Dateline Boston 2011: Analyst firm, Ardent Partners’ recent research shows that savings is the top business pressure driving Chief Procurement Officers to perform… Stop the Presses![i]

Yes, it is true. According to our recent report CPO Rising 2011: Innovative Ideas for the Decade Ahead, when it comes to CPO pressures, there is savings and then there is everything else. As shown in the figure below, the CPO’s top business pressure in 2011 is to find and deliver more savings. While the intensity of that pressure has an ebb and flow that tends to mirror the economy, savings is the top CPO pressure in both good times and bad. For example, when we were at the depths of the financial crisis in early 2009, the intensity and broad-based need for savings was unprecedented. While savings is still front and center for a majority of CPOs in 2011, it is interesting to note that more than one third of all CPOs are focusing their priorities elsewhere this year.

And then there is John Collington, the newly appointed Chief Procurement Officer of England, [Sidebar: How cool is it that one of the largest countries in the world has its own CPO? Talk about CPOs, Rising!] who is charged with leading a strategy to save £3 Billion (roughly $5B) per year by 2015. He is but one example of a high profile CPO with extraordinary pressure to deliver savings in the near and medium term. According to the two former Collington co-workers and one current direct report that I spoke with when I was in London last month, Collington appears to be the right man for the job, someone who “belongs in the service of the queen.” But Collington’s charge is and will be front page news and his performance will be tracked and known by an entire country. Talk about pressure!

Postscript: The report referenced in this article is available for download from the report sponsors Hubwoo or SAP, and soon Bristlecone (registration required at each).

Tagged in: Ardent Partners Research, Chief Procurement Officer, CPO, Performance