ABSTRACT
Purchasing is a vital function of most projects. Purchasing is also a greedy function, because it consumes time and money in prodigious amounts. Purchased goods and services account for over half the total cost of most projects. Efficient purchasing and supply chain management are essential to avoid serious over-expenditure or delays through shortages and the acquisition of goods that are unfit for their intended purpose. Yet, with very few exceptions, project management writers either give the subject little prominence, or they ignore it altogether (Figure 21.1). Try an experiment. Visit your nearest technical library and look in the index of every available project management book for the word ‘purchasing’ or procurement’. In too many cases you will search in vain. Value of purchasing in project management https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315245911/62d81e8a-f3ae-4858-ad42-caf03dd46be3/content/fig21_1.tif"/>
