Describe FIVE types of power that a stakeholder may have and compare how they may interact with the procurement department (25 points).
Stakeholders can exert influence over procurement decisions in different ways. French and Raven identified five types of power that stakeholders may hold. Each has different implications for how procurement interacts with them.
1. Legitimate Power:
This comes from a stakeholder’s formal position or authority. For example, a Finance Director may require procurement to comply with budgetary controls. Procurement must respect legitimate authority but can also influence decisions by providing evidence and business cases.
2. Reward Power:
This is based on the ability to provide benefits or incentives. For example, senior management may reward the procurement team with recognition or bonuses for achieving savings. Procurement can use this positively by demonstrating performance and aligning with organisational goals.
3. Coercive Power:
This is the power to punish or impose sanctions. For instance, a project manager may pressure procurement to prioritise their project by threatening escalation if deadlines are missed. Procurement must manage this carefully, balancing demands with fairness and compliance.
4. Expert Power:
This arises from specialist knowledge or skills. For example, a procurement professional with strong knowledge of supplier markets holds expert power, which can influence strategic decisions. Conversely, technical departments may hold expert power in specifying product requirements, requiring procurement to collaborate closely.
5. Referent Power:
This is based on personal relationships, respect, or charism
a. For example, a well-liked senior stakeholder may influence procurement decisions even without formal authority. Procurement must manage these situations by maintaining objectivity while leveraging strong relationships to gain support.
Comparison of Interaction with Procurement:
Legitimate power often requires compliance, while procurement may respond with process adherence and evidence-based justification.
Reward power creates motivation for procurement, but risks short-term focus if overused.
Coercive power can create conflict and stress; procurement must use negotiation and diplomacy to manage.
Expert power can be collaborative, as procurement and stakeholders share knowledge to improve outcomes.
Referent power relies on trust and relationships, which procurement can use to build coalitions and support for initiatives.
Conclusion:
The five types of power — legitimate, reward, coercive, expert, and referent — shape how stakeholders interact with procurement. Understanding these power bases enables procurement professionals to adapt their approach, whether through compliance, persuasion, collaboration, or relationship-building. This ensures stakeholder management supports both procurement objectives and organisational goals.
Compare and contrast how procurement would collaborate with any TWO of the following stakeholders: suppliers, customers, other departments within the organisation, local community. (25 points).
Procurement plays a central role in engaging with different stakeholders. Effective collaboration ensures efficiency, compliance, and value creation. The way procurement collaborates can vary depending on the stakeholder group. Two examples are suppliers and other departments within the organisation.
Collaboration with Suppliers:
Procurement must develop strong relationships with suppliers to ensure continuity of supply, cost efficiency, and quality. This involves activities such as contract negotiation, performance monitoring, and supplier relationship management (SRM). Collaboration often focuses on building trust, sharing forecasts, and working on joint initiatives like innovation or sustainability. For example, in a manufacturing firm, procurement may collaborate with a fabric supplier to develop new eco-friendly materials. The relationship can be transactional for routine items or strategic for high-value, critical suppliers.
Collaboration with Other Departments:
Internally, procurement must work closely with functions such as Finance, Operations, and Marketing. Collaboration ensures that procurement strategies align with organisational needs. For example, Finance may require procurement to manage budgets and compliance, while Operations depends on procurement for timely materials. Collaboration may involve cross-functional teams, joint decision-making, and regular communication. For instance, procurement and product development may work together to source innovative materials that match design requirements.
Comparison:
Both collaborations require trust, open communication, and alignment of goals.
With suppliers, collaboration often focuses externally on securing value and innovation. With internal departments, it focuses on aligning procurement activity with business objectives.
Supplier collaboration may involve formal tools like contracts, KPIs, and SRM frameworks, whereas internal collaboration relies more on teamwork, communication, and shared processes.
Contrast:
Suppliers are external stakeholders, so procurement must manage risks, legal compliance, and negotiation dynamics. Internal departments are internal stakeholders, requiring influence, persuasion, and partnership.
Supplier collaboration aims at building long-term external relationships; internal collaboration ensures smooth workflows and organisational efficiency.
Conclusion:
Procurement collaborates with both suppliers and internal departments, but the focus differs. Supplier collaboration is about external value creation and innovation, while internal collaboration is about aligning processes and achieving organisational goals. Successful procurement professionals adapt their approach to meet the needs of each group while ensuring overall business success.
What is meant by the ‘systems approach’ and ‘contingency approach’ to management? (20 points)
Theories of management provide different ways of understanding how organisations can be led effectively. Two important perspectives are the systems approach and the contingency approach. Both move beyond early ”one best way” classical theories and instead highlight the complexity and adaptability required in modern organisations.
The systems approach views the organisation as an integrated whole made up of interdependent subsystems such as HR, finance, operations and procurement. It is based on systems theory, seeing organisations as ”open systems” that interact with their external environment. Inputs such as people, information and resources are transformed into outputs such as products, services and stakeholder value. Feedback loops are essential to monitor performance and make adjustments. The key idea is synergy — the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. For example, in procurement, sourcing decisions influence not only supplier performance but also finance (budgets), operations (continuity), and CSR (sustainability). A systems approach ensures that procurement strategies are aligned to wider organisational goals and continuous improvement.
The contingency approach develops this idea further, arguing that there is no universal way to manage. Instead, the best approach depends on situational factors such as environment, size, technology, or workforce capability. It rejects ”one-size-fits-all” rules and stresses that management must adapt. For example, in a stable market, a hierarchical structure with formal rules may work well, whereas in volatile markets, flexible and decentralised decision-making is more effective. In procurement, this could mean using strict process controls for routine, low-value items, but adopting agile, collaborative approaches when managing strategic supplier partnerships in uncertain global supply chains.
In comparison, the systems approach gives managers a holistic view of how different parts of the organisation connect and interact with the external environment, while the contingency approach emphasises adaptability and situational leadership. Together, they suggest that effective managers need both a broad systems perspective and the ability to tailor their approach depending on context.
In conclusion, the systems approach stresses coordination, integration and feedback across the organisation, while the contingency approach stresses flexibility and the idea that ”it depends.” Both are highly relevant to procurement and supply leaders who must integrate across functions and adapt strategies to dynamic and uncertain supply environments.
Tania has recently been appointed the new manager of the Procurement Department at a toilet paper manufacturer. She will line manage a team of 8, who all perform different tasks and have a varying level of ability and knowledge. She has noticed that there has been no formal training provided to the team and that some people have been asked to complete tasks they do not feel comfortable with. Overall, performance and morale are both low. Discuss the importance of 1) embedding learning into the culture and 2) role congruence in this scenario (10 points). Describe actions that Tania should take to address the issues (15 points).
Part A — Embedding Learning into the Culture (5 points):
Embedding learning into the organisational culture means creating an environment where continuous learning and development are valued and encouraged. In Tania’s case, this is vital because the team has had no formal training, which contributes to low skills and low morale. A learning culture ensures employees feel supported in developing new abilities, reduces resistance to change, and prepares staff for future challenges. For procurement, this could involve training on negotiation skills, supplier relationship management, or e-procurement tools.
Part B — Role Congruence (5 points):
Role congruence means ensuring that an individual’s skills, experience, and abilities match the tasks they are assigned. At present, some staff are being asked to complete tasks they are not comfortable with, which lowers confidence and morale. Aligning people’s roles to their capabilities improves job satisfaction, builds confidence, and enhances performance. For example, a staff member skilled in analysis should be allocated spend analysis tasks, rather than being pushed into high-pressure supplier negotiations without support.
Part C — Actions Tania Should Take (15 points):
Training and development programmes — introduce structured training to close knowledge gaps and give staff confidence in their roles.
Role review and alignment — assess individual skills and reassign tasks to match strengths, ensuring role congruence.
Mentoring and coaching — pair experienced staff with less experienced members to support learning and build capability.
Encourage continuous learning — build learning into team culture through workshops, lunch-and-learns, and reflection sessions after projects.
Regular performance reviews — provide feedback, set development goals, and celebrate progress to improve motivation.
Empowerment and involvement — involve staff in identifying training needs and improvement ideas to increase ownership.
Recognition and morale building — acknowledge achievements to rebuild confidence and team spirit.
Conclusion:
Embedding learning into the culture ensures that development is continuous, reducing skills gaps and raising confidence. Role congruence ensures that tasks match people’s abilities, improving morale and performance. For Tania, focusing on training, role alignment, coaching, and recognition will rebuild her procurement team into a skilled, motivated, and high-performing unit.
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