Basics of Smart International Procurement

Buying internationally is much more complex than buying domestically. Buying internationally involves having to expand your knowledge of many aspects of procurement that you don’t have to worry about when buying domestically. Differences in cultures, laws, communications, currencies, and more have to be understood to support international procurement. And if you don’t have a good foundation, your international procurement efforts will have a higher probability of failing. Basics of Smart International Procurement will teach you the critical things every purchasing professional needs to know before buying from foreign suppliers. Upon completing this course, you will be able to:

• Identify seven key characteristics of cultural differences that you need to know to avoid any unpleasant surprises from your suppliers
• Determine whether international suppliers might be withholding bad news from you
• Understand how the importance of contracts will differ among international suppliers
• Apply five critical clauses that should be included in every international procurement contract
• Apply the six principles for writing contract language that is clear and ideally suited for international procurement situations
• Handle communication when you and your supplier have different native languages
• Reducing communication misunderstandings with foreign suppliers, including the use of jokes, hand gestures, and written communications
• Factor exchange rates into international procurement transactions
• Calculate currency conversions
• Identify currency risks associated with international procurement transactions
• Understand how hedging tools like forward contracts and options are used to protect buying organizations from cost increases
• Apply a risk-sharing formula that truly distributes risk equally between a buyer and a foreign supplier

This is a self-paced course with no instructor-led forum and you have 60 days from registration to complete all course elements. It should take you approximately 8 hours to review the material and take any quizzes. All readings are provided in the course.

This course has been pre-approved for 8 hours of CE credit.