Attract new buyers to breathe change into the function

How can new buyer profiles be attracted to catalyse change in purchasing function methods?

By.O Group, our consulting firm, specializes in purchasing. Its response to this question is to build tailor-made programmes to make the purchasing role more appealing and breathe into it long lasting, useful changes.

This was the Air France KLM group’s quandary when it commissioned us to build a tailor-made training programme in 2011 that would cultivate new in-house talents in individuals changing their career paths to purchasing roles.

Building a tailor-made training programme for Air France’s buyers

In 2015, the global air transport giant asked us to take a step further and turn this purchasing training syllabus into a certifying, diploma course in partnership with the benchmark French business school, Kedge Business School.

This in-company career mobility programme aims to train newcomers to the purchasing function. Some of them will go on to obtain the Level 1 diploma in International purchasing & Innovation (MAI) awarded by Kedge Business School.

The innovative, tailor-made training course is split into 3 complementary modules:

  • A 14-day on-site training course leading to a purchasing passport certified by our consulting firm that specializes in purchasing and the Kedge Business School
  • Certain candidates will be eligible for the fast-track validation of prior experience procedure (VAE), at the Kedge Business School combined with an in-house project management project to validate additional diploma skills.
  • Admission to the MAI class (after being appearing before a VAE panel comprising Air France, Kedge and By.O adjudicators) to work towards the Kedge Business School Level 1 diploma in International purchasing & Innovation.

Five buyers from the first 2016 intake are about to be awarded the diploma while the 2017 intake is embarking on the second module of this training course.

A training programme awarded at Trophée des Achats 2017

This innovative programme has just been rewarded at the 11th Trophées des Achats event. The Air France-KLM Purchasing Division won the 2017 Trophée des Achats in the purchasing process modernization and digitization category. The Air France VAE support mechanism, devised in conjunction with the By.O Group and Kedge Business School won the gold medal.

purchasing advisory

The prize-giving ceremony was held on 19 June 2017 at the Théâtre de Paris and brought together the country’s entire purchasing ecosystem. It rewarded the best-performing purchasing divisions for producing new leaders, new supplier-relation models and also highlighted innovative sustainable and responsible purchasing strategies.

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Magali Viala-Breger, Senior Manager Procurement Performance for Air France KLM, reçoit le Trophée des Achats dans la catégorie modernisation et numérisation des processus achats.

The career mobility programme is the culmination of long collaboration between Air France, our consulting firm that specializes in purchasing and lastly Kedge Business School. It enables the Air France Group to contribute to the appeal and development of the purchasing function.

More about the partners

Air France KLM Group

The group is the leading European and a major air transport player. Its main businesses are passenger transport, airfreight and aeronautical maintenance.

It is a founder member of the SkyTeam alliance of 20 airlines and runs Flying Blue, one of the leading loyalty programmes in Europe that has more than 27 million members.

Air France-KLM is a member of the SkyTeam alliance of 20 airlines that offers access to a global network with upwards of 16 000 daily flights to 1057 destinations in 179 countries.

Kedge Business School

This benchmark French business school has four campuses in France, (and 3 associated campuses) 2 in China and 1 in Africa.

Kedge BS provides 32 management and design courses for students and business people, and devises bespoke training courses for French and foreign companies.

The Kedge BS community is made up of 12 600 students and 54 000 alumni all over the world.

Kedge BS is a member of the French Conférence des Grandes Ecoles. It is placed 33rd in the Financial Times Business School rankings in Europe and 22nd globally for its Executive MBA.

By.O Group

By.O Group is a consulting firm that specializes in purchasing. It guides organizations in their drives to strengthen relations with their partners, suppliers and customers.

The company works on defining strategies, supervises business transformation projects, conducts operational assignments and develops team skills in a key sector… that of purchasing.

Since 2011, By. O Group has extended its range of skills to offer guidance on developing companies’ purchasing ecosystems and BtoB relations management. It also provides its expertise in sector structuring.

By.O Group is a consultant to major French and international groups and public sector organizations.