Rob C. Scharff, IMPA’s VP for Education, explains why IMPA education is essential for marine procurement professionals
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What differentiates IMPA’s from other procurement programmes?
There are some great procurement programmes out there, but they are not geared toward procurement in the maritime industry. IMPA has designed a programme that is unique to our industry and our area of the profession. It looks at the aspects of the role and the type of people that you would deal with daily. Regular procurement programmes can offer excellent content, but the buyers that run these programmes generally work for onshore private companies, public companies and the government, so their focus is different. They are great courses, but they are not specifically for the maritime sector or buyers.
In that case, what’s the biggest difference between maritime procurement and more general procurement?
When you are buying in the UK or the Netherlands, for example, you deal with common law or civil law that affects that country. When you are in marine procurement you are buying from all around the world; you buy from virtually everywhere in the world. You are dealing with different legal systems, with different customs, different cultures. The programme reflects those challenges. Marine purchasers are buying for moving objects too; this isn’t taken into account when you take a normal procurement course. There are no examples taken from the maritime industry. Maritime purchasers are dealing with completely different challenges from a normal procurement. Maritime procurement is also a different language. Competent professionals that come into maritime procurement from different backgrounds often struggle because they aren’t aware of the unique challenges marine purchasing has.
Culture is a major factor in marine procurement too, isn’t it?
Yes, it’s a key element of marine procurement. You encounter different views, different ways of doing business – what is ethical and what is it not ethical. It’s a different world and so marine purchasers need a different skill set. At Stolt, for example, we have more than 25 different nationalities so there’s a great awareness of international cultural aspects and customs that might not be encountered in a general procurement setting. The programme covers cultural awareness because it is essential for the role. Where I work in Rotterdam, we speak directly, for example. Some people find that rude (it isn’t of course), it is just how we are. That type of knowledge is so important. As a buyer, if you go to Singapore or India for a negotiation and you don’t understand the cultural do’s and don’ts you will struggle. Understanding how cultures work is essential for success in our industry.
The programme doesn’t just focus on procurement skills either, does it?
No, it doesn’t. In the beginning, we focus on operational skills and understanding the processes; then we cover skill sets like analysing, how to raise queries, evaluate data and to develop tools to explain aspects of the function to internal stakeholders. Finally, we look at strategy. This is another example of how IMPA’s course differs from regular courses. You get the normal procurement, but you also get additional skills. If you are unable to sell the procurement function within your organisation, for example, it’s only going to be theory, and nothing will change. These are skills that are also essential to the role. We need hard skills and soft skills – one, to do the role, and two, to sell the role in the organisation. If you are unable to sell your added value to your company, you will never move. Everything will stay the same; the business will stay the same. This is where I think IMPA’s programme will make a difference.
How does the programme adapt to the future demands of the candidates?
Procurement can act on different levels of maturity. Ideally, you will be able to hire different people at different phases, but if that’s not the case people have to develop and progress as the procurement function becomes more mature. They also need different skill sets, and the course is designed to give those. With different levels of maturity, you offer different skill sets to be able to deal with changes in the role. For example, when you are operating on the initial level, procurement is just transactional buying, processing orders. When you reach a more advanced level you are coordinating teams and suppliers, you are managing projects and taking a more strategic role, and you need different skills. To do that you need to build both your strengths and your weaknesses. I see procurement on four different levels. There’s the support level that is partly management, partially analysing; then there’s the operational level for processing, the contract role where you are looking at contracts, SRM and negotiations, and finally, you have the strategist that deals with the mission, procedures and the framework. Fundamentally, the programme will take you through those levels.
Finally, why should procurement professionals take this programme?
If you want to progress within your procurement function and you want to bring your skills to a higher level, then the IMPA course programme is the way to go. You will not find any other courses that offer these skill sets, that is for sure.
This article was originally published in the Marine Trader, IMPA’s official journal for maritime procurement and supply chain management, in issue 03 of 2017. Head over to www.impa.net to find out more or simply read new issues on the go with the MT Journal app.
