Towards lean procurement: Challenges and opportunities

Abstract

Despite a large number of books and publications about how an ideal procurement department should be structured, few of these put much emphasis on the psychological side of such a change process. In this thesis, a drilling contractor is used as a case study to evaluate this change process. This thesis is a continuation of the work initiated by Gundersen (2014), which outlined a “Lean Thinking” procurement process for the same organization. This study observes the results of the introduction of Lean Thinking into the organization. Cost savings initiatives, emotional detachment, limited transparency and unclear procedures are identified as factors that can to weaken the change initiatives. The spread of new procurement ideas is compared to the spread of virus, offering an alternative perspective on the change processes. Methods of how to increase the likelihood of implementation success are then discussed, where in particular motivational factors and the buyer-supplier relationship are highlighted as opportunities for increased implementation success.