chief, procurement, officer, survey, IBM
CPO Survey
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Ready or not, procurement is moving to center stage, with top billing on the corporate agenda. At companies around the world, CEOs and boards are counting on procurement initiatives to keep their businesses favorably positioned in today’s intensely competitive marketplace.
To better understand current procurement performance and future expectations, IBM Business Consulting Services consultants spoke, at length, with 45 chief procurement officers (CPOs) from 14 different industries and 8 countries across Europe, surveying these leaders about current performance and their views on critical procurement topics. 1 Working with the Economist Intelligence Unit, IBM also conducted an online survey to compare the European perspective with that of the rest of the world. Although they came from 64 different countries and a wide variety of industries, the 50 CPOs and 250 other C-level executives that responded electronically voiced similar perspectives in almost every instance.
Based on our analysis of the survey results, we believe CPOs can achieve success
by focusing on five key areas:
• Becoming business partners, not just buyers – CPOs must overcome a pervasive buyer mentality and position procurement to identify and respond proactively to broader business goals.
• Exploring new value frontiers: It’s not just about price – CPOs need to reorient organizations that are historically biased toward buying raw materials and supplies and convert their thinking and actions to fit the very different demands of capability sourcing.
• Pulling suppliers inside: The best value chain wins – Procurement organizations need to champion the full contribution potential of strategic suppliers, taking proactive steps to seek out value beyond the supply chain.
• Pursuing low-cost sources: A world worth exploring – Procurement organizations have to be prepared to leap hurdles imposed by borders and geographic differences and tap into more cost-effective sources around the globe.
• Conducting the ultimate talent search – CPOs must equip their teams with the necessary skills and expertise to address all of these challenges – and, perhaps more importantly, they must do so in record time.
As procurement influence grows, performance in these key areas will dictate the position of industry leaders and laggards. Too often, procurement organizations focus on one aspect of their role while ignoring others. For instance, it is common for procurement organizations to concentrate so intently on supplier management that they neglect stakeholder management; companies frequently end up with tremendous supply-side value that never gets realized because their internal customers decide not to leverage it.
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To make the most of the limelight, procurement organizations will have to address each of these five key areas in a synchronized manner – and use their superior procurement performance to distance their companies from the competition.
Read the complete survey..
2005 CPO Survey-
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