Cambridge University

The primary benefits of a centralized purchasing function are cost-savings and standardization of the product or service purchased. The downside of centralized purchasing is the lack of control or choice by the end-user. If an end-user does not adequately communicate requirements (for example, quality and delivery) of a purchase to the centralized purchaser then there can be suboptimal results.

Any school. It does not matter which one.

There are a number of sites but

http://www.ibpapers.net/

is the best.

I don't know any specific numbers but I do know that only 4 schools have clubs over 20,000. They are Penn State, Texas A&M, Clemson, and NC State.

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