A common perception held within the purchasing community is that the work of private sector, public sector, and nonprofit sector purchasers is widely disparate. This report describes a large‐scale study conducted to answer the question of how much the duties of the purchasing manager actually differ across seven major work settings: manufacturing, U.S. government, state/local government, institutions, services, retail, and food sectors. A total of 1,496 purchasers selected at random from each of these areas responded to a survey asking them to indicate their job duties. The results showed relatively little difference in the duties of purchasers across the various areas. The implications of these results include a major change in how the differences between the purchasing function in the various settings can be viewed. Another implication is the possible enhancement of the certified purchasing manager examination (C.P.M.) into a universal purchasing certification instrument.
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Eugene W. Muller (1991) studied this question.