Summary: Procurement

Yesterday I jumped straight into Miss angry mode, with a summary of blogs that questioned whether we're losing our humanity, I therefore felt it only right that today's summary blog concentrated on the profession that I live, breath and love - procurement.

I wonder if I'm the only person who went into procurement on the advise of the careers adviser - she said my analytical bias and extroversion were perfectly suited to procurement - and 30 years later (did I just type that - oh my!!) I think she might just have been right. I've tried a few times to escape but my passion, enthusiasm and expertise for the profession seems to keep me rooted here.

As you will have noticed many of my blogs concentrate on the soft skills required for procurement, and business more widely (and there will be a separate summary blog to cover that subject tomorrow). So yes I am more likely to blog about influencing skills than I am Kraljic. I'm also more likely to be sharing insight on procurement to those who don't work in procurement rather than those who do. On the basis that if others understand the breadth involved in best practice/ world class or just down right great procurement they'd leave it to us and not try to do it themselves. An area I think procurement has failed to tackle that effectively if recent - horsegate and payment terms fiasco's are anything to go by.

That said, I do at times blog more directly about procurement here, and also for Future Purchasing and Supply Management:

Procurement the basics

• Anyone can buy - my response to that belief using my favourite and often used metaphor for procurement - gardening - more here on that on my Pinterest board.
• PR disasters and Procurement
• Purchasing - trade, profession and something anyone can do
• Reducing your costs isn't just about negotiating lower prices
• The cost of getting procurement wrong - the horror stories
• Performance measurement and improvement

Procurement Process

• Don't cut corner's unless it's safe to do so
• Strategies need evidence
• Low cost vs ethical pricing

Procurement Management

• Would you win best in show
• Are you tools just for show
• Too busy with the day job - to do it properly!
• What's at the top of the procurement Christmas tree
• Is there room for kindness in procurement - and I think the answer should be YES
• Raising procurement awareness
• The excuses we give for not communicating with our stakeholders - and what they really mean
• Talk to them - about engaging stakeholders

Supplier Management

• Are your suppliers running riot like Japanese knotweed - I said I liked using the gardening metaphor
• Are you suppliers over stretched
• Are your suppliers like Olympic athletes - or just running the egg and spoon!
• Do your suppliers have passion
• Do your suppliers sleep at night
• Are suppliers afraid to say no - very relevant
• If the earth was a supplier

General Management

• What's your organisation's operating metaphor
• Cultural web
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs
• Under cover boss - labour is still too cheap
• Business Values and payment of the living wage
• Do business values even exist?

There will be another summary blog tomorrow on soft skills and all things influencing, change management, communication, collaboration and personal development.

Alison Smith
Inspiring change inside and out - when what you're doing isn't working