D07.16 Alan Travers paper

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Quality in Materials Procurement and Logistics

by Alan Travers »

Procurement, internationally, is at an interesting developmental stage. Globalisation is now a hot topic politically and opinions are sharply divided as to the whether the opening of world markets are the best or worst current trend in world economies. Whatever the outcome of this debate an increasingly unhindered flow of goods and services between countries is inevitable. Only how we as an international society can limit the potentially adverse impacts of globalisation is worthy of debate.

Even on a local trade basis the focus of the last decade’s enthusiasm for the procurement or outsourcing of almost all business functions has spawned as many failures as successes.

This paper concentrates on the issues that surround international procurement, which is to say organizations in developed countries purchasing product from developing countries. These international and intercultural issues mirror, albeit in an exaggerated fashion, the difficulties of procurement in any arena. (continued)

An abridged version of this paper was published as Chapter 7.13: Quality issues in international materials procurement & logistics in Managing Quality in Architecture.

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