Project Lead

Dr David McKevitt

Project Team Members

Management and  Marketing

The Teaching Challenge

Procurement does not currently have a codified Body of Knowledge (BoK) and professional bodies are fragmented. The Voice of Procurement (VoP) podcast was initially proposed to complement the Certificate in Procurement Management (CPM) as well as to stay connected with CPM alumni.

The SATLE funding allowed for the purchase of podcast equipment and for the VoP to be publically available and “free at the-point-of-use”. Since its inception in 2019, the progression of the idea for a procurement podcast to its formal launch in 2020 was underpinned by a stakeholder approach. Whilst other ‘business podcasts’ might see this approach as a constraint, the ‘voice’ is that of the expert speaker not the host; the intent is to be useful to listeners. This ensures a consistent and qualified focus when soliciting expert contributions to the podcast. The VoP has produced a range of output relevant to national, and international issues (Table 1)

The Project

Successful execution meant negotiating the appropriate time to carry out the podcasts as the participants were often in and across multiple time zones, i.e. Australia, Philippines, Iraq. As a non-commercial project, the willingness of expert speakers to participate relied on altruism alone. VoP, like every project, invited risk which needed to be identified and managed. In this project, the host was also mindful of the opportunities that can emerge which need to be exploited. For the brief to be achieved, execution challenges related to technical, marketing and management issues.

Key team members- the host of the podcast, Dr David McKevitt has benefitted from the expertise of UCC colleagues and students who gave their expertise and time freely:

1. Dr David Alton (Social Media).

2. Dr Laura Lee (CIRTL).

3. Dr Lorna Moloney (CPM, Student support Officer/Clare FM).

4. Aashima Baweja (Digital Marketing).

5. Erin Keating (Voice Over)

The Impact

The VoP won Best Education Procurement Project of the Year at the National Procurement Awards (2020). It is vital that the continued success of the VoP achieves the goals of multiple stakeholders simultaneously. To this end, VoP is governed by three stakeholder goals (Table 1).

Testimonials

For anyone working in Procurement who thinks they can't make a real difference, have a listen. [Sean O’ Dwyer, Procurement Manager, Ireland]

[Its] a highly beneficial listen for those aspiring to work within areas of procurement and provides insightful knowledge which I personally found to be very helpful. I would certainly recommend it for anyone interested in working or studying any areas of procurement [Siobhan Dempsey, Procurement Intern, DePuy]

[VoP] offers an insightful window into the compelling and diverse worlds of procurement professionals. They are engaging, topical, and educational, with an excellent host and leading guest speakers [Maire Muckley, Procurement Consultant]

For me the service podcast was useful. Host David did not interrupt Kelly when she talks over her process. Some business podcasts in Spain are ego types and about host [Rocio Ruiz, Madrid, ES]

What it does from my perspective is to give students a quick taster on topics so that they can then go and read more about it for themselves [Dr. Paul Davis, Lecturer, Ireland]