LSM is the first university in Belgium offering a Sourcing and procurement major. This program is the flagship program of the chair. Students thus can benefit from great international teachers, highly practice relevant content, exclusive access to leading firms in the profession, interactive teaching methods and regular involvement of practitioners in teaching. Students also have the chance to profit from participating in research programs to provide unique data for a master thesis with high impact and potential for job qualification.
Why should I pursue a specialization in Sourcing and procurement?
The Sourcing and procurement job market is highly attractive as no other students in Belgium have the chance to qualify with expert skills in this domain. But also internationally Sourcing and procurement professionals with great skills and the right mindset are a scarce resource.
Sourcing and procurement is highly attractive in case you want to pursue an international career. Sourcing and procurement is probably the profession where you have most access to international management as you have to deal with suppliers throughout the world.
In Sourcing and procurement you will be given significant budget responsibility and economically challenging tasks from your first day. In many other positions like e.g. marketing you normally have to wait a long time until you have your own budgets you can work with, while in Sourcing and procurement your impact on the P&L will come right from the start.
In the 70s people believed that Sourcing and procurement would be a dead end in their career, but have a look at the boards of the automotive, aerospace, manufacturing etc. most of them have an officer for Sourcing and procurement related topics.
Teaching in Master's Program
LSM made with the help of the chair sponsor Kronos Group a big effort to hire some of the leading experts in the Sourcing and procurement domain to develop a tripartite of lectures. The aim is to provide you with the necessary soft and analytical skills in procurement and sourcing which are required by the job market and allow you to differentiate from other students.
Content
Sourcing and procurement along with Supply Chain Management are pivotal functions in a firm to achieve long-term success. Well educated experts and managers characterize these domains all working on an ideal set-up of the upstream supply chain. The Sourcing and procurement job includes solid make-or-buy decisions, supplier selection and evaluation, risk management, planning and controlling of goods and information flows in procurement.
In order to learn these capabilities the lectures will be based on applying theoretical knowledge to practice phenomena. Especially case studies will be used to learn the application of solutions. Due to the complexity of the work environment analytical and problem-solving skills are of uttermost importance. Furthermore, the course contend will comprise also new corporate challenges for Sourcing and procurement in such fields as environmental impact, risk or innovation sourcing. Discussions, students’ presentations, and interactivity within the courses further contribute to an in-depth understanding of the topics.
The lectures in Sourcing and procurement distinguish themselves by solid theoretical foundation and close cooperation with our business partners. Representatives from top management hold guest lectures, students strengthen their business skills by solving case studies, and field trips to interesting companies are offered.
Career Prospects
Graduates of the Specialization in Sourcing and procurement qualify themselves for several career opportunities:
- Executives in leading multinational firms especially for large and medium-sized companies
- Special interest and strategy consulting
- Careers in Sourcing and procurement and related supply chain related jobs
- Analysts
The module opens up careers in almost every industry in manufacturing as well as service industries. Even though the demand in manufacturing firms is historically higher, the demand of the insurance & banking sector as well as in consulting have increased tremendously in recent years.