Procurement needs a strong mandate not super developed soft skills Not a week goes by without a talent shortage headline resulting in a great deal of noise regarding the profile of the modern procurement skill set. Here we make the case for CPO’s to focus on securing a strong mandate. The focus on soft skills A common criticism is a … Read More
The Future of Procurement: Shaping the Team
Scene 2 Balancing Procurement Bench Strength: The Future of Procurement: Shaping the Team The Future of Procurement: Shaping the Team – In the previous post “Commanding the Stage” we discussed the players that are already shaping procurements future with whom the CPO must engage and command the stage. Here we discuss the CPO’s talent pool and the players they can select … Read More
The Future of Procurement Scene 1: Commanding the Stage
The stage is set in the battle for procurements future: The Future of Procurement: Commanding the Stage The Future of Procurement: Commanding the Stage – The future of the procurement function is a hot topic at the moment. Amongst the more insightful outputs comes from Oxford Economics, who recently published the results of a study that shows the evolution of procurement … Read More
Key Procurement Skills Development for Today: Category Management
Key Procurement Skills Development for Today: Category Management Key Procurement Skills Development for Today: Category Management – Don’t take that job until you have read this article, where we discuss what it takes to be a successful Category Manager. The upside, the downside, and what to look for in both candidates and employers. So you want to be a Category … Read More
How to manage procurement skills assessment project negative reactions
How to manage procurement skills assessment project negative reactions How to manage procurement skills assessment project negative reactions. Many CPOs would like to conduct a reliable skills assessment to understand their team’s knowledge, capabilities, and skills gap but don’t act upon it further. This inaction is often the fear of an adverse reaction or ‘kickback’ from their team. Or an … Read More
Are Procurement Professionals Negotiating 'Too Aggressively'?
Are Procurement Professionals Negotiating Too Aggressively? In a post over on our Linkedin Group Jeffrey Friend posted a link to a Forbes article raising the question – Are Procurement Professionals Negotiating Too Aggressively? The article contained many embedded articles within it, making the subject matter very broad and complex. We provide our analysis and insight below: The Forbes article is … Read More
Political Mindset: influence decisions and embed change?
Political Mindset: influence decisions and embed change? Political Mindset: influence decisions and embed change? – The final part of our introduction to the key procurement mindsets is the Political Mindset. The Political Mindset relates to our negotiation style when engaging stakeholders. It is importance because it defines our ability to influence decisions on who gets the resources, what goals and … Read More
Position Mindset: drive organizational change
Position Mindset: to drive organizational change Position Mindset: drive organizational change. In our last post we talked about Personal Mind-set. In this second post we talk about Position Mind-set. The next level of mindset stems from the personal mindset is the position mindset which relates to leadership style. Leadership style is defined by the primary source of motivation for the … Read More
Mindset for leading successful procurement transformation
Mindset for leading successful procurement transformation Mindset for leading successful procurement transformation – Here we discuss the Personal Mindset required by procurement professionals. Procurements challenge for as long as I care to remember is to change the corporate mind-set. In other words changing the mindset of how procurement is viewed (and therefore its status – a transformation) inside the organization. … Read More