Fridays (in 2024) means that it’s time for another CPO Rising Listicle. Each list will include a variety of procurement tips, trends, insights, research, lists, strategies, and/or recommendations designed to help procurement teams improve operations. We’ll also include a summary graphic for you to share with your team.
The role of Chief Procurement Officer epitomizes the tenacity and persistence required during times of national and international strife. Whether it’s the Great Recession or the COVID-19 pandemic, the CPO has become both universal and critical to enterprise and supply chain operations and outcomes. It is these events, and others, that underscore the unprecedented challenges procurement professionals continue to overcome.
An Ardent Partners theme throughout 2024 is the notion of the CPO facing economic and market uncertainty. As CPOs and their teams address the latest obstacles of the day, there remain broader issues, like recessionary fears, market volatility, climate conditions, and geopolitics, that are likely to shape the future of their organizations for decades to come.
Planning against larger issues, coupled with operating in a fragile supply chain environment, means engaging on several fronts — globalization, supplier relationships, technological capabilities, workforce competencies, and the like. What Ardent Partners’ research shows is that achieving supply chain agility and competitiveness involves decision-making around three critical questions.
The Three BIG Questions Facing Every CPO
- Is our Supply Chain built to win in the decade ahead?
- Are we ready for artificial intelligence (AI) in its growing forms?
- How will we win the talent war that is proving to be a competitive differentiator?
There’s no denying that supply chains have been under pressure for several business cycles. Now is the time to put those pressures under a microscope and reevaluate how to unlock more value and innovation while also creating supply chain resiliency and responsiveness. Effective executive decision-making is not about making the perfect choice every time, but rather about making a commitment to the decisions made and taking the necessary steps to turn those decisions into tangible results.
Uncertainty lies on the horizon, no doubt. But all decisions involve an element of risk. Deferring those decisions is far riskier.
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