Thought Leadership Debate at the Globe Theatre
The first Thought Leadership Debate, which took place at the prestigious location of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, was a huge success with CPOs and Procurement Directors from blue-chip companies such as Vodafone, Zurich and Dixons discussing how procurement can capitalise on its corporate position.
It was a lively two-hour debate and the statements below are just a few of the topics discussed. Have your say on the topics by clicking here and completing our comment box. A full write of the event can be seen in the 1 November issue of Supply Management.
Does the profession have some work to do to gain greater recognition?
Nick Wildgoose, UK procurement director, Zurich
"I think there’s a bit of an obsession with getting on the board for procurement. There are others ways of influencing and you have to keep working at this. Certainly within Zurich, senior management changes.
"You think, ‘great, I’ve made it’, and then they change the management team and you start again to a certain extent. There seems to be corporate amnesia from some directors from time to time about what a wonderful job you did the previous month."
How can we better market procurement?
Stephen Wills, Head of procurement, AXA UK
"In my experience procurement people are pretty rubbish at marketing themselves. We have a view of ‘it’s just our job and we get on with it.
"We don’t get to the right people to tell them what we do, and if don’t do that we don’t influence and we don’t influence the business enough. I think that’s absolutely something we should be doing."
Does clarity about the space procurement occupies in the business match credibility and the take-up within the business of the deals you strike?
Stephen Wills, Head of procurement, AXA UK
"If you don’t get compliance and persuade and influence the business it counts for nothing. In manufacturing, it’s a given - you’ve got that mandate, with financial services it’s optional, it’s a very different situation. The first thing on our mind, isn’t about saving money, it’s getting it right for the business.
"Negotiation is a core part of what we do, it’s not the only thing we do, but it gives us an identity in the business. Savings are key, but certainly second to that, compliance is a huge part - having a fantastic deal that nobody uses is worth nothing."
Could the growth of corporate social responsibility be procurement’s opportunity to make a mark?
Stuart Fyffe, Procurement Manager, Friends Provident
"Yes, you have to align procurement and CSR but it won’t be your first line of suppliers that’s probably the issue.
"It may be your third or fourth tier suppliers who are the problem, so you have to make a decision how far down the supply chain you actually go to make sure that what you’re doing is mirroring what the company’s saying to the public because that’s where the damage will be done."
Lance Younger, Managing Director EMEA, Ariba Consulting
"You’ve got to be specific about the areas you focus on, if we’re not careful, purchasing tries to cover too many bases and doesn’t concentrate on the core competencies which are around negotiating price or being involved in commercial arrangements.
"We could start being pulled into CSR, where in reality yes we can provide some interface, because we’ve got interface to the supply base, but we’re not CSR experts."
Are procurement qualifications essential to a successful purchasing career?
Stuart Fyffe, Procurement Manager, Friends Provident
"If you look at jobs in Supply Management they are asking for CIPS qualifications. I think sometimes our expectations are very high and it could be that you should look at people that don’t necessarily have that experience, and might be project managers or marketing managers.
"But they have the interest and the learning capability to take on buying. In the last six weeks, I have recruited one straight to a graduate programme at another company and one’s an IT guy who’s done some marketing, they’ve got the capability to learn and they have basically the enthusiasm to want to learn.
"So we’ll pay for the CIPS training courses. But I think we’ve raised expectations too high so that puts people off. "
Is the situation different elsewhere in Europe?
Lance Younger, Managing Director EMEA, Ariba Consulting
"We deal with a lot of customers across the whole of Europe and we’re seeing parallels between France and, surprisingly, the Nordic regions actually are quite astute in a lot of their purchasing habits. But the area we’re seeing pushing hardest is North American."
So should we be looking outside the profession for talent because some of the skills are interchangeable and competences the same?
Paul Cowley, Head of Services, Vodafone
"I think it depends a bit on the category where you take that approach. I’ve recruited people from our marketing and media agencies because they’ve got that credibility. So when they’re sitting across the desk from Saatchi & Saatchi and so on they say: ‘Hey, I know what you’re talking about, I come from your world’."
Steve Jones, CPO, Dixons
"I want a core foundation of professionally-trained purchasing people but bringing them in and supplementing them with people who’ve got sales experience, marketing experience, good commercial acumen who are clear about what they’re going to add and are prepared to learn I think enhances the department."
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