Because procurement is so often measured on cost savings as its primary KPI, another essential factor can be left by the wayside: risk. Especially when it comes to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability, risk remains hidden within indirect spend. To see how these dangers go unaddressed, here are three areas with examples of where organizations miss — but, with proper tools, can address — CSR and sustainability risks for indirect procurement.
The role of the chief procurement officer as a strategic business partner has taken on a new shape in recent years as organizations aim to better focus on changing business landscapes and keeping up on tech developments. A recent ProcureCon study, “Examining the Role of the CPO as a Catalyst for Digital Transformation in a Time of Disruption,” suggests that the role of the CPO must now assist its organization by navigating the global business environment’s opportunities and changes.
Spend Matters welcomes this guest post from Public Spend Forum, a sister site.
If you are used to private-sector sales, there are many differences to acquaint yourself with when transitioning to selling to government agencies, and the learning curve can be time consuming. Some of the successful sales and marketing tactics used in the commercial market do not work as well in government contracting. In fact, even the term “sales” is replaced with “capture management.” If you plan to transition and succeed in government contracting, it’s important that your client relationship management system (CRM) is set up to accommodate these differences to capture the business processes and data elements needed for government capture management.
According to research from McKinsey and Co., 70% of all transformations fail. But it doesn’t have to be that way. One of the biggest challenges facing a company that will be transitioning to AP automation is getting buy-in across the organization. Sure, management is happy because they are hopefully cutting costs and improving process efficiency, but what about the human aspect of change management? You can change the process, but how do you change minds to solidify that change? We’ve put together a list of strategies to help you lead the way and make the transition easier.
A new report for Seal Software sheds light on how companies’ legal departments are preparing for or using the latest tools associated with artificial intelligence to analyze contracts for hidden opportunities and risks, according to the white paper by Ari Kaplan Advisors. Seal uses machine learning and other technology to review contracts, extract data and do analytics, the California-based company said in a news release. It all adds up to a “Contract AI” solution. Some respondents pulled back the curtain on how they’re deploying the technology.
In Efficio's recent survey — “Procurement 2025: Is digital transformation driving more effective procurement?” — around two-thirds (64%) of respondents agreed that strategic supplier relationships will become increasingly important as companies look to achieve their future objectives — yet only half (52%) have formally selected their strategic suppliers. This gap indicates that while there is consensus on the value of the strategic supplier relationship, many companies have yet to define what a strategic supplier truly looks like for their organization, much less how technology can help to develop these relationships.
I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the evolution of specialized contract analytics and visibility solutions of late. Seal Software was arguably the first provider to bring contract and spend visibility (see our coverage from 2017 here) elements together. And others have followed on the contract analytics side alone (with varying degrees of capability). The vendor landscape aside, contract visibility is not just the counterpart to spend visibility — it’s something different entirely. Yes, it’s a complement, an extension, to spend visibility. But I’m beginning to sense it’s a standalone area of value to procurement, especially when contract visibility extends past the structured paper that is contained within a CLM system alone (i.e., to “all” or as many contracts as possible). So the question I’d like to raise today — and toss out to the Spend Matters audience to debate — is whether contract visibility is the next “must have” solution for procurement.
We understand that to justify the spend of an e-procurement system, every organization must first show the expected return on investment. To help uncover potential ROI for your organization, check out this e-procurement ROI calculator here, and read the City of Philadelphia case study.
Check out a webinar on supply chain risk that covers a whole range of risks — from trade wars to global warming — and what’s driving them. The conversation covers what to expect in 2019 as well. Also, learn about the risks faced online in a white paper that delves into cyber attacks and how to mitigate them.
If stakeholders across the company don’t have procurement software that lets them complete sourcing activities quickly or whenever they want and with ease, then they can’t support the procurement workflows — and effectively, the business. It’s not only the procurement team that experiences friction and frustration, the entire business can feel the impact of not getting the best value or vendor. For this reason, stakeholders for procurement activities need a means of adopting, engaging and participating in workflow activities that is easy to learn, easy to use and is collaborative.
Advancements in technology are changing nearly everything about the way people work across various industries, and a new report highlights how this transformation also pertains to the inner workings of talent acquisition. During the past few years, the way employers source, screen and hire new talent has changed vastly, and experts say this change is for the better. Business leaders’ concerns about the global economy are causing organizations to regard talent as the key to value creation, according to the 2019 Talent Trends report from Randstad Sourceright.
We’re just a month into 2019 and all signs point to an interesting year ahead. There already has been developments on climate change, business ethics, anti-corruption efforts, air pollution and sustainability in general. What does this momentum tell us about the state of sustainability this year — and what does the current landscape specifically mean for procurement teams? Answers to these questions lie in a few critical trends assembled with the input from our team of experts at EcoVadis.