points pertaining to their functional department.

The various motives may be elaborated below:

a) Research and development (R&D) department: The R&D department is responsible for innovations
in design, products, and style. This department is responsible for creating innovative new products to
keep companies ahead of the competition. Many companies rely on the R&D department to improve
existing consumer products, and to explore new ways of producing them. They include technical
professionals who know exactly what they are looking for in order to aid their researches and
development of new products for their company. Their main objective includes requesting for specific
products from IOI so as to cater to their needs. In this case, the representative from the R&D
department may be acting as a user (who uses the product for further development) and influencer
(determining the technical specifications for the product).
b) Quality control (QC) department: It reviews the quality of all factors involved during production such
as processes, competence and personnel soft elements such as motivation, culture etc. They are also
technical professionals who follow established policies and procedures. Their objectives include
highlighting the companys policies and protocol (ensuring that IOI is Halal and Kosher certified in
order to produce products for the Muslims and Jews), emphasize the need for IOI to produce top
quality products (ensure that IOI is ISO 9001 and 9002, 14000, 14001 certified, has Critical Control
Points, Hazard Analysis and Good Manufacturing Practices), and requesting regular checks on IOIs
production methods and estates (using sustainable methods to obtain palm oil). The representative
should behave as an influencer in this case, ensuring that IOI meets certain guidelines.
c) Production department: The main role of production is to turn inputs (raw materials) into outputs
(finished goods). Their objectives include obtaining support services from IOI to assist in the
application of the materials to the manufacturing process and to adjust the outcomes in terms of taste
and textures. Here, the representative acts as a user, as his department will be the one mainly utilising
the product.
d) Procurement department: The procurement department is employed to buy everything that a
business needs to operate. They must research and delve into the products before purchasing them,
ensuring that they are getting the best deal. Here, their emphasis ranges from price, quality, delivery
process, technical support, post-sale services and financing options. Their objective is to secure the
best deal for the best price, ensuring that IOI is credible, reliable and can produce the results the
company expects from them. Here, the representative acts as the buyer, to decide on whether to
select IOI as the supplier and to negotiate the terms of the contract.
e) Finance department: The finance department of a business takes responsibility for organizing the
financial and accounting affairs including the preparation and presentation of appropriate accounts,
and the provision of financial information for managers. The focus of the finance department may be to
ensure that they have adequate budget to purchase from IOI, determine if IOIs prices are competitive
and reasonable and perhaps even to check on IOIs finances to ensure that IOI is financially sound.
Here, the representative acts as the influencer (to influence the other representatives if IOIs pricing is
reasonable and competitive) and gatekeeper (by not mentioning to the other representative how much
budget they have allocated to purchasing from IOI).
f) Management team: Assuming that the representative from the management team refers to one from
the business-unit level or corporate level management, the objective may be to align the buying
centres strategies to that of the business-unit level or corporate level. This synergies the buying
centre towards the same goal. Moreover, as the contract size may be large, which has a large effect
on the companys bottom line, a representative from the management team is required to approve the
contract, and to ensure that the contract is fair, and that the product does indeed add values to the
company. He may be held answerable to the stakeholders after all. The representative acts as a
decider (approves contract) and gatekeeper (ensuring that strategies are aligned, a fair negotiation is
reached, and considerations by the various stakeholders which only he knows are settled).