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Review of SEMINAR “SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT”, 1^st of April, 2010

By Nataliia, Final Year Student, International Business Administration

“Last week, Wittenborg students attended a one-day seminar presented by consultants Omnifocus. The subject dealt with was “Sustainable Procurement”. The first part of the seminar dealt more with the general theoretical issues regarding sustainable business, and the first part was focused on refreshing students’ knowledge concerning procurement and comparing sustainable procurement with more traditional purchasing and stocking strategies. The second part of the seminar was more dedicated to new sustainable procurement theories and practices.

As students we felt that the seminar, the topic, and the way it was given had a tight connection to our IBA studies. In addition, what was especially good is that all the explanations given by the lectures had not just theoretical form but were presented with help of real; life case studies. In my mind, when you deal with real business situations, told by people who have actively been involved with them, it is significantly easier and quicker to catch the material, than when only theory is presented from a text book, even if there are “old ” case studies mentioned. Furthermore, you can get more motivated to learn when you see and know that the given theory is application-oriented for your future professional activity. This seminar really motivated me to achieve as it showed me what professional opportunities there are in this field.

The lecturers showed strong and fundamental knowledge of the topic and were enthusiastic and ready to answer all our questions. They frequently used the examples from their own professional experience and it was not very surprising for us to learn that Omnifocus is a highly successful team of consultants. Moreover, the lecturers invited a guest speaker, an authoritative former industrialist specialised in procurement management to attend the seminar and assist and supplement the issues discussed during the day.

So, in the end, we got attention and knowledge from three professional specialists in the topic of sustainable procurement at the same time. Lucky for us!"