Eggs, Lettuce, and Kilowatts An Allegory for Energy Purchasing Managers

Abstract

The purcha sing manager for Evergreen Uni versity ha s the job of
bu yin g food and beverage suppli es for all cafeterias and snack bars lo-
cated on the main uni ver sity campus and its branch campu ses. Her job
also en tails bu yin g food and beverage supplies for all facult y loun ges,
fraternity hou ses, the university hospital, and for the con cession stan ds
for all athletic ev ent s of Everg reen Un iversity. Food and b ever age pur-
chases for the se resp onsibility areas amount to ab out $20 million per
yea r. She ha s a staff of five people.
She uses computer software for inventory maintenance, to flag eco-
nom ic order quantities, and to interface with accounts pa yabl e at the
university. With this degree of soph istication it would app ear the pur-
chasing man ager could institute some major econo mie s in the wa y she
bu ys food and beverage supplies for the uni versity complex.
There is one problem. Evergreen University is a state uni versit y
com plex (the un iversity, the branches, the hospital, etc.). By state law the
pur cha sing man ager is required to bu y all food and bever age supp lies
thr ou gh a wholesa le food supplier based in the "State of Jefferson ."
Many years earlier Bailey Wholesale Food and Beverage d id a good
job of lobb yin g in the Jefferson state legi slatur e. The state legi slatur e,
wantin g to prom ote home-grown businesses, passed a law that r equ ired
all state agen cies to d o business with a state-based food and bev erag e
wh olesaler. Ov er time Bailey had purchased all of their meanin gful com-
petitors . A few very small one s remained . Howev er, Bailey wa s the only
on e lar ge eno ugh to handl e the bu sine ss of the un iversity and othe r
sizabl e state facilities