8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Good reference but outdated, 2000-11-03
My instructor at college who is on the Board of NAPM made this the class text. The book is obsolete from its discussion of technology in purchasing but otherwise is good. It emphasizes qualitative methods and is very soft on quantitative analysis of practical business problems. There is a shortage of case studies but overall this is a good book.Being useful to take the NAPM exam, NAPM has expanded some definitions in the book that are not commonly held in other college courses. For example, my instructor docked me 10 points on a question asking for the 4 elements of a contract,which are different from what commercial law and the UCC dictate. NAPM has redefined some terms so be wary.
4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Average, not great, 2000-10-19
At over $100 this is an expensive book. It has some good information, being useful for Modules 1& 2 of the National Association of Purchasing Managers (NAPM) exams but is quite repetitive in its jargon. Much of what is discussed is generally known by anyone with any significant work experience. More calculations and hard data might be helpful. The book itself is of rugged construction and well made and of convenient size for portable reading.
2 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Thankyou MR. DOBLER, 2000-01-18
This book is very useful for our purchasing mamagers
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
The core Purchasing text that must be on your shelf., 1999-02-05
This is the textbook that every Purchasing professional must have on the shelf. It is written by the gurus in the field that helped to define the profession and set standards by developing the professional certification requirements.The book establishes common language to describe Purchasing core processes that are applicable across industry and organizational lines. Because of the common language it establishes it can be really helpfull for someone who has been in a single industry or organization for some time that wants to transition to another industry but only knows the terms from their previos field.
For example someone involved in government procurement wishing to transition to the private sector might find the book usefull. Furthermore, it is written in the same language as appears on the NAPM APP and CPM examinations.
I have used the book both in a Purchasing Masters Degree Program at St Marys College in California and also in a Purchasing Certificate Program offered by the University of Phoenix and the material and cases are always well received by the students. The cases in particular are good and provide a common ground for people who have used the book.
There are some other books out there and new gurus are emerging but for now this is still the best.
William J. Kohnen Instructor University of Phoenix