{"id":1802,"date":"2018-05-23T15:05:46","date_gmt":"2018-05-23T15:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/?p=1802"},"modified":"2021-07-28T06:47:02","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T10:47:02","slug":"problems-textbook-chain-command-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/","title":{"rendered":"Problems With the Textbook Chain of Command, And a Solution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In organizations large enough to have multiple levels of management, a common practice is to establish a \u201cchain of command.\u201d \u00a0The origin of the chain of command concept is often attributed to the military, but is used extensively in business also.<\/p>\n<p>According to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Command_hierarchy#Chain_of_command\">Wikipedia<\/a>, a chain of command\u00a0is \u201cthe line of authority and responsibility along which orders are passed within a military unit.\u201d \u00a0The chain of command begins with the highest-ranking official \u2013 often known as the \u201ccommander-in-chief.\u201d \u00a0The commander-in-chief will have subordinates, who are superiors to their subordinates, who are superiors to their subordinates, and so on.<\/p>\n<p>The Wikipedia entry details a very important aspect of the chain of command: \u00a0\u201cIn general, military personnel give orders only to those directly below them in the chain of command and receive orders only from those directly above them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So, let\u2019s take a look at what the chain of command would look like in a mid-sized procurement department. \u00a0The chief procurement officer (CPO) would assume the role of \u201ccommander-in-chief.\u201d \u00a0Reporting directly to the CPO would be vice presidents of procurement. \u00a0Reporting directly to the vice presidents of procurement would be procurement directors. \u00a0Reporting directly to the procurement directors would be procurement managers. \u00a0And reporting directly to procurement managers would be buyers.<\/p>\n<p>Organizations that employ the chain of command concept often strictly stick to rules for communication between levels, much like Wikipedia describes how it works in the military: \u00a0\u201cA service member who has difficulty executing a duty or order and appeals for relief directly to an officer above his immediate commander in the chain of command is likely to be disciplined for not observing the chain of command. Similarly, an officer is usually expected to give orders only to his or her direct subordinate, even if it is just to pass an order down to another service member lower in the chain of command than said subordinate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As such, a buyer will not be communicating with a procurement director. \u00a0A procurement manager will not be communicating with a vice president of procurement. \u00a0 \u00a0And so on.<\/p>\n<p>Proponents of the chain of command structure in business see these benefits:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Managers don\u2019t get undermined by their superiors who might become involved in their responsibilities, often armed with incomplete knowledge of situations<\/li>\n<li>Higher-level managers don\u2019t get dragged into work that their lower-level managers should be doing or conflicts that they should be handling<\/li>\n<li>Lower-ranked employees don\u2019t receive mixed or conflicting messages by attempting to serve two superiors<\/li>\n<li>A chain of command structure can create an environment\u00a0of empowerment for middle managers, which can enable an organization to recruit more talented managers who generally don\u2019t like to be micromanaged<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Those are certainly valuable benefits. \u00a0But they are a little too textbook for certain real-world scenarios, especially if followed overly rigidly.<\/p>\n<p>This point is particularly true in business functions where <a href=\"https:\/\/lms.nextlevelpurchasing.com\/\">ethical behavior<\/a> is a higher concern, like procurement. \u00a0A subordinate can witness unethical behavior from his or her superior but, with the chain of command allowing only communication with one\u2019s direct superior, the chain of command can serve to suppress the uncovering of unethical behavior to the point of actually encouraging it.<\/p>\n<p>Consider this scenario\u2026<\/p>\n<p>A manufacturer has two procurement teams: \u00a0Raw Materials Procurement and Operational Procurement. \u00a0Each procurement team has its own director and both directors report to a chief procurement officer.<\/p>\n<p>The Operational Procurement team is split into two groups: \u00a0Strategic Operational Procurement and Tactical Operational Procurement. \u00a0Each group has its own procurement manager. \u00a0And each procurement manager supervises five buyers.<\/p>\n<p>A buyer in the Strategic Operational Procurement group witnesses Jim, the procurement manager of the group,\u00a0accepting gifts and money in exchange for awarding business to a certain supplier. \u00a0The buyer knows that the supplier was not the best choice for the organization \u2013 its prices were higher than its competitors, its service worse, and its products of lesser quality. \u00a0There is clearly unethical behavior going on. \u00a0Additionally, all of Jim\u2019s employees regard him as a \u201cmonster.\u201d \u00a0He berates them for no good reason and takes every opportunity to intimidate them.<\/p>\n<p>The buyer requests a meeting with the director of Operational Procurement to discuss some \u201cconcerns within the department.\u201d \u00a0The director of Operational Procurement\u00a0<em>refuses<\/em>\u00a0the meeting, saying \u201cJim is the manager of the Strategic Operational Procurement group. \u00a0Any concerns within the department should be discussed directly with Jim.\u201d \u00a0The director is following the textbook process of the chain of command.<\/p>\n<p>Well, what is the buyer going to do? \u00a0Tell Jim that he\u2019s behaving unethically? \u00a0Yeah, that will work out well.<\/p>\n<p>This is where the chain of command reaches a very tragic \u2013 and unnecessary \u2013 dead end. \u00a0Because the textbook chain of command is in place, Jim\u2019s unethical behavior is likely to continue unabated.<\/p>\n<p>Now, there\u2019s a strong possibility that, if you\u2019re reading this, you might be a leader in a chain of command structure. \u00a0And you might be worried. \u00a0And you should be, especially if you are higher up on the chain of command.<\/p>\n<p>One of the reasons you should be concerned is that, in a chain of command, your subordinates\u2019 values appear to reflect\u00a0<em>your<\/em> values whether they do or not. \u00a0In the foregoing example, the director of procurement would appear to have values that consider the accepting of bribes to be hunky-dory. \u00a0If Jim\u00a0is a slimeball and the director of procurement doesn\u2019t want to be involved in conversations that may reveal Jim\u2019s behaviors, do you know what makes the director of procurement in the eyes of many?<\/p>\n<p>If you guessed \u201ca slimeball,\u201d you are right!<\/p>\n<p>Now, I\u2019m an unapologetically opinionated person. \u00a0But are these points mere \u201copinions of Charles\u201d or should they be embraced as a standard way of thinking?<\/p>\n<p>Well, let me share another disturbing, non-procurement example.<\/p>\n<p>Joe Paterno was once regarded as perhaps the most iconic college football coach of all time. \u00a0As he aged, he only became more and more beloved by the fans of Penn State University football and, really, the greater sports world. \u00a0He had many legendary accomplishments during his incredibly long tenure with PSU: \u00a01966-2011!<\/p>\n<p>However, his legacy \u2013 and perhaps his life \u2013 was ruined when a scandal happened within the chain of command of which he was a part.<\/p>\n<p>In November 2011, one of Paterno\u2019s subordinates \u2013 assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky \u2013 was indicted on 52 counts of child molestation. \u00a0Some of the incidents occurred in PSU facilities.<\/p>\n<p>One particular incident way back in 2001\/2002 was witnessed by a subordinate of Paterno\u2019s, who reported the incident to his immediate superior in the chain of command, Paterno. \u00a0Paterno reported the incident to his superiors in the chain of command, athletic director Timothy Curley. \u00a0The reporting of the incident continued to go up the chain of command but, inexplicably, didn\u2019t result in timely law enforcement action. \u00a0Everyone was too concerned with honoring the chain of command structure to actually do the right thing.<\/p>\n<p>When the scandal broke and it became clear that Paterno knew about the 2001\/2002 incident, PSU fired Paterno. \u00a0While this firing enraged many fans of Paterno\u2019s football work, there were also plenty of people who believed that Paterno failed his moral obligation to get Sandusky brought to immediate justice. \u00a0Because Sandusky was not brought to immediate justice, the molestations continued for years. \u00a0Though Paterno did not participate in the molestation of children, his textbook following of the chain of command led many in the public to conclude that Jerry Sundusky\u2019s values were\u00a0<em>Joe Paterno\u2019s values<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Right or wrong, that was the perception of many. \u00a0They perceived Paterno as a, well, slimeball. \u00a0And perception can indeed be reality.<\/p>\n<p>Seventy-four days after being fired, Joe Paterno died. \u00a0No matter all of the good he had done in his 45-year career and 85-year life, the values of a subordinate in Paterno\u2019s chain of command will forever be a part of his legacy.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a pretty tragic illustration of the problems with a pure chain of command structure. \u00a0So, what can you do? \u00a0Do you not utilize a chain of command structure and forgo all of the aforementioned benefits?<\/p>\n<p>Well, I think that there is one simple solution.<\/p>\n<p>You can have a chain of command. \u00a0But, you also need an\u00a0<em>ombudsman<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>An ombudsman is \u201ca designated neutral who is appointed or employed by an organization to facilitate the informal resolution of concerns of employees, managers, students and, sometimes, external clients of the organization,\u201d according to the\u00a0International Ombudsman Association. \u00a0An ombudsman is outside of the chain of command, but is available to employees to \u201c(1) to work with individuals and groups in an organization to explore and assist them in determining options to help resolve conflicts, problematic issues or concerns, and (2) to bring systemic concerns to the attention of the organization for resolution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So, in the procurement example, if Jim\u2019s boss wants to honor the chain of command and doesn\u2019t want to hear about Jim\u2019s unethical behavior, the buyer would have someone to turn to if an ombudsman was employed. \u00a0In the PSU example, well, hopefully, an ombudsman would have gotten the police involved and the abuse put to a stop immediately sparing the tragedies endured by so many victims.<\/p>\n<p>By the way, five years after Paterno\u2019s death, all three surviving members of the chain of command \u2013 including the de facto \u201ccommander-in-chief\u201d, PSU President Graham Spanier \u2013 were sentenced to jail terms! \u00a0This shows that higher-level leaders in the chain of command \u2013 right up to the commander-in-chief \u2013 can be held accountable for behavior in the chain of command, even if it is many levels below them.<\/p>\n<p>If you think about it, honoring a chain of command without an ombudsman to whom an employee can report ethical violations is like a leader in that chain screaming \u201cLA LA LA LA LA\u2026I CAN\u2019T HEAR YOU\u2026YOU\u2019RE TWO LEVELS BELOW ME ON THE CHAIN OF COMMAND\u2026LA LA LA LA LA!\u201d \u00a0That\u2019s kind of dumb if you can be held accountable for behavior anywhere in the chain below you, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n<p>Here\u00a0are two\u00a0very specific and strongly-worded ideas that I want you to remember:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>When unethical behavior occurs between two people under you in the chain of command, you are either aligned with good or aligned with evil. \u00a0Using the chain of command to block yourself from hearing about unethical behavior aligns you with evil by default.<\/li>\n<li>When you bury your head in the sand, you are well-positioned to be bitten in the ass.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>In situations that lend themselves to potential unethical behavior \u2013 like procurement \u2013 having an ombudsman is a necessity. \u00a0The chain of command should serve\u00a0to streamline communication, not to facilitate unchecked unethical behavior.<\/p>\n<p>And, if you don\u2019t have an ombudsman, maybe you should have an open-door policy \u2013 with appropriate guidelines for usage \u2013 for employees two or more levels down. \u00a0The risk of refusing to hear about potential ethical problems \u2013 or the breaking of actual laws \u2013 is too great not to.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Recommended Reading<\/b><\/p>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lms.nextlevelpurchasing.com\/course\/view.php?id=34\">Preventing and Managing Backdoor Selling<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lms.nextlevelpurchasing.com\/\">Procurement Ethics Checklist<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lms.nextlevelpurchasing.com\/course\/view.php?id=33\">15 Rules for Ethical Supplier Interaction<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lms.nextlevelpurchasing.com\/\"><b>NLPA Learning<\/b><\/a><b>:<\/b>\u00a0Looking for authoritative procurement templates, tools, webinars, and more? Stop trying to create resources from scratch and start taking advantage of having exactly what you need right at your fingertips in\u00a0NLPA Learning.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In organizations large enough to have multiple levels of management, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-procurement"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.4 (Yoast SEO v19.13) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Problems With the Textbook Chain of Command, And a Solution - Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Problems With the Textbook Chain of Command, And a Solution\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In organizations large enough to have multiple levels of management, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NextLevelPurchasing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-23T15:05:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-28T10:47:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/09\/dreamstime_xs_55600213.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@nextlevelpurch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@nextlevelpurch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Problems With the Textbook Chain of Command, And a Solution\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-23T15:05:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-28T10:47:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/\"},\"wordCount\":1895,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Procurement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/\",\"name\":\"Problems With the Textbook Chain of Command, And a Solution - Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-23T15:05:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-28T10:47:02+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Problems With the Textbook Chain of Command, And a Solution\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/\",\"name\":\"Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA)\",\"description\":\"The Next Level Purchasing Association\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/08\/NLPA-logo-small-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/08\/NLPA-logo-small-1.png\",\"width\":149,\"height\":50,\"caption\":\"Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA)\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/next-level-purchasing-association\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCrNZYjcLcaNA4xMKQHEGamw\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NextLevelPurchasing\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nextlevelpurch\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Problems With the Textbook Chain of Command, And a Solution - Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA)","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Problems With the Textbook Chain of Command, And a Solution","og_description":"In organizations large enough to have multiple levels of management, [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/","og_site_name":"Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA)","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NextLevelPurchasing\/","article_published_time":"2018-05-23T15:05:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-07-28T10:47:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":360,"url":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/09\/dreamstime_xs_55600213.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@nextlevelpurch","twitter_site":"@nextlevelpurch","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Problems With the Textbook Chain of Command, And a Solution","datePublished":"2018-05-23T15:05:46+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-28T10:47:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/"},"wordCount":1895,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Procurement"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/","url":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/","name":"Problems With the Textbook Chain of Command, And a Solution - Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-05-23T15:05:46+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-28T10:47:02+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/problems-textbook-chain-command-solution\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Problems With the Textbook Chain of Command, And a Solution"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/","name":"Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA)","description":"The Next Level Purchasing Association","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/#organization","name":"Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA)","url":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/08\/NLPA-logo-small-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/08\/NLPA-logo-small-1.png","width":149,"height":50,"caption":"Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA)"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/next-level-purchasing-association\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCrNZYjcLcaNA4xMKQHEGamw","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NextLevelPurchasing\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/nextlevelpurch"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1802"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14084,"href":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802\/revisions\/14084"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}