TY - CHAP
T1 - Mind the gap: Skill gaps in purchasing and supply management evolving around innovation, communication and Industry 4.0
AU - Delke, Vincent
AU - Buchholz, Wolfgang
AU - Schiele, Holger
PY - 2022/9/28
Y1 - 2022/9/28
N2 - Nowadays, the human‐centric purchasing and supply management (PSM) discipline is strategically important for firms’ success. Scholars address PSM professionals’ skills and provide practitioners with academic insights. Researchers expect shifts in purchasing objectives, working environment, and tasks due to changes in the business environment. This paper aims to contribute to the PSM professional skills literature by defining current PSM professionals’ skill gaps as the difference between the acquired skill level and perceived skill importance. Therefore, a multinational European survey has been studied. Results show that current PSM professionals feel underqualified to extract the full potential of stakeholders in the supply base. Findings also distinguish three buyer profiles, the junior, senior and executive buyers, and identify skill gaps concerning innovation sourcing, sustainability and the influence of Industry 4.0 on PSM. These skill gaps need to be solved by adequate educational methods to increase buyers’ performance. Here, educational professionals are especially challenged to train current professionals and future PSM students.
AB - Nowadays, the human‐centric purchasing and supply management (PSM) discipline is strategically important for firms’ success. Scholars address PSM professionals’ skills and provide practitioners with academic insights. Researchers expect shifts in purchasing objectives, working environment, and tasks due to changes in the business environment. This paper aims to contribute to the PSM professional skills literature by defining current PSM professionals’ skill gaps as the difference between the acquired skill level and perceived skill importance. Therefore, a multinational European survey has been studied. Results show that current PSM professionals feel underqualified to extract the full potential of stakeholders in the supply base. Findings also distinguish three buyer profiles, the junior, senior and executive buyers, and identify skill gaps concerning innovation sourcing, sustainability and the influence of Industry 4.0 on PSM. These skill gaps need to be solved by adequate educational methods to increase buyers’ performance. Here, educational professionals are especially challenged to train current professionals and future PSM students.
KW - NLA
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-658-38350-3_7
DO - 10.1007/978-3-658-38350-3_7
M3 - Chapter
T3 - Advanced Studies in Supply Management
SP - 143
EP - 172
BT - Supply Management Research
PB - Springer
CY - Wiesbaden
ER -
