I recently published my annual CPO Rising report and I think our regular readers will be very interested in it. The report presents a comprehensive, industry-wide view into what is happening in the world of procurement and captures the experience, performance, perspective, and intentions of 273 Chief Procurement Officers and other procurement executives. As I do every year, I also personally interviewed many Chief Procurement Officers (24 in total) to add context to this research effort. The report is available (with registration) from several sponsor sites including here, here, here, here, here, or here.

The State of the Chief Procurement Officer in 2014

In 2014, Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs) will seek to extract and deliver more value from their departments than ever before as they attempt to stretch the limits of their organizations while also maximizing the relationships they have developed with suppliers and internal stakeholders. Procurement’s ability to impact business processes, relationships, and results will surely continue in 2014, but the depth and breadth of that impact will depend on each organization’s ability to master its processes and technologies and upon the ability of its leader, the CPO, to maintain the department’s focus and ensure fast, but assured, decision-making and crisp and agile execution in what is certain to be a more challenging year [See Ardent Partners’ 2014 Procurement Predictions at the end of this chapter].

The speed and complexity of business continues to accelerate forcing procurement professionals to adapt to new market conditions and react to new opportunities while maintaining discipline and efficiency. Agile organizations will win the day as enterprises become more reliant upon the relationships and events that exist beyond their walls. And, as agility and innovation start to define market leaders over the next decade, it will be the CPO’s versatility and general capacity to support non-traditional roles and responsibilities that will play an increasingly important role in how well they succeed and advance. Ardent Partners believes that the current convergence of business processes and functions occurring beneath the CPO will continue in the years ahead. Says the CPO of a multi-billion dollar CPG company, “In the past three years, procurement has taken on a more formal role supporting M&A activities as well as FCPA [Foreign Corrupt Practices Act] compliance. Procurement has taken a stronger leadership position in contingent workforce management and meetings management in close partnership with other parts of the business. We have taken full ownership of supply risk management, social and environmental responsibility, as well as travel and expense management. No roles have been taken away. The need for closer control over policies as well as for cost management drove most of these changes.” Ardent also believes that, in the years ahead, how well each procurement department responds to this convergence of responsibility will serve to more clearly distinguish leading CPOs and departments from the rest of the market. 2014 is the time for CPOs to move beyond managing only the basic duties of their function.

RELATED ARTICLES

Rites of Spring (2014): Procurement’s “Annual Cleaning”

Becoming a CPO in 2014 – The CPO’s Perspective

The Role of CPO Remains a Work in Progress

The State of the Chief Procurement Officer – 2013

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