Strategic Procurement: Process Approach to Designing Procurement Strategies Through Categorization

The monograph focuses on the development of a process model for designing procurement strategies, based on scientifically grounded building blocks: categorization of procurement commodity groups, strategy selection, and its validation. The fundamental research question addresses the design of these building blocks, through which the monograph fills a gap in the existing literature, which has so far not systematically addressed the sequence of activities in the development of procurement strategies.

At the theoretical level, the work extends the application of the Kraljic Matrix with contemporary methods and approaches, such as market analysis using Porter’s Five Forces analysis, SWOT analysis, and the RAQSCI business requirements model. Through its empirical component, the research confirms the practical applicability of the selected building blocks. Three research questions address how commodity group categorization is performed, which strategies are used in modern organizations, and how internal stakeholders are involved in the strategy validation process.

The research is based on a triangulation methodological approach and includes a combination of qualitative methods: thematic networks, the Delphi method, and the Nominal Group Technique (NGT). The empirical part includes more than 40 experts from six European countries, contributing to the broader applicability of the findings.

The results are divided into three building blocks. The first building block includes a model for categorizing procurement commodity groups according to the Kraljic Matrix based on strategic importance and risk. The second presents 114 modern strategies, classified according to the quadrants of the Kraljic Matrix, validated using statistical criteria (IQR, SD, Cronbach’s α, Spearman’s rs). The third building block develops four communication strategies for involving internal stakeholders in strategy validation.

The main scientific contributions of the monograph include the development of a new model for designing procurement strategies that systematically integrates existing theoretical foundations and empirical evidence. The use of advanced methods enables the identification of practically applicable strategies adapted to contemporary challenges in the procurement function.

The work contributes to the development of the procurement discipline, increases professionalism and strategic effectiveness of procurement in organizations, and provides guidelines for further research, particularly in the areas of digitalization, automation, and artificial intelligence in strategic procurement.