Practice Makes Perfect: Introduction to the Special Issue of Best Papers of the 16th Annual IPSERA Conference, 1-4 April, Bath, England

This special issue contains six of the best papers from the 16th Annual IPSERA Conference. Organised by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply (CIPS), under the academic guidance of Professor Richard Lamming and the CIPS professors, the conference focused on the theme of Practice Makes Perfect. This theme arose from the concern in management and government circles, currently uppermost in the minds of policy makers, for business engagement and impact of research. “What difference,” they ask, “does research make to public and private sectors business?” Research in Purchasing and Supply is naturally an applied subject, with plenty of opportunity for application in practice as well as rigorous fieldwork and development of theory. The conference included a great deal of this logic and the papers in this special edition reflect this at its best.