When choosing a purchasing skills ssessment, procurement executives need to think about practicality, reliability, validity, and impact.
Serious Procurement e-Learning builds capability
Serious Procurement e-Learning builds capability If you are looking for serious procurement E-learning as part of your training portfolio, we provide several options for you to make this available to your team: Buying a library of courses and making them available to your target audience. A Buyer Development Plan, where you motivate your learner’s to follow a learning path, based … Read More
The 'inner buyer': Raising procurement’s self-esteem
Here we argue that procurement must first adopt the right self-image before it can convince others of its value: First impressions Procurement professionals are indoctrinated into the profession with messages such as: “you have to take the internal customer along with you”, “you have to persuade them” “you have to get their buy-in first” But what if internal customers are … Read More
Driving savings to the bottom line
Driving strategic sourcing savings to the bottom line Driving strategic sourcing savings to the bottom line – we discuss how procurement leaders secure powerful savings and drive them to their bottom line by approaching sourcing strategically to deliver and capture cost savings for their organizations. What’s in it for you? Increased earnings and business efficiency Reading Time: 5 minutes Introduction: … Read More
The five procurement hats:
When I was asked to write about procurement to attract graduates into the profession, I came up with the concept of the 5 hats of success: Hat 1: Entrepreneur Able to spot opportunities and manage risk to support the organisation’s growth plans. Hat 2: Change manager Able to define future state requirements and develop realistic plans on how to achieve … Read More
Clear direction needed for procurement’s future
SM reported AXA CPO Heinz Schaeffer’s view that procurement would become a centre for “spend intelligence” but was hindered by a lack of suitable talent. While I share this view in part, there are several key points that need to be addressed by CPOs everywhere if procurement is to reach its full potential: What is Procurements End Game? There does … Read More
Expanding Procurements Scope and Influence
Expanding procurement’s scope and influence is critical for CPO’s, if procurement is to develop its value contribution beyond cost savings. Here we discuss some mechanisms to help procurement leaders achieve this goal: The ability to expand the depth and breadth of procurement’s playing field, to take on greater spend under management and to move beyond cost savings are on the … Read More
Skills for tomorrows procurement leaders:
The procurement profession is still in a transitory phase. There are glimpses of the future but still too much deadwood from the past which will need to be chopped before we can say the traditional procurement professional is dead. Consultants have played a key role in lifting procurement to its current lofty peak, so much so I became one myself … Read More
Time of the Buying Magician’s
As procurement’s profile has soared, companies expectations of what they can deliver has become even more challenging. The CPO is now being asked to be accomplished in a growing list of skills and responsibilities: Financial, commercial, supply chain, legal Reduce cost, Increase revenue, Improve working capital, reduce tax Stimulate supplier innovation Enhance the brand Decrease supply chain complexity Reduce risk … Read More
Staying Centre Stage
Once the current economic turmoil is over CPOs will need to develop new strategies to maintain executive attention. The economic downturn has highlighted the role procurement can play as a creator of value but many CEOs still view the function mainly in terms of cost savings rather than as enablers of growth. Having gained the attention of the board in … Read More