TEXTBOOK REVIEW
Purchasing and Materials Management Textbooks
A Review by Dan Reid Bowling Green State University
The area of purchasing and materials management has entered a challenging era. In an effort to retain its competitive standing in the international marketplace, American industry has turned to purchasing and materials management for help. The importance placed on purchasing and materials management is highlighted in a forthcoming study done for the National Association of Purchasing Managers by Hahn and Kim which found that more than two hundred universities and colleges now offer courses in this area. General observations can be made about the textbooks available in this area. First, if purchasing and materials management is to remain a viable focal point for retaining the competitive edge, professionals in this area must interact successfully with engineers, production planners, vendors, quality assurance personnel, controllers, management information systems, and computers. The diversity of knowledge required is evident in the textbooks. Although a core of standard topics has been developed, the emphasis placed on each topic varies considerably according to the author's biases; the same can be said about the coverage of peripheral topics. Second, academic research in purchasing and materials management is in its infancy. Most of the research referenced or techniques used have 878

James M. McFillen Textbook Review Editor

been done in peripheral areas. Because of this borrowing, many texts are merely a series of peripheral ideas placed together to form a purchasing text. Finally, even though there appears to be a significant market for purchasing and materials management textbooks, very few are available. Here, five textbooks were identified by publishers for the purchasing and materials management field. Limiting this review to the texts that