Procurement as Lever towards a Sustainable and Digital Future

Blended programme in Antwerp

on-site week: 28 Aug-1 Sept 2023

 

This Blended Programme, organised with Erasmus+ funding, focuses on the role of procurement and supply management in creating sustainable innovation and shows how digital tools can back this process. It is developed for master students with an interest in Procurement and Supply Management and provides an overview of and strategic focus on the particularly interesting and challenging field of Procurement and Supply Management. On the one hand, we offer professors from top universities and business schools that are recognized as global experts in the field through their teaching and research. On the other, Vice Presidents, Directors and other C-suite Managers in functional areas such as Corporate Development & Strategy, Procurement, Supply Chain and Global Procurement guarantee a deep insight into the practices in a variety of industries such as Pharmaceuticals, Nanotech, Cloud and Software, Paper and Consultancy. This will help you also create a network that could lead to a sustainable career in this promising area.

Why should you be interested in this programme?

Procurement is a strategic but still underestimated function in most companies. Companies’ transition towards a more sustainable future is, however, largely determined by procurement and supply management. Companies are desperately looking for procurement and supply management talent as they understand these functions’ role in the development and execution of sustainable innovation. At universities, the topics remain mostly treated as secondary.  Students that do get acquainted with the topic via a Summer course or a Micro-credential remain often inspired and build their careers in this field. This program aims to provide master students from studies in business economics, commercial engineering, engineering and management, and design sciences the opportunity to take an initial but deep dive into the field of Procurement and Supply Management.

How is the programme structured?

  1. In the preparation stage, students watch at their own pace the videos of the Microcredential “ProcToGo”. This can be done at any moment in the Summer but should be finalized before the start of the Summer School (August 27, 2023). Allow about 10-15 hours to watch the videos, reflect on the exercises that accompany the videos and prepare some pre-class readings/cases.
  2. In the onsite week, you will meet your peers from five European Countries (Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Belgium) face to face. It is a unique networking opportunity. You will work two days at the Antwerp Management School, in the centre of Antwerp. This School is FT ranked and offers specialized masters in Supply Chain and in Maritime and Port Sciences. Three days of the week will be company visits in different locations in Belgium: Leuven (imec), Brussels/Braine L’Alleud (UCB), and Hasselt (International Paper and CEGEKA). Each practitioner will emphasize the role of technology and sustainability in the transformation of their company’s procurement and supply management towards value creator and innovation driver. Some time to relax and enjoy some cities in Belgium is scheduled in the evening hours.
  3. After the week in Belgium, in multicultural online groups, an integrative ‘homework assignment’ will be developed and presented to an online panel of experts. A discussion will conclude the ‘defenses’.
The week in Belgium is programmed as follows

• Sunday August 27, 2023:

  • 4 PM Arrival participants, Introduction and welcome drink with a snack;
  • Evening: Last chance to watch selected ProcToGo micro-credential videos prior to class (individual)

• Monday August 28, 2023 (AMS, Antwerp)

Dr. Paul Matthyssens, Professor University of Antwerp and Milano-Bicocca and Emanuela Delbufalo, Professor at the European University of Rome

  • AM “Procurement: A strategic perspective.” Introduction and discussion on selected lectures from the ProcToGo micro-credential series (to be watched before class) Dr. Paul Matthyssens, Professor at University of Antwerp and at Milano-Bicocca & Emanuela Delbufalo, Professor at the European University of Rome
  • PM  “Procurement and Supply chain management excellence: Perspectives and brief illustrative case studies” (introduction, group work & discussion), Dr. Emanuela Delbufalo, Professor at the European University of Rome & Paul Matthyssens, Professor at University of Antwerp
  • Evening: Short visit and food at the City of Antwerp

• Tuesday August 29, 2023 (imec, Leuven)

Wouter Machiels, CPO, and Gert Bergen, VP Corporate Development and Strategy

  • AM1: “Strategic Vision imec 2035-2040”, Gert Bergen Senior Vice President Corporate Development & Strategy
  • AM2 “Creating Sustainable Ecosystems: Procurement as Lever for Sustainability”. Wouter Machiels, CPO at imec, and co-author of the book A Licence to Play. Repositioning procurement in the business environment.
  • PM Visit of imec (Clean Room); Closure: Skills sought in procurement profiles @ imec
  • Evening: Short visit and food at the City of Leuven

• Wednesday August 30, 2023 (UCB, Brussels)

Sébastien Bals, CPO, and Isabelle Béraud, SCM Officer

  • AM Introduction and Company visit; “Procurement and innovation: The journey of UCB”, Sebastien Bals, Chief Procurement Officer, and Isabelle Béraud, Supply Chain Management Officer
  • PM Case study on UCB: Brainstorm on Procurement & Supply Chain Challenges; Closure: Skills sought in procurement profiles at UCB
  • Evening: Free (early) evening in Brussels

• Thursday August 31, 2023 (CEGEKA, Hasselt)

Marc Slegers, Procurement Director, and Danny Pieters, CPO, International Paper

  • Welcome at CEGEKA Marc Slegers, Procurement Director, CEGEKA and President Supply Chain Masters (Belgian Federation of  Supply Management);
  • “Procurement & Disruptive Technologies”, Danny Pieters, CPO, International Paper and Chair Sourcing Group at Supply Chain Masters (Belgian Federation Supply of Management);
  • Case study on Disruptive Technology (Energy sensing & Big Data)
  • Skills sought in procurement profiles at CEGEKA and International Paper
  • Evening: Short visit and drink at the City of Hasselt

• Friday September 1, 2023 (AMS, Antwerp):

Manu Matthyssens, Consultant, Partner and Founder, Solvint and Professor AMS, and Dr. Corrado Cerruti, Professor at Università degli Studi di Roma ‘Tor Vergata’

  • AM: “End-to-end value chain and the value added of procurement” Manu Matthyssens, Founder and Partner, Solvint; Professor of Procurement, Antwerp Management School; Procurement Ambassador
  • PM: Integration and conclusions Corrado Cerruti, Professor at Università degli Studi di Roma ‘Tor Vergata’
Coordinator

Matthyssens Paul

Prof. Dr. Paul Matthyssens is Professor of Global Business and Global Marketing at the University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, Quantitative Methods and Business Strategy (DEMS). He is Emeritus Professor at the University of Antwerp (Department of Management) and Antwerp Management School (AMS). From 2013-2018 he was the Dean of Antwerp Management School. Before, he was Chair of the Department of Management (2006-2011) and of the Research Commission of the Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Antwerp (2011-2013). Paul is/was visiting professor at Danish Technical University Business School in Lyngby (DK), Goa Institute of Management (India), University of Gdansk (Poland), Donghua University (China), Fordham University (USA) and University of Milano-Bicocca (UNIMIB, Italy). He received the Best Full-time Master Teacher Award in Antwerp in 2014.