(Publisher’s note: Our challenge to each reader is to pick and view one great CPO/Leadership session today. If you do, we bet you can’t just stop at one!)
Our inaugural CPO Rising 2K20 Virtual Series brought more than 2000 procurement, finance, and HR professionals together around the topics that matter to business leaders right now (i.e. how to ensure continuity, build resilience, and prepare for the recovery). These webinars (or sessions) are available On-Demand through the end of May (click to view or simply read below).
With more than 20 hours of great presentations from leading Chief Procurement Officers and other global experts, the series is a great resource for CPOs as well as procurement and other business leaders. To make it easier to find the session (or sessions :-)) that best apply to your role/team/employer, we’ve organized them into four different tracks with unique job roles in mind. Today, we lead off with a discussion of The CPO and Leadership Track.
The CPO and Procurement Leadership (Track 1)
Simply put, this track consists of five presentations by and for CPOs covering topics and themes that matter to current and future procurement leaders. Those themes include CPO leadership, networking, and strategic planning and execution to get through these disruptive days and prepare for the better ones ahead.
CPO Leadership in Times of Crisis (starring Uldis Sipols)
Uldis Sipols, the legendary Chief Procurement Officer (and, recent inductee into the CPO Rising Hall of Fame) has a long track record of navigating procurement crises in his decades leading procurement teams at Gillette, P&G, Sonoco, AMP/Tyco, and Danaher. In this one-on-one ‘virtual fireside chat, Uldis answer questions that address the different phases of crisis management and walks the audience through a real-time scenario of how (and why) a CPO should respond to a major crisis. Among Uldis’ many insights:
“You’re the shepherd of the supply base. You are responsible for the company’s supply in the broadest sense.”
“Technology is going to enable us to do a much better job, going into the [supplier] tiers. You need to know the key determinants and maybe bring in outside experts that can help. Those types of plans need to be more comprehensive than the first time around.”
“Consolidating the supply base may help. Maybe the designs are too complex. Collaboration with product development may be in order to simplify pieces of the business. It’s critical for a business continuity plan.”
Top Strategies for Leading a Resilient Procurement Organization (starring Linda Chuan with Andrew Bartolini)
Linda Chuan is an experienced CPO who is experienced with organizations large and small (GE Capital, Gap Inc., PeopleSoft, Siebel Systems, Yahoo!, Salesforce, & Thomson Reuters) during various phases of growth and right sizing. Together, Linda and I discuss a new framework to help procurement organizations bolster their resiliency. We address four key strategies that support this framework and dive into each.
- Leading with intelligence and intuition to mitigate risk and drive value
- Supporting business continuity with agility
- Ensuring that the voice of the customer is heard and expectations are met
- Knowing your negotiations
And share insights including:
“It is important to remember that the keys to procurement success remain the same in today’s volatile world. For example to ability to access data and tools from anywhere in an on-demand fashion is critical.”
“Procurement has entered an age of intelligence. A successful CPO needs to tap into many different types of intelligence – leadership, analytical, functional, emotional, etc…”
“Times like these are when procurement can shine. Smart companies that are ahead of the curve and already investing in procurement. The opportunity now is for other companies to recognize their gaps and start to plug them.”
CPO Strategies: Paving the Road to Recovery (starring Anders Lillevik)
Anders Lillevik is a serial Chief Procurement Officer with 20+ years of experience in building and turning around large, complex procurement organizations to be Best-in-Class including Fannie Mae, QBE Insuarnce, QBE, N.A., and Webster Bank. In his presentation, Anders delivers an entire catalog of ideas and strategies on what sourcing and procurement teams can start doing today to (1) prepare for the immediate aftermath of the pandemic and (2) start paving the road to recovery. Some of Anders’ insights include:
“As we continue to answer what the “new normal” will be, we need to move beyond simply keeping the wheels on the bus… it is important to get into the driver’s seat during this time.”
“Anything having to do with ensuring that employees and customers are safe have to be prioritized.”
“Utilizing a category management approach will bring the team back to basics but also help unlock great value… For example, now may be a great time to unlock savings with professional services providers by renegotiating rate cards.”
“Be manufacturer agnostic to avoid single point dependency.”
CPO Playbook: Leveraging Your Network To Ensure Supply in the Age of Corona (starring Greg Tennyson)
Greg Tennyson is the current Global Head of Corporate Services (Sourcing, Procurement, Travel, Real Estate/Facilities, Security and Distribution) at VSP Global. He has 30+ years of global executive leadership in the finance, operations and supply chain space with service based, high-tech, R&D and manufacturing concerns. Oh yeah, he’s also our reigning CPO Honors – CPO of the Year. IN this one-on-one virtual fireside chat, Greg walks us audience through a real-time scenario of how one CPO and his team have responded to the Coronavirus pandemic and used their networks to find new sources of supply. Among Greg’s insights:
“During uncertain economic times, we’re leveraging different methods and buying practices, including our social networks to find PPE.”
“We have leveraged social media and LinkedIn, eSourcing, technology providers, and personal colleagues to find quality materials and scarce supplies.”
“The priority of getting the supplies needed to open our retail operations has gotten us greater access to our C-Suite and Board of Directors.”
CPO Rising 2020 Study: Continuity, Resilience, Recovery (starring Andrew Bartolini with Kristin Schwabenbauer)
This presentation was the world premiere of Ardent’s 15th annual state of procurement and the CPO. Among the insights:
“Only 34% of all businesses have an active supply risk program.”
“63% of all enterprises report that the coronavirus has had an extraordinary (18%) or significant (45%) impact on operations.”
“The CPO’s new mandate includes cash management, savings, and deeper visibility into the supply chain.”
RELATED RESEARCH
Watch one of the sessions above – bet you can’t watch just one!!
