About Arjan van Weele
Arjan van Weele is a professor emeritus of Eindhoven University of Technology, where he worked as a professor of Purchasing and Supply Management. During his active career he worked as an independent boardroom consultant to many large companies on procurement strategy and governance issues. He also acted as a Supervisory Board Member for a few leading companies and organizations.
This website contains most of his academic heritage, including student textbooks, academic articles, research reports, presentations and powerpoint presentations related to his textbooks.
Currently he retired from work and spends time on other important things such as family, friends, books, portrait painting and Dutch history.
Before, he worked for 25 years in management consultancy both at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (1986-1989) and Holland Consulting Group (1989-1999) where he built his specialised consultancy in purchasing and supply chain management.
His consulting experience included assignments from large, European manufacturing companies (ABB, Alcatel Bell, DAF Trucks, DSM, Honeywell, Shell International, Heineken, Friesland-Campina), construction and offshore industry (Skanska), retail (Ahold, Maxeda) and the service-industry (airlines, banks, public transport).
Apart from strategy he advised clients on such issues as purchasing co-ordination, centralisation-, purchasing organizational structure, procurement benchmarking, performance measurement and improvement and training and development. Apart from these subjects he also supported clients on corporate wide cost down projects in purchasing, supplier strategy development and supplier alignment. His research was aimed at developing effective procurement governance, category sourcing strategies, and value creation through building superior supplier relationships.
He worked for many years in education and research programs at Eindhoven University of Technology and Nyenrode University. Was related as visiting professor to several (international) management development programs, such as TIAS-Nimbas School of Management, (The Netherlands), Vlerick Gent Leuven School of Management (Belgium), University of Stuttgart (Germany), and European Institute of Purchasing Management (France).
During his life he has published over 200 articles and 20 books on purchasing and supply management, including ‘Revolution in Purchasing’ (with Frank Rozemeijer (1996)) and the best selling textbooks ‘Inkoop in Strategisch Perspectief’ (Vakmedianet, Netherlands (1988-2021)) and ‘Purchasing and Supply Chain Management’ (Cengage Learning, London, (1995-2022)). The latter book was translated in Chinese, Swedish, Norwegian, Slovenian, German and Turkish. Based upon his extensive research and publications he qualified as a senior research fellow of BETA, the accredited research school of Eindhoven University of Technology and Twente University.
He was an esteemed member of the Editorial Board the Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management and member of the Advisory Board of the Journal of Supply Chain Management.
Holds an MBA degree from Interfaculteit Bedrijfskunde at Delft (1978). Obtained his PhD at Eindhoven University of Technology (1984) on ‘Purchasing Control: Performance Measurement of the Industrial Purchasing Function’.
From 2003-2011 he was the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of ITC’s (Geneva) Global Modular Learning System on Supply Chain Management. This modular learning program was since 2003 rolled out in 61 countries through 121 partner institutes leading to over 6000 obtaining certificates and exams in the field.
His academic trackrecord includes publications in refereed journals as Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, Journal of Supply Chain Management, R&D Management, Journal of Product Innovation Management, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Industrial Marketing Management, Supply Chain Management: an International Journal and The Journal of International Management, European Management Journal.
His course on ‘Purchasing and Supplier Management’ many times won the Industria Best Teacher Award, a prize for the course that was best appreciated by the students of the School of Industrial Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology.
From 2003-2008 he was the academic director of the NEVI3 Strategic Sourcing Master Class (NEVI) and the International Purchasing Presidents’ Strategic Dialogue Program (Purspective)(2004). He currently acts as academic director of the International Contracting program for the offshore industry at TIAS Business School, Tilburg.
In 2003 he received the Hans Ovelgönne Award from the International Federation of Purchasing and Supply Management (IFPSM) for his outstanding academic contribution in the area of purchasing and supply management.
In 2003 he was elected ‘Best Professor of the Year’ by the students of the International Purchasing and Supply Management MBA-program, as organised by the European Institute for Purchasing Management (EIPM) at Geneva.
In 2010 he received the NIMA Award from NIMA (Norwegian Purchasing Association) for his outstanding contribution to the field.
In 2018 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from IPSERA, the International Purchasing and Supply Education and Research Association, for his outstanding academic contribution in the purchasing and supply domain.
In 2018 NEVI elected him as an Honorary Member of the Dutch Association of Purchasing Management for his outstanding academic work and contribution to the professional purchasing and supply community.
In 2018 he received a Royal Award ie Officer in the Order Of Oranje Nassau for his outstanding work in the international procurement profession and community.