Social Procurement Needs Us to Ask the Right Questions
Organizations buy goods and services to solve problems. If there is a subsequent issue with the procurement, if it turns out that what they bought didn’t fix whatever needed fixing, it could be for many different reasons. But the core explanation may be mis-specification of the problem. It is likely that what they sourced was […]
Competitive Sourcing Leads to Diverse Sourcing
Deloitte found in its 2023 Chief Procurement Officer survey that the top three priorities were: driving operational efficiency, enhancing ESG/CSR, and digital transformation. ESG has become more important over time. As recently as 2021, improving ESG ranked only seventh on the list of priorities. Society is changing. The contemporary enterprise must adapt and evolve to […]
What Should CPOs Prioritize Post-Pandemic?
“It turns out that agility is indeed a sort of antidote that helps inoculate firms against complexity and risk so that they deliver healthy performance results even in the toughest of times.”
How Do You Drive Collaboration About Procurement Internally?
How do you drive collaboration about procurement internally?
How Should Boards Think About Procurement?
In a pre-Pandemic world, if I were to have asked a procurement officer or a chief financial officer, “what do you hope to accomplish with procurement?” the answer would have been straightforward: cost savings. In a post-Pandemic world with an elevated and persistent interest in social justice, the response is likely to be fundamentally different.
How Should Buyers Engage with Small Suppliers?
To win contracts with large government buyers and private sector purchasers, big suppliers need to demonstrate how they engage with smaller suppliers as subcontractors. Initially, this ability will be a competitive advantage, but over time it will devolve into necessary table stakes. BDC defines small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”) as those with fewer than one […]
Corporate Social Responsibility Procurement
In the plans for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, Bayard Rustin wrote of “the twin evils of racism and economic deprivation.” This remains true today as Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic argued recently that “Systemic racism is a yoke that drags on the American economy.” Reducing racism […]
Why Does Diversity Matter in Procurement?
You can make ethical decisions in diverse suppliers — and also make a positive impact on the bottom line The Business Roundtable recently released a high-profile “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation.”