In 2014 and beyond, Chief Procurement Officers will be required to extract more value from the function than ever before and stretch the limits of their organizations while also maximizing the relationships they have with suppliers and internal stakeholders. Procurement’s ability to impact business processes, business relationships, and business results will surely continue but the depth and breadth of that impact will depend on the organization’s ability to master processes and technologies and upon the ability of its leader, the CPO, to maintain the department’s focus  and ensure crisp execution and decision-making through periods of uncertainty and  high stress. Many of the CPOs interviewed for this report shared this view. Here are a few –

I. “To be a successful CPO in 2014, you must be able to extract value of the discipline far beyond a simple savings number by working with internal stakeholders to be more agile, reduce risk, enhance supplier performance and increase revenue.” – Anders Lillevik, CPO

The idea that procurement can deliver more than savings has become somewhat of a cliché but that makes it no less true. For years, I have questioned the use of savings as the sole or primary measure of a procurement department’s (or CPO’s) performance. I think doing so diminishes or constrains the total value of what procurement does for an enterprise. Also, there’s significant risk in hitching your wagon to a savings star because there are simply too many factors beyond the control of a procurement team that ultimately determine final savings numbers. Anders is exactly right when he says that CPOs must do much more than hit a savings target. They must become more collaborative. They must use different levers to drive performance and impact the business. Agility (as we discussed here) is critical to top performance.

2. “I do believe companies are stressing different things now – moving from traditional procurement – right price, right place, right time etc. to more vendor and supplier relationship management.”– Andrew Swift, CPO, Affinion International

As the Chief Procurement Officer role matures (remember, it is is relatively new), greater expectations are born. As a procurement organization matures, its focus and scope expand. As Andrew suggests, 2014 is the time for CPOs to move beyond managing only the basic duties of the function and seek to drive more strategic supplier relationships.