ASSIGNMENT 1 WEEK 3

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read Chapter 7: Supply Management.

Operations and supply chain managers as well as professionals in purchasing engage in strategic sourcing processes, and they demonstrate how spend analysis, total cost analysis, portfolio analysis, and weighted-point evaluation models can be used to support strategic sourcing efforts. Purchasing managers, for example, spend more time on strategic sourcing activities, such as spend analysis, supplier evaluation and selection, and make-or-buy decisions. All of these activities require individuals with a solid mix of quantitative and interpersonal skills. This assignment will enhance your skills in these important areas.

In your paper,

• Explain in detail why data analysis skills are so important to spend analysis.
• Describe how a structured process such as Six Sigma methodology (Chapter 4) can be useful to identify spending patterns and opportunities for improvement.
• Recommend which functional areas of the business, such as finance, should be involved in spend analysis efforts, and justify the rationale for your choices.

The Data Analysis Skills and Thinking paper

• Must be at least four double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA Style (Links to an external site.) as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA Formatting for Microsoft Word (Links to an external site.) resource.
• Must include a separate title page with the following:

  Title of paper in bold font

  Space should appear between the title and the rest of the information on the title page.

  Student’s name
  Name of institution (The University of Arizona Global Campus)
  Course name and number
  Instructor’s name
  Due date

• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
• Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.

  For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) and Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Writing Center resources.

• Must use at least two scholarly sources in addition to the course text.

  The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source.
  To assist you in completing the research required for this assignment, view Quick and Easy Library Research (Links to an external site.) tutorial, which introduces the University of Arizona Global Campus Library and the research process, and provides some library search tips.

• Must document any information used from sources in APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA: Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.) guide.
•  (Links to an external site.)Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center. See the APA: Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Writing Center for specifications.