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Lessons Learned on the Road to Procurement Transformation

When it comes to leading a procurement transformation initiative, there is no substitute for experience. Recently, at the Coupa Inspire 2018 Conference, in San Francisco, four change agents discussed their e-procurement journeys and the lessons they learned along the way. Their insights are captured in an e-book from The Shelby Group titled “E-Procurement Lessons Learned.

As leaders of change within their respective organizations, Scott Whitehill of Blackstone, Todd Dooley of H&R Block, Dale Welcome of World Vision, and Leslie Townsend of Edwards Lifesciences each developed a vision for the role that e-procurement could play in addressing unique organizational challenges and opportunities. Just as important, they each built the stakeholder alliances and the infrastructure needed to translate their vision into reality.

The procurement discipline has long suffered from an image problem. It is still seen by many as a cost management function. However, Whitehill, Dooley, Welcome, Townsend and many others who share their passion are changing the image of procurement. By addressing fundamental business issues such as operational efficiency, competitive advantage and bottom-line profitability, today’s procurement and supply chain leaders are catalysts for change and strategic enablement. They see their domain as not just managing the flow of transactions but as optimizing the exchange of value between buyers and suppliers to improve organizational effectiveness.

The Shelby Group would like to express its sincere appreciation to each of the client executives who shared insights and experiences from their journey to procurement automation for this publication.

Topics covered in “E-Procurement Lessons Learned” include:

  • Increasing the global scalability and efficiency of procurement operations at Blackstone
  • Automating business processes across 12,000 locations to speed operational readiness at H&R Block
  • Transforming global operations to empower people out of poverty at World Vision
  • Simplifying spend management to enable innovation and global growth at Edwards Lifesciences

Download e-book

At The Shelby Group, we see procurement as a journey. We hope that the experience-based insights in this publication help make your procurement transformation more productive and rewarding.

Jim Kandilas, CPA, is executive vice president of The Shelby Group. A procurement industry veteran, Jim helps companies align their procurement strategies, processes and technologies to improve business results.