Gensin Purchasing Case Study

To apply the seven stage process to the purchase of legal services at Gensin, the first stage is to rationalise the supplier base. However, for this to occur there is a clear need to understand the services offered in order to categorize those services In order to assess how they may be allocated to specific suppliers. As May and her department do not have the knowledge needed, it is important that there is the collection of relevant input data to allow for the categories to be developed. Cross functional teams can provide for a high level of input, as long as the team includes those who will have the knowledge needed, for example, those who work with the services, and those who have to deal with the inputs and the outputs (Grant, 2013). This indicates the members who should be present; these will include members from the firms' internal legal department, and other staff who deal directly with the legal services purchased. For example, this may include senior management from most major departments, as many of these will have to deal directly or indirectly with legal issues, from the regulatory requirements of marketing through to employment and health and safety law, as well as issues such as product liability for the research and development department (MacIntyre, 2014). As May will also be looking at the way services may be allocated with the aim of reducing the number of suppliers, the potential for single firms to provide for different needs may also be considered, which may also mean that as the task progresses external members of legal firms may be invited to participate as some meetings.

The team members are important as they are able to provide both the input data as well as the knowledge and skills to assess that data and create the desired output. The data that is needed will include, but not be limited to • Identification of the legal issues the firm has to deal with • Identification of how these issues may vary in different countries

• Break down of the current spending on legal services divided by issues and country

• List of the current legal services suppliers, and the spend with each supplier

• Information on the existing and potential legal suppliers, including which services they could offer if services were aggregated.

• Schedule of the fees charged for services for the legal... Details of the law firs used and amount spent with each may be obtained from the accoutring department, as they pay the bills, so can provide this data. However, data regarding the types of issues dealt with would need to be gathered from the firm's departments using the services, but may also be gathered from the law firms, although they may charge for collating that data. It is this element of the assessment process which will require members of different departments to be present, who may need to refer to their own departments/division to collect the relevant data.
With all the data collected, there will be several considerations regarding the way in which a supplier is selected. Firstly, the element of expertise needs to be examined; if a law firm has a high level of expertise are likely to create value by mitigating legal issues, and providing good advice. However, to obtain value, Gensin may also want to look at the variety of services that are offered; some law firms may have different areas of expertise which can be supplied, and the scope and scale of services that can be offered. This would help to create value by reducing the number of suppliers dealt with, and may facilitate a greater level of leveraged. Likewise, while expertise may be across different subject areas, there may also be the potential for international firms to be leveraged in order to deal with legal firms across different countries. Obviously, fees will also need to be considered. Importantly, long-term relationships, the current relationship between Gensin and the potential supplier, and the ability for this to be leveraged to create further value and develop trust may also be…