Purchasing Can Have it All: How Collaborative Cost Processes Deliver Results and Build Alignment
Our experience is that far too often purchasing leaders see collaboration with the supply base and savings achievement as mutually exclusive goals; you can achieve one or the other, but not both. Perhaps that is why 58% of the CEO’s we surveyed questioned the value their purchasing organizations drop to the bottom line and 52% believe there are significant savings yet to be realized. When we interviewed CEO’s, they often talked about the lack of strategy and alignment/collaboration within their companies and supply chains. (click here to download the whitepaper “What CEO’s Want from Purchasing Leaders….and Are not Getting”)
However, we have found that purchasing leaders who effectively pursue collaboration and savings, not only achieve savings, but they demonstrate the bottom line value and strategic thinking that CEO’s desire. They end up with a lean, aligned supply base that is easier to manage and provides better results.
How did they get there?
- They did so by first understanding their current state compared to the desired future state.
- They created a plan that more likely than not included the following elements:
- Creating a culture of collaboration with internal stakeholders and the supply base.
- Implementing effective tools for understanding and managing costs.
- Investing in people.
- And then, they went about implementing the plan on a daily basis.
In Our May 26th webinar, ‘Purchasing Can Have it All: How Collaborative Cost Processes Deliver Results and Build Alignment,’ we will review the topic of cost and collaboration and what purchasing leaders can do to achieve savings through collaboration. Click here to view the recording.