NEED FOR PURCHASING RESEARCH IN A MANUFACTURING COMPANY

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

Purchasing is an important aspect of business management and any organization. It must not be neglected or ignored. Any management that neglected it is likely to face some critical problems. One of the problems it may face is that of cost that will generally reduce its corporate profit.

Therefore, purchasing research in a manufacturing firm like Rokana industries is one which requires proper research and alternation so as to prevent the management of Rokana industries form making wrong purchasing decisions which can in one way or the other reduce their market share.

Purchasing has long consider as one of the basic function common to all organization. Long before the large organization appeared with its foundationally specialized department's people bought and sold. Purchasing or organization purchasing can therefore be defined as that function responsible for obtain by purpose lease or legal means equipments, materials, supplies and services required by an organization or undertaking for use in production.

This work is expected to help the management of Rokana, industries to understand and appreciate “ purchasing” department on order to develop a set of statement that provide practical and useful targets for decision making purpose. This helps in improving the company's mission, growth, strategy and portfolio plan that helps in long, middle and short term plan as a means enhancing or solving purchasing challenges.

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1.2 Statement of the Problem

Purchasing research is an important tool in any purchasing activity of a company which has to be properly integrated in order to achieve its desired goals and objective though all is aimed to identify the need and want of consumers as a means of attaining adequate satisfaction of consumers to achieve organizational set objectives.

With purchasing research, the socio- cultural, ecumenical legal, political, technological and competitive conditions are checked to consumers with products of consistently high qualify made readily available at price which has the value for the money spent> It facilities the companys purchasing activities to ensure unwiring commitment to pursue excellence as the basis for current success and future growth.

The problem Uncainted by the company include the inadequate sources of data which has affected their research activities. This is a process by which company has little sources of data which include bias O' dishonesty on the part of the filed works.

Rokana industries Just like most of the small and medium scale companies are facing competition and the consumers are not satisfied with the quality of the product can help in improving the quality of the product and performance of Rokana.

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1.3 Objective of the Study

The emphasize on the need of purchasing research in a business management and its contribution towards the dynamic business environment as regards full application of purchasing system as playing a strategic role in a business management.

This study aims at the following.

1. To know how purchasing research can help improve the competitive strength of their product and company.
2. To determine if purchasing research actually identify solution to the needs and wants of their customers.
3. To find out if purchasing research has a hand in increasing quality and sales volume.
4. To conduct an important finding or research into excising industries and institutions to determine their level of knowledge and short- comings on the importance of purchasing research.
5. To improve its application through the use of read/collected facts and being handled by a professional.

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1.4 Research Questions

• Does purchasing research helps Rokana industries in serving their customers better?
• Does purchasing research help Rokana industries to know the needs and wants of their customers?
• Has the quality of the product increased or improved as a result of purchasing research carried out by the company?
• Does the adoption of purchasing research help Rokana industries company in fighting competition?
• Are professionals employed to hands purchasing?

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1.5 Research Hypothesis

Taking the stated topic of the project into due consideration, the following hypothesis have been formulated.

The management of Rokana industries yields improvement in their product and higher product inviting.

• H1: The need for purchasing research adopted by the management of Rokana industries do not yield improvement in their product and higher productivity.
• H0: The management of Rokana are satisfied with the reduction of cost incurred and the increase in production and sales.
• H1: The management of Rokana are not satisfied with the reduction of cost incurred and the increase in production and sales.

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1.6 Significance of Study

This research intends every organization to gain from it in as much that purchasing research are encouraged to be used in the right manner. In order to improve and up data the purchasing activities.

The application of purchasing research will improve the method of sourcing negotiation, method on issuing purchasing order, purchase requisition and reduce time wastage, cost and increase, in portability. It will constitute the problems of mismanagement in an organization as it will prove room for efficiency and effectiveness.

Furthermore, it is believed that the study will help the company to identify it's draw backs and how to alleviate them which will ultimately contribute to profitability of the organization, thereby reducing cost and avoiding obsolescence.

This in a nut-shell will help to expose the student who is prepared to entire into the field, the challenges he is likely to face and what would be his contributions.

It will equally help our industries or the company in question (Rokana industries Owerri Plant) and other big companies to utilize the services of purchasing research in business management as to benefit from its contribution to profitability and to correct abnormalities caused by the use inexperienced persons and wrong techniques in purchasing.

More so, the research is significant to the researcher as it services as a pre-requisite for the award of higher national Diploma (HND) as well as other researchers to continue where I stop (research gap)

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1.7 Scope of the Study

The need for purchasing research in a manufacturing company is a wide of study. But this project will focus attention on purchasing research as related to Rokana industries plc Owerri.

This study embraces the activities that are involved in the purchasing department. More so, the researcher carried out an in- depth investigation on the reason why the concept is not being adopted to the fullest, despite the tremendous benefits derived from purchasing research.

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1.8 Limitation of the Study

While carrying out this research, the researcher, was confronted with various limitations which,

a. Research Biased:

Most respondents although knowing the aim of this research, refused to cooperate. The researcher had to waste sometime persuading them to answer one question or the other.

b. Financial Constraints:

Due to hard economic relatives enough finance that should have allowed a most diversified research was not available.

c. Time Constraints:

The researcher combined her class work with the research. This made the researcher to experience a very tight schedule. As she had no transport of her own.

d. Transportation:

Transportation posed a big threat/trait to me project, the researcher wasted must time due to transportation delays thereby getting to the places of research late at times. Interviews were missed and repeating the journal becomes inevitable.

c. Other factors:

That limited his work was the fact that there is scarcity of text books by Nigerian authors in this country, even our lecturers. This made reference to the work project very cumber some.

Supply:

An amount of something that is provided or available to be used. Also provide somebody with something that hey need or want.

Supply and demand:

The relationship between the amount of goods and services that are available and the amount that people want to buy especially when this control prices.

Supplier:

A person or company that supplies goods

Time and motion study:

A study to find out how efficient a company's working method are

Skill:

The ability to do something well.

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1.9 Definition of Terms

Purchasing:

It is a set of human activity directed at satisfying needs and wants through exchange process

Research:

Course of critical investigation, endeavour to discover new or collate old fact

Purchasing Research:

It is the systematic collection classification and analysis of data as the basis for better purchasing decision.

Analysis:

It is a means to get measuring out of the data

Systematic:

It is a step by step method of finding solution to a problem.

Data:

It means fats or information, especially when examined and used to find things or make decisions

Application:

It is the practical use, of 5th, especially a the ory, discover etc.

Budget:

It is the money that is available to an organization and a plan of how it will be spent over a period of time

Consumer:

A person who buys or uses services

Consumer Goods:

Goods such as food, clothing etc bought by an individual customers.

Planning:

What, when and how things should be accomplished in view of the organizations capabilities and environmental Uncertainties.

Value Analysis:

It is an organized systematic study of the function of a materials, port, component or system to identify areas of unnecessary cost.

Strategy:

It is basic plan of action chosen to achieve an objective

Activity:

A situation in which something is happening or a lot of things are being done.

Management:

The act or people who run and control a business or similar organization.

Buyer:

A person whose job is to chose goods that will be sold in a large shop/store.

Buyer's Market:

A situation in which there is a lot of a particular item for sale, so that prices are low people buying have a choice.