Procurement is often described as process-driven, and lacking in creativity. It is also accused – and accuses itself – of in speaking in jargon that colleagues in other departments cannot understand, which does nothing to raise its profile (another commonly stated problem).
Often local newspapers run stories in the run up to the Christmas period about scrooge-like councils, scrimping as much as possible to save money on town decorations and festivities.
At the CPO event I attended in Boston last week, there was a lot of talk about procurement’s role in change. Primarily that the profession is in such a good position to force transformation, and by bringing in new suppliers and ideas, it is something it is used to.
It is now less than two weeks to the start of the United Nations’ climate change conference in Copenhagen and preparations ahead of the talks are hotting up (ahem). Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina this week urged rich countries to help climate vulnerable, poor nations in the same way they bailed out economies damaged by the global recession.
Vast changes in the market for interims have led to growth in purchasing’s responsibility for this area of recruitment. Interim positions – an expert tells me – tend to fall into three categories: caretaker roles covering maternity leave, sick leave etc; specific project management roles with a defined timescale/delivery time; and crisis management/turnaround situation roles.
As local sourcing becomes increasingly popular, local producers will have to boost their production to meet demand. But according to a few Welsh chefs at the moment, getting hold of local lobster, crab, cockles and mussels is difficult because of their popularity elsewhere. Fishermen say that 90 per cent of Welsh shellfish is put direct onto lorries and delivered to France and Spain.
As the newbie on the SM team, I’m still discovering the ins and outs of procurement, and there is evidently a lot to learn. One of the first things that became clear, however, was that bribery is, sadly, commonplace in Africa.
Arrogance, it seems, is one of the largest barriers to breakthroughs. If you or your department/organisation thinks it knows better than anyone else, it will be closed off to new ideas – ideas which could save or even make money
Here at the Aberdeen Group CPO Summit there has been a lot of talk about ‘spend under management’ – the amount of money looked after by the procurement team – being one of the critical denominators of those companies that are world-class.
Newsgathering is not always a straightforward task. Trawling through sources for an elusive procurement angle is peppered with false starts and dead ends. It makes it all the more exciting when a story turns up unexpectedly. For example, yesterday’s piece on the Tories’ plans for PFI deals made itself known as I was blithely flicking through my Sunday paper.
