Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Gloria Wolfson
Committee Member
Patrick O. Chambers
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
campus communities, circumvention, customer service, customer survey, educational organizations, faculty, legal, merchandise, needs assessment, phenomenological study, purchasing department, purchasing professionals, purchasing system, responsibility, restricted merchandise, seminars, spending limits, staff, trade magazines, training, university, Western Washington University
Abstract
This dissertation used a phenomenological study, customer survey, and training needs assessment to discover how to improve customer service or the purchasing system to stop the university's faculty and staff from circumventing the purchasing department. Circumvention of the purchasing system is not unique to Western Washington University. The campus communities of other educational organizations routinely exceed spending limits or purchase restricted merchandise. Stopping circumvention is thoroughly discussed among purchasing professionals at conferences, seminars, and in trade magazines.
This dissertation used a phenomenological study, customer survey, and training needs assessment to discover how to improve customer service or the purchasing system to stop the university's faculty and staff from circumventing the purchasing department. Circumvention of the purchasing system is not unique to Western Washington University. The campus communities of other educational organizations routinely exceed spending limits or purchase restricted merchandise. Stopping circumvention is thoroughly discussed among purchasing professionals at conferences, seminars, and in trade magazines.