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The Certification Program - 25 Years of Success

August 1999

Professionally Speaking
Thoughts and Information on the Association and the Profession

Supplement to Purchasing Today®

August 1999
Vol. 3 No. 4

The Certification Program - 25 Years of Success
NAPM has a supply management content valid certification program. To date, almost 32,000 professionals have earned the Certified Purchasing Manager designation around the world. These professionals have met the strict standards of knowledge and experience set by NAPM. Twenty-five years after the program began, the three letters, C.P.M., often seen following the names of your colleagues, supervisors, educators, and mentors, indicate that these individuals are prepared to meet the challenges of supply management in their organizations. Twenty-five years after the program's inception, NAPM remains committed to providing you and your organizations with the knowledge and competitive edge essential for a lifetime of professional success. Twenty-five years later, we are once again repositioning the program to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Currently, the exam consists of four modules, two of which also apply to the Accredited Purchasing Practitioner (A.P.P.), a program for those in non-management level positions in the supply management field. Now, NAPM will make certification in the supply management profession a more sought after and important destination.

Job Analysis Process
We worked for more than a year with Dr. Eugene Muller of Industrial and Educational Measurement, Inc. to collect data using a comprehensive job analysis process. This process tells us what you actually do on your job.

The results of this job analysis are then used to develop test specifications. It is, essentially, the plan that guides examination content.

The Study
The study compared supply professionals' job functions in different settings using a comprehensive survey mailed to approximately 15,000 purchasing and supply professionals. The recipients were selected at random from public, private, and non-profit sector organizations throughout the United States. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of 100 purchasing tasks to their jobs.

The Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study has been to obtain current information about the supply function as it is performed in a variety of settings such as organization size, type, and function. The results are used to create versions of the C.P.M. and A.P.P. programs that reflect the changes we have experienced in our profession.

Professionally Speaking Main Page
25 Years of Success
Moving Into the Future
A New Look
C.P.M. and A.P.P. Modules
Comments from C.P.M.s

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