University of Bath School of Management

Thomas Johnsen provides Keynote at Round Table for Senior Purchasing Executives

Dr Thomas Johnsen

Dr Thomas Johnsen, Lecturer in Purchasing and Supply Management at the School’s Centre for Research in Strategic Purchasing and Supply (CRiSPS) delivered the keynote speech on the second day of the 14th European Round Table for Senior Purchasing Executives.

Held at Divonne les Bains, France on June 7th and 8th, his presentation was entitled “Supplier Involvement in Product Innovation: Managerial Challenges”.

The 14th meeting, organised by The European Institute of Purchasing Management (EIPM), was entitled "Purchasing Contribution to Business Excellence: Driving Value through Innovation" and was attended by senior purchasing managers representing companies including Shell, Unilever, AstraZeneca, DHL, and Nokia.

The European Round Table is designed to address the information needs of Corporate Purchasing Directors and senior decision makers who have overall strategic responsibility of purchasing. The objective is to share experience at the highest purchasing management level.

Key issues covered at the two-day event included:

• Defining Value Creation
• Innovation in product and process
• Understanding the external and internal change forces
• What the leading companies are doing to capture opportunities

The other academic keynote speech was provided by Corey Billington, Professor of Procurement and Operations Management at IMD, Switzerland.

Having conducted research into buyer-supplier relationships and networks for more than a decade, Thomas’s current research seeks to understand and conceptualise technological innovation in a supply network context. He recently completed a major research project on 'Innovation in Supply Networks' funded by the Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre of the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Notes to Editors

Established as the largest research centre in strategic purchasing and supply in Europe, CRiSPS has a track record of delivering both blue sky thinking and leading-edge applied research on both contemporary and future aspects of supply management, with research expertise focused on strategic outsourcing, strategic relationship management and sustainable procurement.

EIPM is widely recognised as Europe's leading Centre in Purchasing Education, Training and Research. Through their different programmes they train and educate purchasing professionals worldwide in 7 different languages, and through their conferences and roundtables they contribute to the creation of a real purchasing network .

For further information / press enquiries, contact:

Liz Alvey, Marketing Officer
School of Management
University of Bath
Claverton Down
Bath BA2 7AY
UK

Tel:+ 44 (0) 1225 383526
Email: pr@management.bath.ac.uk

General Notes For Editors:

The University of Bath School of Management has consistently achieved both top research and teaching ratings in the UK's Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) assessments. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), the School was rated 5th in the UK for management research.

We are one of a select number of international business schools accredited by EQUIS, the European Foundation for Management Development's quality inspectorate and the Bath MBA has been accredited by the Association of MBAs (AMBA) since 1976. The School is consistently ranked among the top UK business schools by The Times, The Sunday Times, The Financial Times and The Guardian.

The centrality of research to teaching is an essential feature of all our programmes. The School offers a full range of programmes from undergraduate to postgraduate up to PhD level and post-experience programmes including the world-ranked Bath MBA. The School also provides tailored executive development programmes for middle and senior management.

The School of Management has a faculty of around 90 teaching and research staff, including visiting academics, with a support team of around 70 managerial and administrative staff. Research income averages £2 million per annum. There are approximately 2,100 students in total comprising some 200 MBA students, 460 Master’s students, 210 full- and part-time research students, and over 1100 undergraduates following BSc degrees. The School also runs joint undergraduate programmes with Departments in the Faculties of Engineering and Design, Science and Humanities and Social Sciences.