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Procurement as a value enabler...
Sounds perfect, let honestly say that it's catchy and cozy.
The point is that it's not self-explanatory, it needs an explanation on a few very important things.
1. What does it mean 'value'?
For each of us, it can be understood differently. It can be defined differently in the same company, by the same team, even by the same person when comes to 'value' in the work or 'value' in the private life.
To make procurement teams able to provide value, it's obvious to underline what the value is, how to measure it and what kind of activities are defined as enabling it for the business.
2. Enabler
When we're sticking to the same level of understanding the value, next step is to define how procurement can enable it via day-to-day job.
It's clear for me that we as a team who manage over 60-80% of the company's spend have the power to influence the environment: our suppliers, their suppliers, whole supply chains, and people involved. We can also use the advantage of knowledge sharing between internal teams in our own company, to be a link between internal and external words.
I wrote some time ago an article about innovation management, you can find it in polish here.
The point is that procurement needs to have a space and position within the company to be an enabler of anything more than savings, which still are the main goal for management.
When I hear enabler it comes to my mind, that I need to be very aware of my role, power, and weaknesses to be able to enable something. It's connected with high level of maturity, understanding the market, process, market possibilities and restrictions.
Becoming an enabler focuses my attention on proactiveness, vision and broader perspective. It's not only looking for opportunities. but creating them as well.
For me, it's a kind of art creation - looking for materials, resources which will support my vision. As an artist I will need to keep an eye on, even make the final touch of my art, but it can't be done without external support. All of us use the effects of someone's work.
Resources that are available due to someone's idea, solutions etc.
3. Procurement as a value enabler
Building on that being a value enabler means being unsatisfied with the current status, looking for improvements and possibilities. Being aware of procurement role, responsibility in front of the clients, suppliers, and environment.
It means also being an expert in the procurement field with all best practices (like purchasing transparency, risk management, or sustainability) in the head with a big insatiable for dream and vision realization and questioning the status quo.
As an example of such attitude, I would like to point Bertrand Piccard, Andre Borschberg, and the whole team who worked on Solar impulse with brilliant success - trip around the world without fuel. #Futureisclean
Please find below more information about the Solar impulse:
For me the most inspiring clue from the above project was Bertrand's sentence:
"(...) I could fly forever.
At this moment I thought WOW I'm already in the future,
this is a science fiction story, but not at all.
It was the present with what the technologies of today allowed me to do today.
And this is how I understood how much the rest of the world was in the past."
You can say that it's easy to trigger the innovation when you have partners, sponsors and so on. The point is that when Solar impulse team started working a years ago - there was only a dream, big and ambitious enough to impress some people, make them want to be a part of it. My thoughts on this are that we have a brave hearts and proactive approach to rich awesome goals, a procurement expert we have also the understanding and possibilities to drive the change. It doesn't mean that our aim is to focus on one spectacular success and let go of further action, cause we did a great job.
4. An Ambassador of change
This is another reason why I pointed to you Mr. Piccard. He is aware of the success, but also of the possibilities which are not used by the world. He has the vision to use, to promote the solutions to make our future clean.
How?
By Solar Impulse Foundation, which leads the project #Beyond 1000 solutions available today to protect the environment in a profitable way.
As a business practitioner and procurement trainer, I encourage you to take a look at this initiative. There are plenty of great solutions which can be used in your supply chain and support being a value enabler in your company, for your company being a pioneer.
It doesn't mean that you're role stops here.
"You can go further and become an actor of change!"
This statement comes from #Beyond 1000 solutions. That kind of approach is close to my heart, make me really proud of the way we can use technology for sustainable growth and a cleaner environment. Nevertheless, I see procurement teams more as an ambassador of change. People who help the company to trigger the innovation and spread it through internal and external stakeholders.
If you're interested in Innovation management training or other trainings for procurement team, please contact me directly.
Procurement as a Value enabler
or Ambassador of change