Utilizing Next-Gen Strategies and Tools for Supplier Management and Diversity

Access the full report: Available October 2020

Procurement’s role in supplier selection encompasses more than simple cost-management. Risk management, quality assurance, innovation and strategic development are all important aspects that come from supplier diversity initiatives. Collectively these elements can have a huge impact on the organization, making the tools that procurement uses to manage their suppliers take on an importance greater than their most essential functionality. Challenges related to supplier risk mitigation, business continuity, and the development of new capabilities alongside key suppliers are all top of mind at this point in time as well.

According to ProcureCon’s recently published report Procurement in the Driver’s Seat, 66% of procurement professionals felt that they were challenged by a lack of general buy-in over how much influence their group should be able to exercise. As procurement seeks to solidify their influence and grow their relationships with key business stakeholders, exploring how they can develop a network of high performing, innovative suppliers is a key step.1

Procurement teams are also on track to normalize their operations after the social distancing of the COVID-19 pandemic is gradually relaxed. This event has impacted global business in an unprecedented manner, and returning to a normalized supplier relationship does not necessarily equal a return to the former status quo. It’s time to plan strategic initiatives now, so that procurement leadership is ready to execute with an eye for 2021.

In our next installment of ProcureCon and WBR Insights’ research series, we will be seeking to understand how well current tools and strategies are working for procurement’s supplier management initiatives, which areas they would like to improve in, where pain points exist that might not be currently addressed, and their impressions of the impact their activities have on the organization at large.

Access the full report: Available October 2020