Strategic Planning for Procurement

Heading into his third year as Assistant Vice President of Procurement Services at the University of Notre Dame, Tim Gibney now realizes how fortunate he was to have revamped procurement processes in other settings prior to joining the world-class Catholic institution. He describes the project as his "second time to have a 'once-in-a life-time opportunity' to work with a department and create it anew". Leading the renovation of Notre Dame’s procurement processes and building a team to fast-track e-Procurement, has been for Gibney an opportunity to again leverage his consulting experience and knowledge of leading procurement practices to effect change.

The decision to examine and subsequently replace the fragmented purchasing process with leading purchasing practices and the e-procurement initiative was spurred by a study conducted by consulting firm McKinsey & Co. beginning in 2000. Fr. Timothy Scully, CSC, Executive Vice President of Notre Dame requested the study to better understand University purchasing, says Ben Mathews, a McKinsey Engagement Manager and one of the consulting firm’s primary contacts with Notre Dame. Scully along with Jim Lyphout, Vice President for Business Operations, recognized that Notre Dame like most other universities was facing diminishing returns on endowments as a result of the economic downturn. Finding new ways to improve business practices would save money, ultimately making additional funds available for other needs.

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