplies – normally routine purchases – became strategic purchases with the worldwide sharp increase in demand and supply chain disruptions as a result of the pandemic. Countries around the world used different supply strategies to obtain sufficient medical materials.

A team of researchers from research centre PPRC, the University of Twente, the Erasmus University Rotterdam, and the International Research Study on Public Procurement (IRSPP) research team obtained a ZonMw grant to study these Material Supply Strategies in the covid-19 Crisis. The first stage of the research focusses on studying the Dutch response on national, regional and organisational level. The second phase broadens the scope to include the supply strategies on a national level in at least 23 countries around the world. The aim of this research is to learn from an international comparison of the different strategies in the Covid-19 crisis.

The research project started in September 2020 and will last throughout 2021. While the results are expected early 2022, intermediate findings will be shared through online sessions.

The research team currently working on the Dutch analysis consists of longtime IPSERA community members Louise Knight (UT), Esmee Peters (PPRC, UT), Laura Bosman (PPRC, UT), Jan Telgen (PPRC, UT), Niels Uenk (PPRC, UT, UU), Annelie Oortwijn (EUR), Erik van Raaij (EUR), and Kees Ahaus (EUR).

For the international comparison we work together with the IRSPP research group Christine Harland, Jane Lynch, Andrea Patrucco, Tünde Tatrai, Petra Ferk, Louise Knight, Jan Telgen, Esmee Peters, and Niels Uenk

If you wish to be updated on the progress and findings of the MASSC research, please contact Laura Bosman (laura.bosman@pprc.eu), and check the newsfeed of www.pprc.eu. For questions concerning the setup of the research, feel free to contact Niels Uenk (niels.uenk@pprc.eu) as overall project leader of the MASSC project.

On Nov 30^th, we held the Workshop Sustainable Supply Chains Versus Covid 19, the opening event of not only the ‘Year of IPSERA’ but also the first activity for the newly formed IPSERA Sustainability Special Interest Group. We had almost 60 people attending an amazing array of presentations and discussions about solutions to ensure sustainable supply chains through this crisis and any crisis to come.

Nothing better than hearing from the speakers themselves:

Donna Marshall:

“In the procurement and supply chain world, we witnessed a natural social experiment in scenario planning, in risk mitigation and in crisis management. We saw some organisations reacting in a very blind knee-jerk way, forgetting they are part of a supply chain and focusing only on their own needs. Others were reacting as a community and pulling together to really help workers, suppliers and society. Some organisations and suppliers changed their entire business models in order to supply key protective equipment to frontline workers. It really was a tale of two supply chain reactions. Some of these reactions have led to calls for change in industries and for how we live, how we work and how we play. Some of the lessons from Covid-19 are here to stay. If we can learn these lessons, we can then shape a future that is more inclusive, more human and more sustainable”

Hakan Karaosman:

“Negative impacts have been exacerbated for lower-tier suppliers. Fashion supply chains need to become more connected. Fashion players must move from self-isolation toward multi-level partnerships”

Annachiara Longoni:

“Understanding how social impact supply chains function might be crucial to react after Covid-19 outbreaks. Tensions emerging between sustainability and resilience are becoming a pressing need”

Davide Luzzini:

“Let’s investigate social impact considering vulnerable people and focus on three response approaches: transform & adopt, collective action and system change”

Lucy McCarthy:

“The sustainability of our seafood supply chains is interlinked with our planetary health. Overfishing is widely acknowledged as the single greatest stress to marine wildlife and habitats. We really need to reach an agreement at the national and international levels on these issues”

Mellie Pullman:

“Prior to the pandemic 70% of seafood was sold to the non-home consumer, restaurants, catering and other institutions but now that market has disappeared which has caused many fishing organisations to go under as they did not have the ability to go online. One of the problems is that they have to offer a lot of variety and variety conflicts with good sourcing practices. They end up having a lot of different kinds of fish which means that they are delving into fish that are not sustainably sourced”

Thomas Udesen:

“One of the positive aspects emerging amidst and beyond Covid is collaboration. We saw what is possible when the industry, regulators and different players put their heads together and say we want to solve an issue. But we also saw some worst practices. Unfortunately, some procurement organisations were seen going 10-15 years back in time toward the mindset of ‘price first’. One of the possible ways to change this negative discourse is to bring together procurement practitioners around the world and have them engaged bottom up”

Oliver Hurrey:

“It is very important we get coordinated. There are far too many initiatives, platforms, groups, events and one of the challenges of trying to find progress for procurement on sustainability is that almost too much stuff going on as well as too little, arguably as well. It is time to clarify where you need to go and who you need to talk to tackle some of those challenges”

Stay tuned to interact with the Sustainability SIG future activities!

This Wednesday Dec 16^th we held the Digitalisation Workshop, a joint effort from the IoT SIG, the Purchasing Innovation SIG and the Supply Chain Finance SIG. During four hours, over 50 participants discussed the challenges of going digital in PSM and the impact of digitalisation across research at the three SIGs.

The event has blended the practitioner’s perspective, future thinking research questions, and fresh research from the community.

We have learned that technologies are not magic bullets, that people is key to carry out the transition, and that understanding how humans and machines will collaborate is a fundamental issue to be tackled.  We have also learned the difference between quick-wins produced by automation and long-lasting strategic change driven by augmentation. And we have been provoked to reflect how we must change education to embed the digital trend in our teaching.

An amazing event that is only one of the many of THE YEAR of IPSERA… Stay tuned!

Leo Marques, IPSERA Network Manager

Some years ago, as part of a series of campus-wide initiatives at Erasmus University Rotterdam, we developed a dilemma game for research ethics training.

This game uses (stylized) real-life ethical dilemmas in research to let people discuss (in small groups) alternative courses of action and exchange arguments regarding the appropriateness of these alternatives.

The ‘serious gaming’ format is very suitable for making training sessions on research ethics highly interactive, and to let participants understand and apply codes of conduct.

At Dutch universities, this code is The Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (https://www.vsnu.nl/files/documents/Netherlands%20Code%20of%20Conduct%20for%20Research%20Integrity%202018.pdf) but the dilemma game is sufficiently versatile to be used in relation to other codes as well. In fact, myself and many others, have often used the dilemma game in training sessions internationally.

Until recently, the game was only available as a physical card game or online PDF document.

In order to reach a wider audience and inspire continuous attention to the topic of research integrity, the Dilemma Game has now been digitalized as an app.

Other benefits of an app include that the game can be played individually as well, and that it is much easier to add new dilemmas to the game.

For more background and instructions, go to: https://www.eur.nl/en/about-eur/policy-and-regulations/integrity/research-integrity/dilemma-game

The app is available for iOS and Android.

Finn Wynstra

Dear colleagues of IPSERA, dear friends,

the year 2020 has been very unusual to all of us. The outbreak and spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus have completely changed our way of working. Importantly, IFPSM member associations did not close their operations, instead we all had to adjust to a new situation. We shared our experiences with each other, we shared best practices, new ways of working and new ways how to manage our associations in the “new normal”.

Since Madam President of IFPSM, Mrs Marina Lindic took over the presidency of IFPSM, we have been strongly focusing on the support to our members, on new strategy preparation for the next 3 years and on renewal of the Constitution and Regulations. We adjusted our Mission and Vision to suit better to our members. Today IFPSM’s vision is to be the global, leading platform in purchasing and supply chain management, which serves the development of the profession and member organisations. We have been also able to activate IFPSM members in all Regions: America, Africa, Asia/Pacific and Europe. The global coverage of the IFPSM network is our greatest strength!

IFPSM has currently 45 full members; 3 affiliates, and 1 associate member. The core initiatives of IFPSM during the year have been:

• The IFPSM Global standards (GS) new model and new promotional material (accessible here: IFPSM Global Standard 2020 A4_online.pdf)
• New global Verification System for IFPSM certificates via a web
• The new IFPSM strategy including Mission, Vision and updated Constitution and Regulations
• The Sharing of the best practices of the members through regional round table sessions.

Due to Covid-19, we needed to switch all our meetings to virtual mode. Unfortunately, we also had to reschedule the IFPSM World Summit to take place on October 12th to 15th 2021. The location is Bali, Indonesia and the event will be organized in a hybrid mode (physical & virtual). The theme of the Summit is “Leading Transformation Through Disruptive Innovations”.

IFPSM also decided to start the building up of the new IFPSM e-Services web platform, to deliver the different services to the member association and to their individual members. The target is to launch this new service in June 2021 and the service will also include a global news channel, IFPSM News. Information about the IPSERA networks´ research studies would be most welcome!

I am looking forward to the continuous collaboration between IPSERA and IFPSM networks of professionals. Let the year 2021 be prosperous for all of us! And please stay healthy!

Markku Henttinen (CEO of IFPSM)

Rotterdam is a large port city in The Netherlands, with a strong focus on trade, logistics, and financial services and is also one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the country. Rotterdam is home to Erasmus University Rotterdam, of which Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) is the business school. The largest department of the School is the department of Technology & Operations Management, of which the Supply Chain Management section is the largest section. Two chairs in Purchasing & Supply Management are located in this section: the chair of Finn Wynstra and the chair of Erik van Raaij.

Research and teaching in the area of Purchasing & Supply Management (PSM) is concentrated around these two chairs. Specific areas of research and teaching interest are purchasing and innovation, performance-based contracting, PSM in healthcare, capital construction contracting, digital transformation of purchasing, and purchasing ethics. The two chairs are also very active in teaching (empirical) research methods and research integrity.

At the moment, five PhD students are supervised on PSM topics, two part-time lecturers support the teaching of PSM-related courses at all levels ranging from BSc to MSc to Executive Education, and two researchers help carry out our research projects in the above areas.

As a group, the members of the RICC at Erasmus University Rotterdam, teach in six PSM-related courses at either RSM or Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management (ESHPM). The strongest presence is in the MSc program Supply Chain Management, where 120-150 students take the core course PSM, and about 50 students take the elective Strategic Sourcing and/or Healthcare Procurement and Value Chain Management. Each year about 20-25 of these students write their MSc thesis with one of the RICC members as coach. Another 30 MSc students from ESHPM take the elective Healthcare Procurement and Value Chain Management and 4-6 write their MSc thesis on this topic.

The RICC at Erasmus University Rotterdam has strong links to IPSERA, with Finn as former president, Erik as former organizer of the IPSERA doctoral workshop and former EB member, and all RICC members as regular participants at the IPSERA conference. The RICC also has strong links with the Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, with Finn as former Editor-in-Chief, and Erik as one f the current Senior Associate Editors. A third strong link is with NEVI, the Dutch professional purchasing association, with both chairs having received or currently receiving financial support as well as support in kind from NEVI.

The RICC at Erasmus University Rotterdam aims to support expertise development in PSM in the region and beyond in a variety of other ways. Organizing the IPSERA doctoral workshop has already been mentioned, and the organization of the annual Dutch WION workshop has been in the hands of Finn (and has now been passed on to the RICC in Maastricht). Finn currently is in charge of organizing the annual IFPSM/NEVI/IPSERA PSM Summer School.

IoT is about curiosity, openness, and friendship

Back in 2017, IPSERA conference was in Hungary. We had our first SIG meeting and our first PDW on the internet of things. We felt that we needed to bring together members of the IPSERA community together. And the intent was nothing less than grandiose. It was expressed in a short opening we wrote and shared at that time “The Internet of thing (IOT) will bring a tectonic change in the structure of industries in the next 20 years. More disruptions and value chains reconfigurations must be anticipated. We have only seen the first sparks of a broad transformation. Many industry architectures will be significantly and sometime radically transformed”

And we claimed that we needed to study how “PSM functions will evolve on the forefront of such business-critical changes.”

Since 2017, we have pursued our exchanges through physical and virtual sessions; we discussed many times the scope of the SIG and we kept it rather open. We are interested in the role of PSM in sourcing digital capabilities and we are also interested in how digital technologies shape PSM organizations.

Through SIG & PDW we want to stimulate the international exchange of curiosity and experience among young and experienced researchers. The regular, open and friendly exchange of research approaches, methods, views and early research results on this complex topic, which will have a lasting impact on and change purchasing, appears to be increasingly important for participants to strive for open and holistic views. In addition, the early exchange of research projects stimulated and consolidated further work and cooperation among the members. 

We shared our research interests; our research papers and we also built some common tools for data collection. We often discussed future research questions but most importantly we built a friendly and open network of academics who shared knack for technology, and it impact on SCM and PSM. Over time we have turned conversations into collaborations and landed a few papers in in our favorite journals such as JPSM and IJOPM

In 2020 with the pandemic we kept our meeting virtual. It was great to see the faces of everyone smiling as we were joining our virtual sessions. It felt nice comforting and motivating to be altogether sharing news, interest, and research work.

Today the IPSERA IoT SIG might sound like a place where we talk about technology, but it is first and foremost an agora were curiosity, openness, and friendship blends together.

And …. We will meet again!

Michael Henke, Hervé Legenvre & Herbert Ruile